Disney welcomes baby Okapi at Animal Kingdom

Disney’s Animal Kingdom has a new addition – a baby Okapi.

The 35-pound female baby named “Nafuna,” which means delivered feet first, was born June 21 and guest will be able to catch a glimpse of the baby in a few months at the Disney’s Animal Kingdom’s Ituri Forest, according to a Disney news release.

Nafuna was born to mother Zawadi and father Akili.

The newborn Nafuna, photo by Disney.

Here are some Okapi facts from Disney:

• Newborns can stand up within 30 minutes of birth and will nurse for the first time within an hour of birth.
  Newborns have the same coloring as an adult but have a short fringe of hair along the spine, which generally disappears by the time they are 12 to 14 months old.
• Okapi’s stripes work as camouflage when hiding in the partial sunlight that filters through the forest canopies of Africa. 
• Okapis, which are considered rare in the wild, are believed to be related to the zebra because of their stripes, but they are actually related to the giraffe. 
• Okapi are typically solitary animals, living alone or in mother-offspring pairs. They are extremely wary and secretive, making making it very difficult to observe in the lowland rainforest of central Africa where they make their home.
• Adult okapi can reach weights of 550-720 pounds with females typically being larger than males. They can live over 30 years in zoological facilities.
• Female okapi vocalize with a soft “chuff” during courtship and when calling to their calves. There are infrasonic qualities to their call, which are below the frequency that the human ear can detect.