This summer, I am lucky enough to be working with the Behavioral Biology Division of the San Diego Zoo’s Institute for Conservation Research. I am participating in a research project involving a relatively obscure animal that lives in dense rain forests of the Congo: the okapi! Although I knew next to nothing about this unique hoofed mammal before this summer, I have already learned (and will continue to learn) about many aspects of this remarkable animal’s features and behaviors.
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, rumors of a “horned, horse-like mammal” began circulating, and suspicions of a missing link or a possible mystical creature arose (some even thought it could be a unicorn!). This led many adventurous biologists to go searching through the Congo for such a creature. After several journeys and observations, okapis were finally formally classified in the early 1900s.
The most striking feature of the okapi is its horizontal striped coat on parts of its front and back legs. These stripes act as a perfect camouflage in the rain forest, where they mimic the shadows produced by light piercing the canopy. Due to the presence of stripes, many people initially think that an okapi may be a zebra or one of its close relatives. However, okapis are in fact more closely related to giraffes. A more detailed look at an okapi’s head and distinct, giraffe-like tongue reveal many similarities between okapis and giraffes. Okapis actually have an even longer tongue than giraffes that can reach lengths up to 18 inches (45 centimeters)! They use this incredible tongue to browse for leaves and strip them off of tree branches.
My project for the summer involves placing wood shavings soaked in okapi urine at various places in the okapi exhibit and observing reactions to their presence. We will also be looking at stress hormone levels to test how an okapi, which is solitary in the wild, reacts to the (simulated) presence of another okapi in the area.
The results of this project will be extremely helpful for the okapis at the San Diego Zoo and the San Diego Zoo’s Wild Animal Park and for other zoological institutions that are looking to display the incredibly unique and graceful okapi. Please check back for more details in my next blog!
Jay Schoen is a biology major at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and is a Frabotta Endowed Summer Fellow with the San Diego Zoo’s Institute for Conservation Research.
Your project sounds interesting, but I think it is one of the few studies at the Park that I can feel relieved I am not involved with. I look forward to reading the results of your work, however, and grateful that you are doing it.
Have you/they trained them so you can collect okapi urine? Hope you share the results with us.
I’m not sure if the keepers have trained the okapis for direct urine collection, but they do some pretty extensive work with them so it is definitely possible. For the study, however, there are wood shavings in all of the okapis’ holdings, so the lucky shavings that have been urinated on are just collected in the morning and that’s what we will use in the study. Thanks for your interest, I’ll keep you updated in future blogs!
Thanks, Jay for a most interesting and informative post. I love learning about all the animals at SDZ and WAP.
Jay:
Can you explain to me the prevalence of 45 chromosomes in many okapis (the Robertsian Fusion phenomenon that is found in other species, such as muntjacs, as well)? I don’t get it.
David:
Okapis may be either 2n=45 or 2n=46 (as it appears you know). Robersonian translocation is responsible for the 2n=45 individuals, but the fusion involves autosomes 8 and 21 in okapis, whereas in muntjacs, the sex chromosomes are involved. The question of which condition (45 or 46 chromosomes) is “prevalent” in okapis is still up in the air, since wild okapis are rarely seen or studied. There is a theory that the 2n=45 condition has been introduced from the wild (Bernischke et al. 1983), but much of this issue remains to be resolved. A helpful paper to look over might be the 1986 study by P. Petit and W. Meurichy called “On the Chromosomes of the Okapi”. The Bernischke study (cited above) may also be worth looking into. I hope this helps.
Jay
Jay:
Thanks. However, I don’t seem to be able to find these studies online, and I am not subscribed to a research-paper site. Can you possibly direct me to a URL? Thanks.
David
David:
Unfortunately, I am not authorized to release articles online like this. I can, however, give you the full references. If you are near a university or another institution that may have access to an article database, you could try to gain access to their system. I’m sorry I can’t be of more help but here are the full references and I hope you will be able to see them at some point:
Bernischke K., Kumamoto, A.T., Cousin E.F.H.M., Boer L.E.M. (de). Further observations on the chromosomes of the okapi (Okapia johnstoni). Verhandlungsbiericht des 25 internationalen Symposium uber die Erkrankugen der Zooteierem pp. 363-372, Wien, 1983.
Petit P. and Meurichy W. (de). On the chromosomes of the okapi (Okapia johnstoni). Ann Genet, 1986, 29, n. 4, 232-234.
WE LOVE OKAPIS!!!!