It's October 18th, 🌍 World Okapi Day. Deep in the heart of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, hidden in the dense rainforest, lives the mysterious and enigmatic okapi. We humans rarely see this shy, elusive creature in the wild. When we do manage to see an okapi for the first time (almost always at a zoo), most of us imagine that it must be related to the zebra because of its stripes, but the okapi is not related to the zebra – it's related to the giraffe, and is in fact the giraffe's only living relative.
World Okapi Day was created to celebrate this special, endangered animal and protect the Okapi Wildlife Reserve in which it lives. Despite the protected status of the reserve and its wild animals, the okapi's continued existence is threatened by habitat destruction, slash-and-burn agriculture, illegal gold mining, and bushmeat poaching. World Okapi Day provides the Mbuti People who live in the reserve with an opportunity to celebrate the hard work they've accomplished to help preserve the natural environment they share with their national animal – an animal that is very important to their culture and traditions.
World Okapi Day is accompanied by a call to action to all of us around the world. The okapi’s rainforest home is a habitat for thousands of species. It's also one of the largest land-based carbon sinks in the world, helping to mitigate global warming. We can all help protect this Congo Basin Rainforest. If we choose to live sustainably, we help the okapi. ☮️ Peace… Jamiese of Pixoplanet