Auto-imported from derpibooru.org (983145)

A gift from Fluffy-fly, a gorgeous Okapi! I've been meaning to have one of these as a character for a while now. Thank you Fluffy!


Her name means "Life" in the language of Swahili.
She resides in the Onga Rainforest by herself, just beyond the edge of where the Savanna turns into Jungle.
Not much is know about her, but there are rumors that make her image more mysterious that what she really is.
Shes very shy and elusive, and is also quite hard to spot within the dense jungles, but nobody as of yet has had the courage to investigate further, for those rumors have actually made everybody kind of worry-ful around her.
She does on occasions venture out of the forest into the open grasslands to collect different herbs for unknown reasons. And also to occasionally get a drink at the waterhole.
Most of everyone who would usually be grazing, playing or running around, would have seemed to disappear entirely, leaving the plains even more plain than before.
They are all apparently hiding because of the unnecessary fear.
Though there is one certain little Dik-Dik antelope that is actually not terrified at all of her. She would love to get to know her more. Hopefully she can convince her friends that there is nothing to be scared about once she herself ventures into the forest to prove that Maisha is not as mysterious as she seems.



If you would like to know more about Okapis, I put some facts down here.


An elusive browser of the thick tropical rainforest, the Okapi feeds by day on leaves soft twigs, shoots, fruits and other plant parts.
It relies mainly on hearing in the dense forests and makes a "Chuff" sound on meeting another Okapi.
Rival males "neck-fight" like Giraffes in the presence of a receptive female, and emit soft moaning sounds during courtship; the female indicates her readiness with similar calls and territorial cent marking.
She is slightly taller than the male and 55-100lbs (25-50kg) heavier
Both sexes look similar: long head and neck, dark body (which slopes down from the shoulders), large, rear-set ears, and Zebra like stripes on the rump and upper parts of the legs.
The female bears a single calf in Aungust — October, after a gestation of 425-491 days.
She defends her offspring against predators, but the bond between mother and young is not as strong as in many other hoofed animals.

The Okapi was not identified as a distinct species until 1900 — 1901.
Before that time it had been sighted occasionally, but mainly from the rear. Being shy and secretive, it had dashed away from humans into the dense forest. The impression of a forest-dwelling Zebra was reinforced by the few specimens of old skin.

Upvotes at import: 34 | Stars at import: 18
Posted previously at: 2015-09-19T18:11:05 | Posted previously by: TheFriendlyElephant