In February 2025, rangers at Okapi Wildlife Reserve in the Democratic Republic of Congo, in partnership with the Okapi Conservation Project, successfully brought an okapi to Epulu, site of the reserve’s headquarters. It’s the first okapi (Okapia johnstoni) there in more than 10 years, after an armed attack killed killed seven people and the Epulu wildlife facility’s population of 14 captive okapis (Okapia johnstoni).

The endangered okapi was captured near the city of Bunia and is now under the watch of the reserve’s rangers as it roams freely in Epulu. Park visitors may be lucky enough to see it again a decade later, if security conditions permit, sources say.

“We welcome the return of the okapi with great joy after the tragedy in Epulu,” said Andy Kambale Matuku, coordinator of the environmental organization Journalist Friends of Nature in the DRC’s Ituri province, where the reserve is located. “The okapi is the pride of Mambasa [territory] and put us on the map. If it were to disappear, the Mambasa territory would be consigned to oblivion,” he said.

Okapis are popular in Ituri’s Mambasa region due to their reputation as clean animals, which makes them “a symbol of pride,” Dieudonné Lossa, a member of the local community and provincial coordinator of the REDD+ climate working group, told Mongabay.

“The okapi is an animal of great cultural importance in Ituri; if you come across one in the forest, you are lucky. They symbolize cleanliness and peace, because they are not violent. Having them in our forests is a great source of pride,” he said.

The okapi’s return to Epulu is under maximum surveillance due to the precarious security situation in the region. This protected area is threatened by armed gangs, poachers and illegal gold mining, all of which endanger the species’ natural habitat.

“We are not sharing information about the okapi in Epulu at this time, for the safety of both the animal and our team,” John Lukas, reserve director and founder of the Okapi Conservation Project, told Mongabay in an email. “The animal is in quarantine, and due to the volatile political situation, we may be forced to return it to the forest if the situation near or in Epulu becomes unsafe for our staff and they have to evacuate. At that point, no one will be able to care for the okapi.”

In 2012, armed men led by a poaching militia leader known as Morgan attacked the Epulu research center, killing seven people and 14 okapis, mascots for the protection of the Ituri forest. Since then, the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and the Congolese Institute for the Conservation of Nature (ICCN), a DRC government agency, have supported efforts to bring the animal sometimes called “the African unicorn” back to the Epulu site.

Across the region, unsustainable activities like the illegal timber trade have had a negative impact on okapis and their habitats, Matuku said, adding that danger still persists. “Even today, there are still some armed groups in the Okapi Wildlife Reserve. I hope the authorities step up their efforts to make sure what happened 13 years ago never happens again, so that this animal can be preserved for future generations.”

According to reserve officials who spoke to RFI and DeskNature, a local DRC media outlet, okapis are difficult to protect due to the presence of rebel groups such as the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a Ugandan Islamist armed group, in the Ituri forest. Experts say this instability has contributed to the continued decline of the okapi population, with an estimated 5,000 okapis left in the wildlife reserve.

Banner image: An okapi at Bronx Zoo in the United States. Image by Ryan Schwark via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain).

This story was first published here in French on April 17, 2025 as part of Mongabay Africa’s fellowship program for environmental journalism.

We know how many okapi live in zoos. In the wild? It’s complicated