With a tongue that can extend up to 18 inches (45 cm), the okapi uses this remarkable adaptation to skillfully strip leaves, buds, and fruit from the understory trees of the Congo Basin. Their diet, rich in over 100 plant species, helps shape the forest’s biodiversity—an unsung but vital ecological role. Often mistaken as relatives of zebras due to their stripes, okapis are actually the only living relative of the giraffe. Yet unlike their towering cousins, these secretive animals are found solely in the Democratic Republic of Congo—and nowhere else on Earth. As threats like logging and mining continue to erode their habitat, each image like this is a reminder: the okapi’s survival is delicately balanced. Protecting them means preserving one of the world’s last great tropical forests. #Okapi #IturiForest #CongoWildlife #EndangeredSpecies #CameraTrap #ConservationMatters #WildlifeOfAfrica #ProtectTheRainforest #ForestGiraffe (fb)

Bongos are among the largest and most secretive forest antelopes. Their shy nature and preference for dense, inaccessible forests make sightings extraordinarily rare—even for researchers. They are mostly nocturnal or crepuscular, feeding on leaves, shoots, grasses, and bark during the cooler hours of dawn, dusk, and night. In this video, a bongo is caught on camera, and does something deeply ordinary and deeply telling: it eats, and it tries to shake off the biting insects that pester it in the dense humidity. (fb)