WCN Wildlife Conservation Network | Okapi Conservation Project

The spirit of innovation in conservation

John Lukas

John Lukas has been active in international conservation for over twenty-five years. He founded the Okapi Conservation Project in 1987. He is also a co-founder and serves as a Board Member of the Wildlife Conservation Network. His expansive experience with wildlife includes directorship of the White Oak Conservation Center in Yulee, Florida, a world premier facility for wildlife breeding and research on endangered species.

Threats

Found only in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the okapi is a shy and elusive forest dweller and the only living relative of the giraffe. Its unusual coloration and markings, including stripes resembling a zebra, provide camouflage in the dense rainforest. It is vulnerable to pressures from natural resource extraction and over a decade of civil unrest.

Solutions

In 1992, the Okapi Conservation Project (OCP) created the Okapi Wildlife Reserve to provide shelter to the species in its native habitat, the Ituri Forest. To support the Okapi's long-term survival, OCP trains and equips wildlife guards and provides assistance to improve the lives of neighboring communities. It raises awareness of threats to the okapi and teaches alternative agricultural practices to preserve the ecosystem.

A Trip to the Congo

The rich forests of the Congo are home to the okapi, a forest giraffe found nowhere else on earth. For over twenty years, through two civil wars, Gilman International Conservation (GIC) has operated the Okapi Conservation Project in the Ituri Forest of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Travel to eastern DR Congo is never easy, and ongoing rebel uprisings in the region further complicate such an endeavor. More