Zoo database

Okapi

Okapi johnstoni

Natural diet Okapi

Grasses
Herbs
Leaves

Okapis are very selective herbivorous browsers. They consume leaves, fruits, seeds, ferns and fungi, but prefer to browse on light-dependent vegetation (tree seedlings, shrubs and vines) in small forest openings. They have a long, flexible tongue that helps to strip leaves of branches and reach the vegetation under the dense underbrush.

Feeding advice Okapi

Feed quantity per day

2% of body weight

Sample percentage calculation

If an animal weighs 250 kg and eats 2% of its body weight, it will get

250 x 0.02 = 5 kg feed in total per day

Feed composition

15% Concentrates
35% Grass, lucerne and other roughages
50% Browse

Proportions (fresh product)

0.15 x 5 kg = 750 g concentrates
0.35 x 5 kg = 1750 g grass, lucerne and other roughages
0.5 x 5 kg = 2500 g browse

Diet suggestions

In moderation

Variety of leafy greens

Grass hay

Not recommended

Fruits

Additional advice

Divide the “Feed quantity per day” over at least two feeding moments per day.
It is important to offer forage items that can be manipulated by the tongue.
Supplement the diet with ad libitum roughage (read more about browsers and grazers).
The browse used in the diet can be a mixture between dried and fresh browse.
In the winter months, either dried, frozen (thawed) branches or leaf silage should be provided.
Feeding fruits might lead to might lead to gastro-intestinal disturbances because of the high sugar level and low fiber level in cultivated fruits compared to wild fruits (read more about nutritional values of (wild) fruits and vegetables).
Stimulate foraging behaviour by hiding, stacking or hanging the feed (read more about feed enrichment and foraging behaviour).

Common diseases

An unbalanced diet may result in one of these more commonly occurring diseases/conditions:

Peracute mortality syndrome
Skin lesions
Urolithiasis (Bladder stones)
Laminitis
White muscle disease
Rumen acidosis
Metabolic bone disease

Feed quantity per day

Sample percentage calculation

Feed composition

Proportions (fresh product)

Natural Browser - 10 mm

Boskos Browser

KNZ Leckstein Wild

Haselnussblätter - 10-20 kg Sack

Jeroen Hartman

Team leader Warehouse