October 18th

Celebrate the okapi and spread awareness.

World Okapi Day is centered around celebrating this special animal and using it as a flagship species to protect the entire forest ecosystem in which it lives. Fun, exciting activities are planned in eight villages around the Okapi Wildlife reserve and are combined with educational messaging targeting key demographics including children, women, Mbuti, and communities in and around the Reserve. 

People all over the Reserve are excited to celebrate the okapi on World Okapi Day. In 2021, by popular demand,  we extended our celebrations to two more villages. World Okapi Day is a chance for the people of the Reserve to celebrate their national animal, the beauty of their natural environment, the culture and traditions of the Mbuti, and their hard work in conservation.

But World Okapi Day is also a chance for people all over the world to celebrate! Join us in our effort to educate about and protect the endangered okapi! We want to know what you are doing to celebrate the day. We’ve created a Social Media Toolkit to help you celebrate and share the day with your friends and family. We also want to see your celebrations! Tag us and use the hashtags below to share your celebrations!

 Ways you can help save okapi:

• Visit your nearest zoo or okapi holding facility. See our list of partners and supporters in North America, Europe, and Asia here.

• Tell your family and friends about the okapi.

• Recycle your old cell phones – they contain coltan, a dull, black metallic ore mined in the forests of DRC that is used in every electronic device. Recycling your phones and electronic devices can reduce the need for mining in the forest.

• Post your best okapi photos on social media and use the hashtags #OkapiConservation and #WorldOkapiDay on all your okapi-related posts. See some of our social media graphics to share below!

• Contribute to the Okapi Conservation Project by visiting by clicking here. One hundred percent of the proceeds go to help protect okapi and its habitat.

• Host your own okapi awareness event! Get creative! And be sure to share with us what you did! Take photos and email them to info@okapiconservation.org and you may be featured on our social media channels!