Okapi

The Congo’s secret

For much of the 19th century, rumors circulated among European explorers about a large, striped horse-like animal living in the Congo forests. Indigenous Mbuti pygmies called it “okapi.” European colonial administrators and naturalists dismissed these stories as folklore.

In 1901, British Governor P.L. Sclater formally described the okapi as a new species from skins and partial skulls brought out of the Congo. The scientific world was astonished — a large mammal unknown to Western science, discovered in the early 20th century.

Not a zebra

The striped hindquarters strongly resemble a zebra, but the okapi is actually the only living relative of the giraffe (Giraffidae family). Anatomical features connecting the two:

• Long, dark blue prehensile tongue (up to 35 cm; used to strip leaves)
• Ossicones — skin-covered bony projections on the skull (present in males only in okapi; both sexes in giraffe)
• Similar teeth and digestive anatomy (ruminant)
• Unusual gait (pacing — moving both legs on one side together)

A life in deep forest

Unlike the giraffe’s open savannah habitat, the okapi lives entirely in dense lowland rainforest at 500–1,000 m altitude in the northeastern Congo. The stripes serve as disruptive camouflage in the dappled forest light.

Population estimates suggest around 10,000–20,000 remain in the wild, threatened by deforestation, illegal mining in the Congo Basin, and bushmeat hunting. The species is Endangered on the IUCN Red List.