Belgian Zoo Welcomes Baby Okapi

Step by step she carefully makes her first grand appearance out in the open.

Mchawi, which means „wizard“ in Swahili, is a baby okapi.

Despite her zebra-like stripes she is a member of the giraffe family.

Born on July 4th, Mchawi is the seventh member of the okapi family currently living at Antwerp Zoo.

But even with okapis, love is sometimes hard to come by. For the newborn’s parents, it was not love at first sight, according to keeper Patrick Immens.

[Patrick Immens, Head Keeper of Mammals, Antwerp Zoo]:

„We had something like, it’s not a good match, it’s not a love affair and they don’t like each other or he’s not interested in her. So we kind of went from, okay this won’t work and then suddenly, we thought maybe the first time when he was with her, he mated her and so maybe she’s pregnant and then she was pregnant.“

She’s still a bit shy, but she could be a superstar in the making.

Mchawi’s friendliness makes her a favorite among keepers and zoo visitors.

[Patrick Immens, Head Keeper of Mammals, Antwerp Zoo]:

„You can pet her. She’s very nice to us, she isn’t afraid of us. Her mother is also calm so it’s mother like daughter, something like that.“

In the wild, okapis can only be found in the tropical forests of Congo.

Mchawi though is expected to stay in Belgium, where hopefully she will start her own family in a couple of years.

Foto: NTD