Okapi School at the Park
Posted at 9:04 am August 21, 2007 by Marcia ReddingLife has been very interesting lately for our okapi population. At the Wild Animal Park, we are fortunate enough to have a specialized piece of equipment called the Okapi Restraint Box (ORB). This consists of a padded stall with a moveable wall to limit the animal’s movement, and access doors on both sides as well as the front and rear panels. The animals aren’t physically restrained: we train them to accept the ORB as a positioning tool, using positive reinforcement. One of the biggest challenges has been discovering each animal’s favorite reward. Their tastes are surprisingly individual; what works for one does not necessarily motivate the others.
Our oldest female, Kasai, has been a particular problem (see Marcia’s previous blog, A Very Special Okapi). She has congestive heart disease and has been maintaining very well on medication for many years. Frequent sonograms to check her heart condition are helpful, but have been stressful for her. Recently, her condition has progressed a bit, calling for an increase in her medication and probably more frequent exams. We want the procedures to be as stress free as possible, but Kasai has never enjoyed being rubbed and scratched as do some of the others. She also has refused to eat browse or take even the most favored food items from our hands.
We decided that something really needed to be done so our old girl could be as comfortable as possible. We started by raiding the Park’s Forage Warehouse for any vegetable or pellet that might strike her fancy (with the blessing of our Nutrition Department). Green beans, celery, kale, broccoli, collard greens - no luck. The last thing we tried was romaine lettuce. Nobody had much hope by this point, but as soon as she tasted the lettuce, it became clear we had found our reward item. She was so excited about the lettuce she was snatching it out of our hands!
Since we began rewarding her with the lettuce while in the ORB, she has made tremendous progress, allowing us to access most parts of her body and to desensitize the area on her side where the sonogram machine is used to check her heart. We practice with a wooden replica of the transducer (the part that touches her body) and have practiced applying alcohol to the area just as the vets would. Another important detail was to have unfamiliar people milling around while working with her in the ORB, to simulate conditions during an actual exam. The wonderful RVT’s (Registered Veterinary Technicians) from the Park’s Harter Veterinary Medical Center have helped us out with this; whenever possible they join us for the ORB sessions, and we also have other keepers around whenever possible. Often, an animal that is perfectly desensitized for a procedure completely loses it when faced with the reality of strange equipment and people in the area.
All the other okapis have been benefiting from this training as well. We make a point of introducing things like tool boxes, a small wagon, various boxes and bags, etc., so the unexpected appearance of strange objects such as veterinary equipment is not such a big deal. We have been concentrating on the females of breeding age so sonograms to check pregnancies become relatively routine for them. So far, all of the animals have made progress. As long as we continue our “lessons,” I’m sure that when a real veterinary exam comes along, our okapis will pass the test!
Marcia Redding is a senior keeper at the Wild Animal Park.
Read about the Zoo’s newest okapi calf.
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August 21st, 2007 at 9:52 am
Marcia, How old is Kasai, This piece of equiptnment sounds like a god send and how each animal reacts to it. I’m glad that you have found something that pleases her and makes having familar people around comforts her. thanks to all your patience and loving care she will live a better life. It’s great to see that the others are gaining some sense of trust when introduced to strange items, this makes life easier for humans and animals alike. people don’t realize just how important things like this are, if there was any emergency where you had to move animals fast this would be a life saver. Thanks to all the vets and keepers who make Kasai’s life better
August 21st, 2007 at 11:28 am
Thanks for the nice comments, Barbara! Kasai is 22 years old. The longevity record for captive okapis is around 30. Hopefully we’ll have our old girl for a few more years!
August 21st, 2007 at 1:31 pm
Great update, Marcia! Kudos for patiently searching until you found the “right” reward. Since Romaine lettuce is known to be nutritionally superior to other greens, is it possible it contains something that Kasai’s body was craving and you found it when you gave her the Romaine lettuce? Perhaps it might even benefit her medically and provide some vitamin or amino acid that will improve her weak heart.
She sure sounds like she is one very happy girl with her new treat. And she is learning, and benefiting in the process.
August 21st, 2007 at 4:29 pm
Thanks for updating us on Kasai’s condition! She is a special girl and you found her perfect special treat! I’m so glad she’s allowing you to examine her…yes hopefully she will be happy and healthy for years to come!
August 26th, 2007 at 7:45 am
How do you make sure they get the exercise they need? When I can’t ride my horse I put a lunge line on him to make sure he maintains good muscle tone. I also have house cats who all have bellies touching the ground because of lack of exercise. I carefully monitor their diet, but I can’t chase them around the house in order to keep them fit. How does one make sure a wild animal living in a zoo gets the exercise he or she needs to maintain good health? Thank you.
PS: I wish the zoo would personalize the web pages for all of the animals like they do the pandas. I went to look up the bios and names of the okapis and all I found was a generic description of okapis.
August 26th, 2007 at 7:14 pm
Good questions, Beth. Okapis and horses are very different in terms of behavior. We need to be sure our domestic equines get enough exercise - as herd animals, the lifestyle of their wild counterparts involves covering lots of ground while grazing. As well, their first impulse upon being startled is often to run from the threat. Okapis, on the other hand, are solitary animals. Their lifestyle in the wild can best be described as “meandering,” moving slowly through the forest as they browse - leaves are their main diet, instead of grass. Upon being startled, their first defense is to freeze and rely on their camouflage, which usually serves them well. Running or kicking is a last resort. Thus, if we feed our Okapis appropriately and allow them to behave naturally, they maintain good body condition very well without supplementary exercise. It is much more difficult to reproduce the lifestyle of wild equines for our domestic horses - they have evolved to need lots of exercise.
Good idea about bios for the Okapis. They all have different personalities and stories. Sometime soon I’ll post a blog introducing them to everybody.