Bristol Zoo okapis
I know it is sad but give me a Studbook or Annual report and I can be amused for ages - must be to do with me being an Accountant !
Bristol zoo was my first and probably responsible for me being a life-long zoo enthusiast . At a very early age I suspect I had an elephant ride on Rosie .
I remember the first pair of okapis at Bristol and have probably seen nearly all on show since as well as seeing a large group at Hollywood Towers housed in simple stables and yards .
I have often wondered what happened to all the okapis bred by Bristol, I did once contact Antwerp asking for a copy of the studbook but got no reply . I suspected it might be found somewhere in the internet .
After some analysis I have now found that between 1963 and 1995 there were 28 live births in the Bristol group . Of these 10 lived less than 1 year , 5 between 1 and 5 years , 5 between 6 and 12 years , the remaining 8 more than 12 years - female Bilota who went to London was the longest lived at 19 .
Only 4 were exported - females Bilota , Kasindi to Antwerp , Lisala to Rotterdam ( she died in 2007 )and male Madolo to Paris . They all bred - 22 offspring in all - spreading the Bristol genes through the population .
Another 8 of the 28 born produced offspring at Bristol .
As well as the original pair Bakeda and Mazanga who produced 6 offspring , Josef who was born in Frankfurt and arrived in 1967 sired 10 offspring . Male Mazanga sired another 5 calves with 3 females related to him but all with sire Josef . Two other males , Kibali and Sura both born in Rotterdam spent time at Bristol but only Babs sired by Kibali survived to adulthood .
