What makes the okapi special, and why is it hard to see?
The okapi is the only living relative of the giraffe, yet it was not pictured in person until 2008. It has a 15-inch tongue similar to a giraffe's and uses zebra-like stripes on its legs for camouflage in rainforests.
At a glance
Length
21 min
Channel
Orlando Experience
Video from
Sep 2025
Rating
⭐⭐ Great video · 2/2
Best for
Families and wildlife enthusiasts visiting Tampa who want an immersive, educational animal encounter beyond standard zoo viewing.
What this video answers
What makes the okapi special, and why is it hard to see?
How does the Species Survival Plan (SSP) work at ZooTampa?
Why do African painted dogs sleep so much?
What is enrichment, and how does the zoo use it?
How fast do rhinos grow, and why are drain tanks visible in the rhino habitat?
Reads the guide aloud in your browser — free, no account.
What to Expect on the Expedition Wild Africa Safari at ZooTampa
ZooTampa at Lowry Park offers an expedition truck safari that takes you behind the scenes through the Habari Preserve, a mixed-species open habitat where African wildlife roams naturally. You'll board an open-air safari vehicle with a knowledgeable guide who shares animal facts and conservation stories as you move through multiple habitats. This is not a casual walking tour—it's an immersive vehicle experience designed to get you closer to animals like giraffes' only living relative (the okapi), African painted dogs, rhinos, bongos, maribou storks, and crowned cranes.
The experience suits anyone curious about African wildlife, families wanting an educational adventure beyond typical zoo viewing, and travelers interested in seeing how zoos contribute to species survival through breeding programs. The tour emphasizes conservation, letting you understand why these animals matter and how facilities like ZooTampa help protect endangered populations across the globe.
Key Moments
Key Animals and Moments on the Safari Drive
Golden-colored potto monkeys in their habitat, complete with enrichment toys, including a multi-generational all-female family with grandmothers, mothers, and grandchildren
Three maribou storks with 10-foot wingspans and an African crowned crane named Bert that dances at his reflection in the truck, with a call audible up to 3 miles away
Three young bongos (Meer, Mac, and Millie) born about six months ago, with distinctive orange-brown coats and white stripes that blend into their natural environment
Odette, a rare shoebill—one of only five in North American facilities and part of ZooTampa's exclusive three-shoebill collection, the only facility in North America with a breeding pair
An okapi named Zach, the "ghost of the rainforest" and giraffe's only living relative, featuring a 15-inch tongue and zebra-like leg stripes for camouflage
The southern white rhino family, including Mufasa (over 6,000 lbs and the largest rhino you'll likely ever see) and young Maku (under 2 years old, already over 2,000 lbs)
Before You Board: Rules and Practical Details
Lap sitters must remain seated; no standing on laps allowed during the ride for safety
Keep all heads and arms inside the truck at all times to prevent injury in the open habitat
Water is permitted; no other food or drinking is allowed on the vehicle
The safari passes through a mixed-species open habitat where you may see animals anywhere along the route—sightings are never guaranteed but the guide will point out signs and behaviors
Okapi like Zach avoid heat and rain, so he may not be visible during hot or rainy days; the guide will note when sightings are especially rare or lucky
Watch for the Species Survival Plan logo (two horses symbol) throughout the park to identify animals part of this genetic matching and conservation breeding program
The zoo has welcomed nine baby rhinos over time, and you'll see baby-proofing features like drain tanks at the bottom of fences and mitten holes used for health monitoring
Frequently Asked Questions About the ZooTampa Safari Experience
What makes the okapi special, and why is it hard to see?
The okapi is the only living relative of the giraffe, yet it was not pictured in person until 2008. It has a 15-inch tongue similar to a giraffe's and uses zebra-like stripes on its legs for camouflage in rainforests. Okapi dislike heat and rain, so they retreat indoors during hot or wet weather, making outdoor sightings a lucky occurrence.
How does the Species Survival Plan (SSP) work at ZooTampa?
The SSP functions like a "dating site" for animals, using genetic matching to ensure offspring are more diverse and healthy. ZooTampa participates with over 70 animals, including rhinos (founding members of the program). The zoo recently swapped male rhinos with California—Mufasa arrived here and became a first-time dad, while the male already here was relocated.
Why do African painted dogs sleep so much?
African painted dogs spend most of their days sleeping; when they hunt, they have one of the highest success rates of any predator, catching prey about 80% of the time compared to lions' 25–30% success rate. The zoo has three of these dogs—two females and one male (Dakota)—and hopes to welcome puppies through the breeding program, as only about 7,000 remain in the wild.
