A rare female okapi calf named Nia Nia was born at Chester Zoo in England on 28 December 2020, the zoo has announced.
Born to seven-year-old mum, K'tusha, following a 14-month pregnancy, the rare calf was called Nia Nia, after a village in the Democratic Republic of Congo - the only place in the world where okapis are found in the wild, the zoo said.
Zoo experts celebrated the birth, calling it a "vital" boost to the endangered species breeding programme.
It's a girl!: Rare okapi calf born at Chester Zoo takes first wobbly steps. | Read more: https://t.co/nQVgnbbEYe pic.twitter.com/nK96NhRYqc
— RTÉ News (@rtenews) March 5, 2021
One of the oldest mammals left on Earth, okapi are nicknamed the 'African unicorn' due to their shy and elusive nature. They were only discovered by scientists in 1901 and are the only known living relatives of the giraffe, the zoo said in a statement.
"This new ‘lockdown’ birth is a huge celebration for conservationists at the zoo, as okapis are so rarely seen in the wild that they’ve been nicknamed the 'African unicorn'," the zoo said in a statement.
Videos shared by the zoo shows Nia Nia’s first wobbly steps which were caught on the zoo’s CCTV cameras shortly after birth. It also includes footage of Nia Nia stepping outside for the very first time after weeks of life snuggled up in a nest.
