Disney: Young okapi now seen on savanna at Animal Kingdom Lodge

Dewayne Bevil, Orlando Sentinel
·1 min read
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Beni, the okapi calf born last summer at Walt Disney World, can now been seen by the public on the savanna at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge.

He is accompanied there by his mother Olivia. (The father is named Elombe.) Beni is now 4 feet tall and weighs in at about 230 pounds, Disney says. He could grow to be 6 feet tall and 650 pounds.

Beni’s birth in July was part of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ Species Survival Plan. Okapis are endangered in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, their home country, and they are usually seen in the rainforest — or not seen, really, because they are good at camouflaging themselves. Beni is named after a town in the DRC.

Okapi also can been seen on the Kilimanjaro Safaris attraction inside Disney’s Animal Kingdom theme park.

The care of Olivia during her pregnancy (her first), is part of the second season of “Magic of Disney’s Animal Kingdom,” which can be seen on the Disney+ streaming service. Ben is the 12th okapi born at Disney World, and the fifth at Animal Kingdom Lodge.

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