What is enrichment, and how does the zoo use it?
Enrichment refers to toys and activities that stimulate animals mentally and physically, much like giving a dog a toy. The zoo uses puzzle feeders, logs, tires, and bubbles (which penguins chase because they mimic the reflection of fish scales). Enrichment keeps animals engaged and supports their natural behaviors.
How fast do rhinos grow, and why are drain tanks visible in the rhino habitat?
Rhino calves are born weighing 80–100 lbs and gain about 100 lbs every month until full maturity. Young Maku, under 2 years old, already weighs over 2,000 lbs. Drain tanks at the bottom of fences act as "baby proofing" to prevent calves from slipping through cracks in the habitat.
A breeding program that genetically matches animals across facilities to ensure offspring are healthy and diverse, working like a dating site for conservation.
Enrichment
Toys, puzzles, and activities given to zoo animals to stimulate their minds and encourage natural behaviors, similar to toys for pets.
Okapi
A rainforest animal with zebra-like stripes and a long tongue that is the only living relative of the giraffe.
Habari Preserve
A mixed-species open habitat at ZooTampa where multiple types of African animals live together in a naturalistic setting.
Shoebill
A rare, large wading bird with a distinctive bill, of which only five exist in North American zoo facilities.
African painted dog
An endangered wild dog with one of the highest hunting success rates of any predator, with fewer than 7,000 remaining in the wild.
This video delivers genuine educational value, going far beyond typical zoo footage by explaining the *why* behind what you're seeing—breeding programs, animal behavior, conservation challenges, and specific individual stories. The guide's knowledge transforms the safari from a photo opportunity into a narrative about endangered species and how modern zoos actively contribute to survival.
What impressed me most was the honesty about sightings. The guide doesn't pretend every animal will appear; instead, they explain why (okapi avoid rain, rhinos are mobile), which sets realistic expectations and makes unexpected encounters feel even more special. If you're planning a zoo visit in Tampa, this safari is absolutely worth booking early—spots fill up and it's far more memorable than walking past exhibits alone.
Years on the front lines of helicopter tour coordination — not as a travel blogger, but as the person responsible for making every guest experience go right. Managed 2,000+ cruise guests weekly as Shore Excursions staff aboard the Pride of America in Hawaii
Personally coordinated with helicopter tour operators to confirm age, weight, and safety requirements.
"Thank you for watching! If you'd like to see more from us, please subscribe to our YouTube channel 'Orlando Experience' and follow us on our other social media platforms:
Website and blog: https://orlandoexperience.net
Instagram: https://instagram.com/orlandoexperience1
TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@orlandoexperience0
Facebook: https://facebook.com/orlandoexperience1
Video transcript for “Expedition Wild Africa Safari at ZooTampa at Lowry Park (4K 60FPS)” Accessibility
A full written transcript of this video, provided for accessibility. Select any timestamp to jump the video to that moment.
[Music] [Music] That's the ride. All of our lap sitters don't become lap standers. And then I'm
also going to ask that all heads and arms remain inside the truck at all times as well. And there is no eating or drinking on this truck besides water. You guys are okay to have water. Those are all hydrated. And then as soon as we get the honor, we are good to go down. So the platform say bye to our friends
in life. And none of them waves back, but that's okay because we'll never see you again. And then we are going to look out onto the passenger side. And we're going to wave bye to Daniel. So everything we do here at Tampa is in service to wildlife, not just here, but across the pool. We're taking you behind
the scenes to get a better look at some of our animals, and you can hear a little bit about their stories as well. The first animals you guys are going to be seeing are going to be on the taken side. In here we are going to have some golden colored cottage monkeys. You can look high and low. They do pop up just
about anywhere. I did see them towards the middle of the habitat. Um so as you can see there's lots of toys in here for our potted monkeys. The potted monkeys are one of the fastest primates. Yeah. And so they do like to spend a lot of time on the ground running around and climbing things as well. And in here we
do get a good look at one of their faces. So, their face kind of looks a little bit like the Lorax that is rumored that Dr. Seuss took a trip to Africa when he saw their toy faces. He kind of mimics their faces for the Lorax character. But don't let those mustaches fool you. We do have a
multi-generational all female family in here. We have a grandma, her two daughters, and then her two grandchildren as well. But we can be moving on to our next habitat, our Habari preserve. We have security here. So I will just ask that all of our arms live inside the truck for me. So this is
a mixed species open habitat. We'll see animals just about anywhere. So on the passenger and driver side right now we are seeing some of our maribou sorts. So those are the large birds with those black feathers. All the other ones are called Florida freeloaders. Um but these are our Maribou. They're one of the
largest flight birds. They have a wingspan of about 10 ft. Um, and so we do have three of them here and they have learned that if they stand in front of the truck and stop it for long enough, their care staff is going to have to come out and they'll get treats and touch. So, they do do that sometimes.
