Bachelorprojekt, Heidi Skjold Jensen (KU-BIO), Torben Dabelsteen (KU-BIO), Mikkel Stelvig

The study is concentrated on the two male okapi at Copenhagen Zoo. One of them is a newcomer that just arrived at the Zoo the 21th of March 2011. The study was conducted during the spring 2011. Measurements of behavioural patterns and temperature were made two times a day at different hours. This was done to reveal any possible changes in behaviour, due to a rise in temperature and time of day. The animals locations in the exhibits were also observed to determine if there were any changes in stay during the day and if the animals had any preferred areas. As sampling rule I used Scan sampling and as recording rule I used time sampling where I used both Instantaneous sampling and One-zero sampling. With 2 min intervals. The results showed that the okapis used their entire enclosure, but they had some preferred zones by the fence to the neighbouring enclosure. Some of the behaviours changed during the day. And some of the behaviours varied a great deal between the two okapis, one was walking a lot and the other one was stationary. The behaviour patterns for one of the okapis correlated with the temperature and the other one did not. So I could not confirm that the okapis activity level increased as spring progressed. Due to the limited animals in the survey, the results can not be generalized to the larger population but only be used as a guide line for the okapis present in Copenhagen Zoo.