World Okapi Day is observed on October 18th. What's an okapi like? Imagine a zebra mixed up with a giraffe, and you've got it. Only found in Congo's rainforests, the okapi is a solitary, herbivorous animal whose existence is threatened by illegal gold mining, poaching and the burning forests plants for agriculture purposes. This day aims to raise awareness of the need to protect forest ecosystems, as loss of habitat is directly linked with wildlife extinction.
Many children won't know what an okapi is, but once they do they will be fascinated. See this short video.
In 2020 when the Book Week theme was Curious Creatures Wild Minds I had lots of fun with my students identifying many of the less common animals, such as pangolins, aye-ayes, axolotls, tapirs etc and was surprised to find so many books sources which featured theses animals. See my entries from 2020 which feature curious creatures and this book:
• Weird and Wonderful Animals by Rosella Trionfetti and Cristina Banfi
Once you have introduced okapis to your students, they will begin to find them in the index of many animal books and be bringing you the books to show you.
Two stories that specifically feature okapis are:
• Okapi Loves His Zebra Pants by Terri Tatchell and Ivan Sulima
• Okapi Tale by Jacob Kramer and K-Fai Steele
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