Baby Okapi!

[Kielo91]

I look back on the people that killed all of them with a bit of shame. >:/

Yes, I agree. With any species of animal, I feel that way. It's just not right, yet it happens. And there seems to be times where there's nothing we can do. And like Phantom said, I pray that we can coexist with nature and its creatures.

[okapi_07]

i hope that eventually people will become more concious as to how they are destroying the planet some of the things they are doing are really stupid like eating powdered rhino horn cause it has "magic"( yeah right) thats a load of (oops j/k ) cause rhino horn is just keritin(sp?) if you think that has special powers..... then go eat your fingernails

[Wolfyu]

if you think that has special powers..... then go eat your fingernails 

Ooh, that's a good one!

And about the fisherman and the bald eagles...who was there first? Us or them? I'm pretty sure it was the eagles. What right do we have?

(woah that grammar sounded horrible)

[Kielo91]

We don't have any right to go off and kill them. But like I keep saying, it happens and happens, and.. *yawn*.. it happens. I don't understand exactly why we humans can be so sadistic. Of course, we were never made to be perfect, and we'll never be perfect as long as we're here on Earth. It's too bad a lot of us humans in this day and age don't bother to show any sign of sympathy or peace.

[Robbieb]

human nature is a teriable thing think about it through out history even when we lived in cages we made things work for us. we never tried change so we would get along without having to change something else.we always destroy becasue it is easier then finding a better soultion.



and about the rhino horn and stuff like that i dont know how someone can think things like bird spit nests, horns of assorted animal, and testicles of animals can cure diseases

[Kielo91]

It's their way of belief, I guess. People have come out throughout the world, declaring that these "items" they believe will cure diseases really don't work. I don't think so either, but I'm no connoisseur at medicine or anything medical. And I seriously don't want to find out if they really work or not. :/ It's terribly cruel.

[Missy]

That is very cute baby. I wonder why the female only have one baby.

[Jay]

Since a species would disappear if all females only had one baby in a lifetime, I took it to mean that females usually only have one baby in captivity. Unfortunately, there a number of species that do not breed as well in captivity as in the wild. (And the best chance for an endangered species to survive is often if they are in captivity, and reintroduced when captive numbers increase well enough.) Then there are a number that actually breed better in captivity (usually because of good care, more assured food supply. and lack of predators).

I don't know enough about okapis. I should do some research. The part that confuses me is why they are endangered. I know their natural habitat is a very small area, but my understanding is that the area is well isolated and hard to get to. That is why it took so long for Europeans to finally see one (and why Europeans thought they were fictional for so long.)

[okapi_07]

according to some sources okapis are endangered but according to my animal encyclopedia they are only listed as "lower risk" (which is the same status assigned to giraffes and they seem pretty common) very confusing

and here is some okapi info:The Utlitmate Ungulate Page-okapi
this has some interesting info. i knew that okapis were once thought to be forest zebras but i didnt know that it was already deamed a new species before one was even acctually caught they called it Equus johnstoni just after seeing its zebra-like skin

[J. Mand]

Thanks, we could use one more okapi in this world...

[phantom]

Many species have one baby at a time, raise it for a year or so, then breed and have another. Others have as many as they can at once. Just variations across nature is all. Generally, there is a better chance of more offspring in the wild then in captivity(not always the case. Denver Zoo had an African wild dog mother with a brood of 14 pups a year or so ago) Remember, zoos try and replicate the environment but it is still better for the animal to actually be in the environment.

[okapi_07]

in the wild some animals also have multiple offspring but can only care for a certain number such as giant panda who often have 2 offsring but only raise one(occaisonally in captivity the other baby is saved and both survive)

[phantom]

A lot of times in the wild the number of young that survive is based on available resources. If it's a good year for food, odds are more offspring will survive and etc. Animals generally have more then they can care for in hopes that as many as possible can survive. It's a process called fitness which I learned about in my Ecology class. Animals have two things on mind: Their own survival and the survivial of their species. Thats why the multiple offspring. The animal is trying to maximize the chance that the species survives and continues on.

[okapi_07]

i just noticed on the zoo site that the birth was the first okapi birth for the columbus zoo but its the fourth for the mother okapi!(she has been on loan from chicago since 2000)

[phantom]

Zoos do rank animals in terms of reproductibility success and on how "good" the genetic material is. We had a baby orangutan at our local zoo about 5 years ago and she is ranked genetically #2 in the world. When she was about 3 years old they brought in a male friend. The hope is that they grow up together and eventually they will breed. It's possible that your okapi is ranked high and therefore they will try to breed her as much as they safely can.