Social grooming and play behavior, such as tail wagging and rolling on the ground, is common in both sexes and all age classes of okapi, though infants play more frequently than adults.
Social grooming and play behavior is common in captive okapis. Both sexes and all age classes will engage in play behavior, though infants play more frequently than adults. Playing includes gambols and capers, the pooky, in which the okapi will hold its head low and forward while rapidly wagging its tail, and the lie and rise, in which the okapi will lie on the ground and roll about before standing up again.
Sources: (Bodmer & Rabb, 1992; Palkovacs, 2000; San Diego Zoo Global, 2017)
Image: Cloudtail the Snow Leopard
