Transcription
Okapi’s Have Arrived At The Sacramento Zoo
Tish: We’ve moved inside the okapi barn. And look, this is the brand new feature here at the Sacramento Zoo. This is an okapi. And there he is. He is six years old. His name is…
Jason: His name is Mo.
Tish: Mo, and you can come out and meet him today for half price. The zoo is holding a special half-price day, just one of four that they’re going to be having throughout the year. And I have with me, CEO Jason Jacobs. Jason, tell me about the new okapi exhibit and what’s going on today.
Jason: Well, we’re in the barn in the okapi exhibit which is, kind of, like their bedrooms. And attached to this are two huge outdoor forested yards where we have homes for both Mo and Forest, are the okapi, Mo and Forest. And okapis are gorgeous species. They’re relatives of the giraffe, their closet living relative…
Tish: Yeah, you really see that in the face.
Jason: …even though they look like a committee of zoologists put them together. And they’re very rare. We’re one of only three institutions on the West Coast that houses this species and we’re so proud of it. They’re incredibly beautiful and we want the whole community to come out today to see them. We’re half-price admissions, so that means many families came come in and enjoy the okapis as well as over 500 other animals we have here at the zoo.
Tish: And this is, again, just one of four days. And tell me about what it means to you guys to be opening up and giving people in the community maybe an opportunity to come out that, maybe, usually can’t afford to come out to the zoo.
Jason: Well, our mission is to educate and inspire. And part of that is being a zoo for all. So we want to make the zoo as accessible as we can to every member of this community. That means that we have these half-price days scheduled throughout the year as well as a free day in December of this year. And it’s important that people see incredible animals like the okapi. You could go to the Democratic Republic of Congo and spend a year there and never see one in the forest. That’s what the researchers who we support tell us. We don’t just have okapis here at Sacramento Zoo, we support their conservation in the DRC. So, that’s important for our community to realize, that every time they visit the zoo they’re helping to save animals.
Tish: Save animals, and you can, again, come out and do that for half price. Thank you, Jason. And see the okapi, again, today for half price. And then they’re going to be doing a couple more in July and then another in August.
At the Sacramento Zoo, Tish Palamidessi, KCRA 3 News.
