Why are okapis vulnerable to large-scale logging and human settlement?

Okapis are considered vulnerable to large-scale logging and human settlement primarily because these activities significantly reduce their available habitat.1

While okapis can tolerate limited, temporary human disturbances—such as small-scale fruit- or seed-harvesting operations—they are restricted to older rainforests characterized by closed, high canopies. Large-scale intensive disturbances, such as industrial logging and the establishment of permanent human settlements, destroy the specific environmental conditions these shy, solitary animals require to survive. Consequently, such habitat loss poses a serious threat to the species, which is already classified as an endangered species with a declining population.1