That is our other bird over there. His name is Bert. That is our opportune couns. He's back by that shed with those chilly yellow feathers on top of his head. So Bert stopped the truck for a little bit of a different reason. So African crowns cranes, they do meet for life. And sometimes when he sees his
reflection in the truck, he will think that it is his girlfriend. So he will stop the truck and start dancing and singing in front of it. Um his song is played loud. It can be heard from up to about 3 miles away. So through some of these bushes and trees, we may be spotting some of our
bongos or a yellow backer. This is typically where they like to hang out. I do see one of our mom bongos eating right over there. And then I do see a few bongos down here on the passenger side as well. So the one that you can see super well. That's one of our babies. So we do have three of them.
They were all born I believe about 6 months ago. Um there's another one of our young ones down here on the passage side as well. >> Um so we do have seven bongos. We have the three young ones. They were all born about two weeks apart from each other. They all do share a dad. His name is
Marvin. So all the babies, their names all start with an M as well. They do have Meer, Mac, and Millie. There is Lie under there on the driver's side. It was a little hard to spot. Um, so sometimes they are quite hard to spot. It's because of their orange brown colored coat on them. And those white stripes
also help them blend in with their natural environment. And then we will be seeing one of our last species. This is going to be on our passenger side. So she is going to be all the way towards the side of the fence and towards the front as well. So in here we have our two bill. Her name
is Odette. Odette is pretty special. There's only five shoe bills under here in North American facilities and we do home three of those size. So we have our jet in here and then on the walking trail we do have our two other shoel and not only do we have three of those five shoe we are the only facility in
North America to have a shoe store which is pretty impressive. Um and you may have noticed how still chewing. So chews are ambushed predators. Um so they do wait for their food to come to them and that is what Adette was doing. I can stand there for a few hours like a statue. Those two
wheels can beat you in a fairing contest any day. So that is why she stands still. Now I know I did briefly mention toys as we are passing our product monkey habitat, but we did have a few different toys in our habar for those animals as well. So this is what we call enrichment. Just like how you guys give
your dogs treating toys, we do the very same things here, just it looks a little differently for all of our animals. So, we can have puzzle feeders for some of them, logs or tires. Our elders and rhythms typically enjoy. Um, and then our penguins, they really enjoy playing with bubbles. So, when the sun reflects
off of bubbles, it is pretty similar to how the sun reflects off of fish scale. So, when the penguins see bubbles, we'll chase off to watch. But instead of looking at these pictures, we can head forward and get a good look at our other animals. And then in the habitat you can try to keep an eye out for any of those
enrichment devices in there with them. So our next animal is going to be the okapi. So he is going to be right up against this fence on the driver's side. So okapi are typically known as the ghost of the rainforest. This is a pretty good spot to stop
Autumn. If some of you want to stand up to get a better look at him, you're welcome to do so. This one, um, Poppies are known as the ghost of the rainforest. There was a little puppy pictured in person until 2008. >> Does anyone have any guesses as to what kind of animal copies are related to?
>> Zebra, deer, and >> giraffe. Yeah. So that's where your pants are quite deceiving. Okapis are the only living relative to a rock. Um so on top of his head kind of marking his territory on that pole right there on those are like two little fuzzy horns. So this is something that male
and it's great that male and female gr both have. Um, and then he also has a 15 inch long tongue, very similar to our dog. And it's simply styling. But once everyone's fully seated, we can head forward to order some of our other animal. We are good to go. >> Bye-bye. Say bye-bye.
