The okapi is a shy, solitary relative of the giraffe found only in the forests of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Zoo breeding programmes provide a conservation buffer for a species threatened by civil conflict and deforestation.
Okapi welfare in zoo settings is shaped by their deeply solitary, forest-adapted lifestyle. Unlike many zoo species that can benefit from complex social environments, okapis are stressed by forced proximity to conspecifics outside of carefully managed breeding introductions. Enclosure design must prioritise visual barriers, retreat spaces, and opportunities for the scent marking behaviours that are central to okapi communication and territorial expression. Their browsing diet requires diverse forage provisioning to replicate the nutritional complexity of natural diets in the Ituri Forest. Because the captive population is small and geographically dispersed across institutions, inter-zoo loans for breeding are common — transport and introduction management must be carefully designed to minimise stress. The security situation in the DRC creates challenges for wild population monitoring, making the captive population a more significant conservation safety net than for many other species.