Okapi Wildlife Reserve

The Okapi Wildlife Reserve, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, is a biodiversity hotspot within the Ituri Forest, renowned for protecting the endangered okapi, a unique forest giraffe, along with numerous threatened species of primates and birds. Established in 1992 and designated a World Heritage Site in 1996, it serves as a Pleistocene refuge with dense evergreen forests and dramatic scenery, including waterfalls along the Ituri and Epulu rivers. The reserve also preserves the cultural heritage of the nomadic Mbuti and Efe pygmy hunters, though it faces ongoing threats from deforestation, poaching, and illegal mining.

okapi wildlife reserve

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