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Okapi, Half-zebra Half-giraffe
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The body shape is similar to that of the giraffe, except that okapis have much shorter necks. Both species have very long (approximately 30 centimetres (12 in), flexible, blue tongues that they use to strip leaves and buds from trees.
The tongue of the okapi is long enough for the animal to wash its eyelids and clean its ears (inside and out). 35 to 46 centimetres (14 to 18 in) in length, the sticky tongue is pointed and bluish grey in colour like the giraffe's. Male okapis have short, skin-covered horns called ossicones. They have large ears, which help them detect their predator, the leopard.
Okapis are 1.9 to 2.5 metres (6.2 to 8.2 ft) long and stand 1.5 to 2.0 metres (4.9 to 6.6 ft) high at the shoulder. They have a 30 to 42 centimetres (12 to 17 in) long tail. Their weight ranges from 200 to 300 kilograms (440 to 660 lb). Okapis are primarily diurnal, although recent photo captures have challenged this long held assumption. One photograph taken at 02:33 am shows an okapi feeding in the Watalinga forest in the north of the Virunga National Park in eastern DRC, thus providing evidence that they don't only feed during the daytime. Okapis are essentially solitary, coming together only to breed, with the exception of mothers and offspring. Breeding behaviours include sniffing, circling and licking each other.
Okapis forage along fixed, well-trodden paths through the forest. They have overlapping home ranges of several square kilometres and typically occur at densities of about 0.6 animals per square kilometre (about 1.5 animals per square mile). They are not social animals and prefer to live in large, secluded areas. This has led to problems with the okapi population due to the shrinking size of the land they live on. This lack of territory is caused by development and other social reasons. However, okapis tolerate each other in the wild and may even feed in small groups for short periods of time.
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