What looks like a cross between a zebra, a donkey and a giraffe, sporting a purple tongue long enough to wipe its own eyelids? Why, the okapi of course!
And the Wildlife Conservation Society just announced another one has been born at the Bronx Zoo. This one doesn't have a name yet, but check out how cute it is in the YouTube video below.
The calf will be on exhibit intermittently for the first several weeks as it adjusts to its new surroundings. Exhibit times will vary and are weather dependent. Check out the zoo's website for details.
Okapis are closely related to giraffes and native to the Ituri Forest in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The species, listed as near threatened by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, lives in a large range on both sides of the Congo River.
Okapis number fewer than 35,000 in the wild and only about 145 reside in the world's zoos.
The most recent okapi calf was born at the Bronx Zoo on June 2.
