Lindsey and the Baby Okapi Blue Peter Bite

This is Blue Peter, but mini.

Expect epic adventures, makes, bakes, badges, pets,

presenters and your host.

We've only got five minutes to get ready for your Blue Peter adventure.

We're at Chester Zoo, home to over 12,000 animals

and a fair few babies.

Lots of zoos have breeding programmes

and this helps maintain the population of animals in captivity.

I'm here to meet a pregnant okapi called Stuma

and her zookeeper, Fi.

So, Fi, why are okapis so unique?

I think you just have to look at them.

They are relatives of the giraffe

and they have the ossicones, the horns, like giraffes do.

-They are stunning.

-How many okapis are in the wild at the moment?

There was a report in 2013 that announced that there were

only 10,000 okapi left in the Congo.

Okapis are native to Central Africa

and are now under threat due to hunting

and their natural habitat being destroyed.

According to the World Resources Institute, since 2000,

forest land the size of England has been destroyed every year.

That's why breeding programmes like this one are essential.

So, Fi, what are we going to be doing today?

-We need to go back inside and collect a sample.

-Ah, come on, then.

It does smell a bit in here, doesn't it? Do you get used to working here?

-Yeah, it's worth it.

-OK, so how much do you need?

-About six pellets. Just a small amount.

-OK.

It's quite hard.

SHE LAUGHS

Two.

OK, where am I going with this?

-You need to get yourself over to the lab.

-OK. Thanks, Fi.

Studying poo samples is a really easy way to find out

the general health of an animal. Although it is a bit gross!

Lab technician Becky tests and monitors all the animals in the zoo.

-Hello, Becky, good to meet you.

-Hiya.

-I've brought along my poo.

-Not MY poo, obviously!

-Lovely, thanks(!)

Stuma's poo. What are we doing with it today?

-Right, today we're going to see how much hormones in this.

-OK.

During pregnancy, hormone levels change within a mother.

This information can tell us how close Stuma is to giving birth.

Wow, they're really green! Why has that happened?

Light green means there's loads of hormone in there.

We take a reading from this

and then we enter it into her data on the laptop here.

This graph tells us she's about 13 months into her pregnancy.

Sounds amazing!

Who knew poo could show you so much?

A few weeks later, Stuma went into labour

and the zoo cameras were able to capture this amazing moment on film.

After a 14-month pregnancy, a perfect baby, Usala, is born.

So I came back to meet him.

So, Fi, we've got little baby Usala back there.

-How's he been getting on?

-He's doing really well.

He's seven weeks old already. Almost trebled in size.

-Wow!

-Feeding well. Yes, it's going good.

So he's nice and healthy.

-What does he eat at the moment?

-Just Mum's milk.

-OK, so no watermelons just yet?

-No, not yet.

-And he hasn't been to the loo yet, has he?

-No.

It's natural for okapi to not do a poo for about six weeks or more.

-Wow!

-And that's a good thing.

In the wild, they'd nest, so if he does do a poo,

it would mean predators would sniff out the nest

and it's a way of protecting themselves in the wild.

He's actually looking over at us.

He knows we're talking about him, doesn't he?

-Shall we let him get outside and play with his mum again?

-Yeah.

What a privilege it is to witness the start

of such a beautiful animal's life.

How cute do they look together?

I think the okapi is officially my favourite animal.

Shall we go and see what else the zoo has got?

Ah, he's great.

Not an okapi, is it?

Where are your stripes, mate?

ELEPHANT TRUMPETS Nah.

That's better.

Getting to witness the story of Usala has been amazing,

and breeding in captivity for animals like the okapi

is so important because they are under threat in the wild.

So it's really key that we do everything we can to support them

and protect their environment.

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