#443 Erkenningsnummer P708816
AUGUST 17, 2016 \ newsweekly - € 0,75 \ read more at www.flanderstoday.eu current affairs \ p2
politics \ p4
Medal medley
Belgian athletes have won a medal of every sort at the Rio Olympics, some expected and others more of a surprise – and more are not ruled out \2
BUSiNESS \ p6
innovation \ p7
Hot heads
education \ p9
art & living \ p10
Mad money
A farm and bakery in the village of Eeklo keeps the legend of East Flanders’ “head baker” alive, though in its own jovial way
An exhibition in Ghent showcases work that illustrates the market economy’s early days, and one collector says history is about to repeat itself
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© Bart Van der Moeren
Making matches
Antwerp Zoo holds the key to much of the world’s preservation of endangered species Bartosz Brzezinski More articles by Bartosz \ flanderstoday.eu
Behind the scenes at Antwerp Zoo is a fascinating world of laboratories, genetic records and animal poo, as scientists and care managers work to protect some of the world’s most endangered species.
T
he okapi waits patiently as its caretaker steps out of the enclosure to get some more breakfast snacks. Noticing a freshly cut branch, the animal sticks out its long, flexible tongue and tries to sneak a mouthful of leaves. At first glance, the slender okapi looks nothing like its closest living relative, the giraffe. It’s no larger than a horse, and
its neck and legs are normal length. Look closely, and you might take it for a hybrid, its striped legs borrowed from a zebra, its caramel-coloured torso that of an antelope. While the enclosures at Antwerp Zoo are being enlarged and renovated, the park is home to three okapis, down from the usual five to 10. There are an estimated 10,000 to 35,000 of them left in the wild. While that may seem like a high number, all of them live in the equatorial forests of the Congo, a country ravaged by years of internal conflict and environmental degradation. “Today we are at the forefront of the fight to preserve this stunning animal,” says Ilse Segers, the zoo’s spokesperson.
“The okapi is an essential part of our zoo’s history. We were the first in the world to have one on display.” The zoo’s first okapi, Buta, arrived in 1919, after a sea voyage of several weeks. The nine-month-old proved to be an instant sensation with the crowds; most people have never seen or heard of the animal. Within a month, however, the calf grew much weaker and eventually died. “Back then nobody was thinking about conservation,” explains Sander Hofman, the park’s animal care manager. “When a zoo wanted to add a new species to its collection, it would capture the animal in the wild, bring it to Europe and display it in a cage. And when the animal died, the park continued on page 5