Okapi Wildlife Reserve

The Okapi Wildlife Reserve covers around fourteen thousand square kilometres of the Ituri forest and was inscribed in 1996 for its forest and for the okapi, the forest giraffe found only in this country. It also protects a large primate list, forest elephant, and the traditional territories of Mbuti and Efe communities who live within the reserve. The station at Epulu, on the main road, was long the centre of okapi research and captive breeding, and it was badly damaged in an attack in 2012 before being rebuilt.

History

The Okapi Wildlife Reserve was created in 1992 with the help of the Okapi Conservation Project, which still trains and equips its guards and supports neighbouring communities, and it was designated a World Heritage Site in 1996 for its large population of endangered okapis and its high biodiversity. It was added to the List of World Heritage in Danger in 1997, threatened by slash-and-burn farming, commercial bushmeat hunting and gold mining (Wikipedia, Okapi Wildlife Reserve).

The landscape

• The Ituri forest - dense lowland rainforest with mahogany and ironwood in the canopy.
• The okapi - the forest giraffe, extremely hard to see in the wild but present here in numbers.
• The Epulu station - the research and conservation centre on the reserve's main road.
• The primate list - thirteen or more primate species, among the richest counts in Africa.

When to go

The drier windows, December to February and June to August, make the forest tracks passable. Rain falls in every month here. Forest walks start early, before the heat and while animals are still moving.

Things to know

Seeing a wild okapi is extremely unlikely; almost nobody does. The forest is hot, wet and difficult walking, with insects a constant. Access is arranged with the reserve and independent visits are not the arrangement. Facilities at Epulu are basic.

Nearby

Mambasa is south-east on the main road, and the wider Ituri forest surrounds the reserve.

Key facts