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More informationOkapi
Okapi johnstoni
Natural diet Okapi
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%
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, alfalfa, roughage
50% Browse
Proportions (fresh product)
0,15 x 5 kg = 750 g concentrates
0,35 x 5 kg = 1.750 g grass, alfalfa, roughage
0,5 x 5 kg = 2.500 g browse
Feeding advice Okapi
Feed quantity per day
2%
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, alfalfa, roughage
50% Browse
Proportions (fresh product)
0,15 x 5 kg = 750 g concentrates
0,35 x 5 kg = 1.750 g grass, alfalfa, roughage
0,5 x 5 kg = 2.500 g browse
Diet Suggestions
Recommended
Variety of browse
Alfalfa hay
Pellets
Salt lick
In moderation
Variety of leafy greens
Grass hay
Not recommended
Fruits
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
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).
Diet Suggestions
Recommended
Variety of browse
Alfalfa hay
Pellets
Salt lick
In moderation
Variety of leafy greens
Grass hay
Not recommended
Fruits
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
