SINGAPORE \u2013 Rainforest Wild Adventure on July 27 welcomed the arrival of an okapi calf, the first to be born in South-east Asia.<\/p>\n
Mandai Wildlife Group said on Sept 24 that the male calf, born to first-time parents Kisala, seven, and Xandor, four, currently weighs 48 kg \u2013 more than double its birth weight.<\/p>\n
It is housed with its mother in the Hidden Forest at Rainforest Wild Adventure East<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cWe recently gave them access to their outdoor habitat, but the calf is still taking time to get used to his new surroundings,\u201d said Cecilia Tang, a curator at Mandai\u2019s Animal Care department.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re allowing him to explore and build confidence at his own pace, so it may take some time before visitors see more of him.\u201d<\/p>\n The calf spends most of its time in the calving box.<\/p>\n PHOTO: MANDAI WILDLIFE GROUP<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n As the calf may retreat to the off-exhibit den, a \u201cbaby monitor\u201d providing a live feed is available for visitors wanting to catch a glimpse of it.<\/p>\n Those who wish to learn more about the species can join the daily okapi ranger talk at the park, held at 10.30am and 3pm.<\/p>\n The okapi, a highly elusive species closely related to giraffes, is native to the Democratic Republic of the Congo.<\/p>\n They are classified as endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List, and are cared for by only a handful of zoos worldwide.<\/p>\n According to Mandai, the calf\u2019s parents came to Singapore under the EAZA Ex situ Programme, a coordinated breeding programme for threatened species.<\/p>\n \u201cAfter Kisala was paired with Xandor, we observed changes in her appetite and body condition and began preparing for the possibility of a pregnancy,\u201d said Tang.<\/p>\n \u201cAn ultrasound in July confirmed she was expecting a calf, which was an exciting milestone for the team.\u201d<\/p>\n Okapis have one of the longest gestation periods among hoofed mammals, lasting around 440 days or 14 to 15 months.<\/p>\n Calves naturally spend most of their early days hidden and still to avoid being detected by predators, with mothers returning only a few times a day to nurse.<\/p>\n Mandai has invited members of the public to help name the calf by voting on its social media pages.<\/p>\n They can choose from three names inspired by African languages: Imara, meaning strong in Swahili; Mayaka, meaning pearl in Lingala; and Kiah, meaning dawn, new beginnings or start of the season in Swahili.<\/p>\n Guests can get okapi souvenirs at the retail shop at Rainforest Wild Adventure East.<\/p>\n PHOTO: MANDAI WILDLIFE GROUP<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n To celebrate the calf\u2019s birth, okapi-themed offerings will be available across the Mandai precinct.<\/p>\n This includes an okapi-inspired cake, which will be available from October at selected dining outlets, and okapi souvenirs at the retail shop at Rainforest Wild Adventure East.<\/p>\n Aside from the okapi calf, Mandai also welcomed the sitatunga, a swamp-dwelling antelope, at Rainforest Wild Adventure.<\/p>\n The sitatungas can be found in Rainforest Wild Adventure East.<\/p>\n PHOTO: MANDAI WILDLIFE GROUP<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n Additionally, the park\u2019s Lemur Land will progressively welcome more species, with the crowned lemur and red-bellied lemur expected to debut by November 2026.<\/p>\n The red-bellied lemur can be expected at Lemur Land from November 2026.<\/p>\n PHOTO: MANDAI WILDLIFE GROUP<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n Together, they will bring the total number of lemur species in the Madagascan-themed rainforest to four.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n SINGAPORE \u2013 Rainforest Wild Adventure on July 27 welcomed the arrival of an okapi calf, the first to be born in South-east Asia. Mandai Wildlife…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":87522,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2611],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-87521","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-buzz-headlines","wpcat-2611-id"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87521","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=87521"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87521\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/87522"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=87521"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=87521"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=87521"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/picture><\/div>
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