>> So those stripes on the bottom of Zach's legs that make him look pretty similar to a zebra. So, they're there to help him blend in with his natural habitat. So, okapies are found in rainforest. And ironically, Zach does not enjoy the heat or rain. So, anytime it rains or gets super hot, he will be inside. And I
haven't seen him for a few days. So, it is pretty special that he is currently out right now. So, hopefully we'll be able to see some of our more social animals in here. We are going to have our Africa Cantasia dog. So, I am going to see two of them or three all of them. They're going to be laying in right
under these bushes in that tree that's in the middle of the hob. Oh, we can move forward a little more. This is a good spot. You guys can stand up as well here. So, we do have three African painter dogs. Um, so we have two females and one male. As you can see, they are sleeping right now. Tanger dogs do spend most of
their days sleeping. When they're not sleeping, I typically start hunting. They do have one of the highest death rates out of all of our animals. Um, while hunting, they do catch their prey about 80% of the time. Whereas those apex predators like lions, they only catch their prey about 25 to 30% of the
time. So, I've been fully exceeded. awesome head forward. So, we do have our male Dakota. He was recently brought here to be in Georgia. So, we are hoping that in the future we can welcome someday puppies. They do have incredibly large litters. Um the one of the largest litters that we know
of with up to 20 puppies. Um so, we do participate in a breeding plan with them. Um, there's only about 7,000 pa dogs left in the wild, which is why we contribute to the population of these animals. We do have over 70 plus animals at this zoo that are a part of the bargain conservation plan. One of them
being our rhinos. They were the founding member of it. So, this is called the species survival plan. It kind of works like a dating site for our animals. It allows them to be genetically matched with each other and this just ensures that their offspring are more diverse. So, if you see that little logo with the
two hoses on it, so you'll see that scattered around our parks today. Um, any animal that has that picture means that they are also a part of the CP survival plan. So, we do have our southern white rhino family tree. So, all those rhinos that have a blue star next to their name, they are our males.
And then if they have oh, the blue box and then the green star, those are our uh rhinos that are still currently here with us. So we did recently just swap two male rhinos. So the male that we currently have, Mufasa, he was not having much luck in California having any babies. So we swapped him with our
male ona here. And now Mufasa is a first time dad. So we can head forward and find all of our rhinos. It's kind of hit or miss with them. Um yeah, so the rhinos kind of have to mess well. [Music] So, we do have our rhino night vine that we are seeing right now. And if you look
at the bottom, you may notice how there's tanks at the bottom. So, those are there as a form of baby proofing. We have welcomed nine youngweight rhinos here at Tampa. So, rhinos when they're born, they're about 80 to 100 lb, so they can slip through those cracks quite easily. Um, so that's just to ensure all
of our young ones are staying where they are supposed to be. And then throughout the habitat, you'll see some little holes. So those are mostly what we call a mitten. This is a communal balcony for our rhinos. So these mittens are pretty important for them. It allows them to detect if any of the rhinos are
pregnant. They can tell if a rhino is sick and they're even able to test gender through these mittens. So you see our very first rhinos here as we are pulling up. See the smallest rhino right there? That is Maku and he is next to his momo. So Maku is our youngest rhino here. He is a little under 2 years old
currently. And his dad is Masa. And then the rhino that we are closest to currently that is Sujo. We like to call her aunt Sujo. She doesn't have any tasks but she does act as a pretty good babysitter to Maku. And then our other young bail. Her name is Zuba. So, Derilla is going to be the one that
is closest to us near that bench, Becca. She's going to be smaller than the other two rhinos out here. So, we like to call her Ruby. She just recently turned 4 years old. And then her mom is going to be the rhino that's out towards the middle of the habitat. Um, or no. Yeah, her mom is going to be back
there. And then we also have Mufasa, our male rhino, back there. Um, so Mufasa is going to be the largest rhino that you and I probably will ever see in our lifetime. He is a little over 6,000 lbs. That is an estimate because he did break the scale while he was being weighed. Most male rhinos are typically around
5,000 lb. So he is well over 1,000 above that. And then his friend, the two that we saw back there, our youngest rhino, he is under 2 years old and he is already over 2,000 lb. So we do think that he is going to be following in his dog's footsteps. Um rhinos do gain about 100 lbs every single month until they
reach full maturity. So that is how our young ones like Mu and Ruby are as young as they already are. But we do have some bigger animals here at the zoo. So our next animals are the Africans like the elephants and in some places South Asamia they are considered to be pests. So they'll go into different communities
and they'll take the water out of the people's wells. So we partner with the elephant human relations aid to help build the walls around the house for the people in the community. And then in a completely separate location, we build a reservoir for not just our elephants, but all of the other animals out there
and everyone has their proper water. So on the weekend, we got to go look at our elephants. So >> I will point out that we will see him a little further down. But on the passenger side, this is where our male elephant lives. So male elephants are pretty solitary animals. So he is quite
happy here. Um and that's a little different than our female elephants. Our female elephants are incredibly social animals. So we do have them over here on the driver's side. We do have five female elephants. It looks like three of them are out currently. So, we do have two mother daughter pairs here at New
Tampa and here with us at New Tampa and even in the wild because of how social female elephants are. They are never separated from their mom or daughter. So, that is why we have those two pairs. And then I also will point out that we have one of our impala out here on the driver's side with our female elephant
as well. And then hanging up top above our female is a puzzle feeder. So the invisible feeder promotes their natural behavior, how they would use their tongue to reach up to the top of trees to get food. And that is exactly what we are promoting here. And now we are getting a better
look at some of our elephants. We'll definitely get a good look at you saw our male elephant over here. So we're passing him. You may notice how his ears are flapping back and forth. So male elephants or not male elephants, all elephants, they don't sweat. Um so when they flap their ears back and forth,
it's helping regulate their body temperature. And then you also may notice how thin his ears are as we are passing. So elephant's ears have the thinnest part of their skin. And that is where our paratrap is able to perform voluntary blood draws from. Looks like Mr. is showing off right now.
