Offspring among the okapis and kudus at Basel Zoo
Published: Monday, Oct 28th 2024, 17:30
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Last week, two baby animals were born in the Antelope House at Basel Zoo. On the Sunday before last, a female okapi saw the light of day, followed by a baby kudu buck on the following Friday.
However, anyone who wants to see the two will have to be patient a little longer: The antelope house will remain temporarily closed for the next few days, as the zoo announced on Monday.
Both okapis (forest giraffes) and the antelope species lesser kudu are so-called littermates. The young hide in a safe place after birth. The mother only visits it every few hours to suckle and groom it. The two babies in the antelope house also often lie hidden in the straw and sleep a lot. This is also the reason why visitors will not get to see Vijana and Vitu until later, according to the press release.
Highly endangered species
The okapi girl named Vijana is the fourth litter of mother Ebony. The forest giraffe species is highly endangered. Although it is protected, the population is in sharp decline due to deforestation, poaching and mining. Basel Zoo has therefore been supporting the "Okapi Conservation Project" in the Democratic Republic of Congo for over 30 years, according to a statement.
For the second time this year, a young kudu was born. The little kudu buck is called Vitu and is the twelfth offspring of the mother, Jina. His father Leopold had to be euthanized in July of this year. After a claw treatment, the ten-year-old kudu buck could no longer stand up. He had irreversibly dislocated his hip, according to the zoo. The group of lesser kudus currently consists of nine animals.
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