Overview of okapi welfare in zoos, including their shy nature and specialist habitat requirements.
Okapi welfare in zoos requires specialist facilities that accommodate their shy nature, forest habitat preferences, and specific nutritional needs. Only a handful of zoos globally have the facilities and expertise to keep okapi well. The welfare standard required for okapi keeping is high and rightly limits where they are kept. Captive breeding programmes provide insurance population value while conservation in the wild requires Congo basin forest protection.