But on the driver's side, we are now passing through our elephant night bar. Two other elephants are inside the night bar, so we can try to keep an eye out for them. Um, and then behind the barn, we do have two training yards for our elephants. Training is a pretty important part of our elephant days. It
is a form of immersion for them, and it is also a way that our care staff can take a good look at their body and their condition. So, this is where they would learn to lift up their feet or open their mouth. They can even stand up on top of those two clones and they put their two front feet up there. And that
gives our paras a good look underneath their stomachs. And this is where they would learn to do these voluntary blood draws. So, as I did say, all of these training sessions are completely voluntary. If one of our animals want to get up in the middle and walk away, that is okay for them to do. Does look like
we do see one of our younger elephants right in there. Um, but most of our elephants do enjoy um, participating in these voluntary training shelters because they know that they will get lots of good snacks out of it. >> So, looks like we have one of our giraffes over here. So, I do believe
that this is for Connie. So, he is eating from a puzzle feeder right now. So, we do have four giraffes. We have three females and one male. So, one of our females is standing right behind Sakani as well. So, Sakani is our largest giraffe here. He is about 16 ft tall. And not only is he much larger
than our females, he's pretty easy to spot um because all of the sauce on his fur. Those are much sharper than our females. So, we do have our animal care campus on our passenger side now. And we do have our veterinary hospital that we just packed. So, we are by the American Animal Hospital Association. This is a
pretty big deal. We're one of the very few zoos to hold the accreditation and we are also the first to get it as well. So, this is not something that we have to do and it's something we choose to do. Um, this just ensures that all of our animals are getting the best possible care. And like those larger
animals who drive to Elington Rhino, they are not able to fit into the animal hospital. So, we do have mobile equipment that we are able to take out to them on habitat. So, on our driver's side now, we do have our last mixed species yard. And I can't tell if there is a bird running up against the truck. I am
assuming there is. Yes, that is one of our southern horn bells. Um, I would ask that we don't make eye contact with him. He sometimes thinks that we are going to be stealing his girlfriend. So, we don't want to enable that behavior. And then we also have some Nala in here as well.
So, we do have one of our male Niala. His name is Barry. He's in the middle of the habitat. And then two of our females are probably laying down somewhere. They are quite smart animals. They typically hang around JS. They know that JS are going to be the very first animal to spot any predators coming. So whenever a
predator does come and they start running, the nialis start running as well. So our last animals don't run as easily. These are our tortoises. >> So we do have our aldabra tortoises on the driver's side right now. >> That largest one in the corner, we call him big owl. He is our oldest male
tortoise here. He is in his early 50s, which is quite young forever tortoise. Currently the oldest one on record that we know of is still alive and he is 192 years old. So they have quite long lives. And then we do have our goalpost tortoises. They're up against that top there. So goal tortoises are the largest
tortoise species or they're still juvenile so they are quite small but when they're full grown they can be anywhere between 500 and 700 lb. And then lastly also no one's here but I like to call this our home safety and tunnel. Pretty important part of the zoo. We are the ones that are able to
contribute to the confirmation of these amazing animals by visiting ACA credits. That's what you are all doing today. You are helping us out with our conservation efforts. We do have some posters with our conservation partners. I talked about a few of them today. If you would like to learn more about them, we do
have a QR code that you are able to scan on your way out. [Music] Heat. Heat. N. [Music]
Every video on Helicopter Tour Videos is hand-picked and reviewed by Justin — nothing is added automatically. Each one gets an original written guide and an honest rating: ⭐ 1 out of 2 means a good video worth your time, and ⭐⭐ 2 out of 2 means a great one we would recommend to anyone. The videos belong to their creators — every page links back to the original channel so you can subscribe and support them.
