Okapi Wildlife Reserve

Okapi Wildlife Reserve
Epulu River in the Okapi Wildlife Reserve
Map showing the location of Okapi Wildlife Reserve
Map showing the location of Okapi Wildlife Reserve
LocationDemocratic Republic of the Congo
Nearest cityIsiro
Coordinates02°00′00″N 28°30′00″E / 2.00000°N 28.50000°E / 2.00000; 28.50000
Area13,726.25 km2 (5,299.73 sq mi)[1]
Established1992[2]
Governing bodyl'Institut Congolais pour la Conservation de la Nature (ICCN)
CriteriaNatural: x
Reference718
Inscription1996 (20th Session)
Endangered1997 -

The Okapi Wildlife Reserve (French: Réserve de faune à okapis) is a wildlife reserve in the Ituri Forest in the north-east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, near the borders with South Sudan and Uganda.[3] At approximately 14,000 km2, it covers approximately one-fifth of the area of the forest. In 1996, the Okapi Wildlife Reserve was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site, due to its large population of endangered okapis and its high overall biodiversity.[4]

  1. ^ INSTITUT CONGOLAIS POUR LA CONSERVATION DE LA NATURE. Okapi Archived 2005-01-18 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ Okapi Archived 1997-07-10 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ "21 World Heritage Sites you have probably never heard of". The Telegraph. Daily Telegraph. 4 February 2016.
  4. ^ "Okapi Wildlife Refuge". UNESCO World Heritage Centre. United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. Retrieved 13 June 2021.