Okapi Wildlife Reserve History, Travel Information, Hotels, Fare, Geography, Facts And More
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PERSONAL INFORMATION
NAME
Okapi Wildlife Reserve
COUNTRY
Congo
ADDRESS
N4, Congo ? Kinshasa
OKAPI WILDLIFE RESERVE PICTURE
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About Okapi Wildlife Reserve
Okapi Wildlife Reserve is a national park located in the Ituri Forest in the northeast region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It was established in the year 1992. It lies close to the borders of Sudan and Uganda. The reserve area constitutes about one-fifth area of the forest and is about 14,000-kilometer square. It became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the year 1996 and was put on the list of endangered sites in the following year.
Some Lesser Known Facts About Okapi Wildlife Reserve
- Three rivers Ituri, Nepoko, and Epulu cross through the reserve. Also, it is overlooked by Mbiya Mountain.
- About 4000 elephants, 5000 okapis, and 2000 chimpanzees, crocodiles, and leopards live here. Forest buffalo and water chevrotain also live in the forest alongside 300 species of bird.
- The forest is also home to nomadic Mbuti pygmies and indigenous Bantu farmers alongside animals.
- The site is in danger due to deforestation, commercial hunting alongside slash and burn agriculture. Some gold mines are also found in the area and the mining activities are also a great threat to the wilderness of the area. The political and economic conditions of the country are not favorable due to this proper funds are not available for conservation. Eco-tourism has been developed in order to arrange funds and generate awareness about conservation.
- The site was subject to the attack in June 2012 in which a group of Mai-Mai rebels, lead by Paul Sadala attacked and looted the area. The group consisted of elephant poachers and illegal miners. They killed 14 okapis alongside six people including two wildlife rangers. Following the attack, Congolese army troops and guards from the Congolese Wildlife Authority, are assigned the duty to safeguard the area due to which the security situation had been improved.
- Once again there was an attack in July 2017 in a part of the reserve that is close to Mambasa just like an attack of 2012. Though foreign journalists and many of the local park rangers were able to escape, five local reserve employees including four wardens and a tracker were killed in the attack. A number of attackers were also killed in response to the attack.
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