Antwerp Zoo explores new protection zone for okapis in Congo
Antwerp Zoo is aiming to help better protect okapis in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The animals are hunted extensively for their meat and skin. A feasibility study is now being set up in the Rubi-Tele area, in north-eastern Congo, to determine what can be done to protect the okapis there.
For many years, Antwerp Zoo has been running a conservation programme for bonobos, which are also found in Congo, in the Lomako forest. Now the zoo aims to help protect the okapis in the country. The okapi is an iconic animal for Antwerp Zoo: it was the first zoo outside Congo to have an okapi, in 1919.
In the Ituri forest, an important habitat for the okapi in eastern Congo, the Okapi Conservation Project (OCP) is already in place. However, teams there work under difficult conditions, facing threats such as armed militias, poaching, mining and unsustainable agriculture.
"We have already mapped several hotspots"
In recent years, the Antwerp Zoo Foundation (AZF) has been investigating whether there are also many okapis living in the more westerly Rubi-Tele area. Using camera traps and DNA analysis of faecal samples, scientists from Antwerp Zoo confirmed the presence of okapis. “We have already mapped several hotspots in a densely forested area of over 500 km²,” explained Jef Dupain of the AZF.
According to Dupain, this region is more politically stable than the Ituri forest. “Yet, until now, there has been little investment in nature conservation there,” he said. With the new study, Antwerp Zoo wants to investigate whether Rubi-Tele could form the basis for a second protection zone for the okapi.
The feasibility study, which will run until March 2026, is being carried out by a multidisciplinary team of biologists, anthropologists, sociologists and lawyers, who are investigating local biodiversity, land use and the possible involvement of the local population. “That support is crucial,” stated Dupain. “We don't just want to protect nature, we also want to ensure that local communities benefit from it.”
#FlandersNewsService | An okapi © PHOTO IMAGEBROKER
Related news
