Friday, September 12, 2008

The Elusive Okapi


Now, here's some wonderful news - that's of particular interest to this blog....


An African animal so secretive it was once believed to be a mythical unicorn has been caught on camera in the wild. Camera traps set by the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) in the Democratic Republic of Congo have captured rare pictures of wild okapi.


* snip *


The sightings in Virunga National Park prove the species is surviving in the jungle despite years of civil conflict.


Dr Noelle Kumpel, ZSL's bush meat and forests conservation programme manager, said: "To have captured photographs of such a charismatic creature is amazing. "Okapi are very shy and rare animals - which is why conventional surveys only tend to record droppings and other signs of their presence."



No comments: