The Okapi: Africa's Hidden Forest Giraffe
The okapi (Okapia johnstoni) remained unknown to Western science until 1901, despite being revered in Congolese folklore for centuries. This elusive relative of the giraffe sports zebra-like stripes on its legs and hindquarters, yet possesses a chocolate-brown body, long prehensile tongue, and ossicones like its towering cousin. Found only in the dense Ituri rainforests of the Democratic Republic of Congo, okapis have such acute hearing they can detect predators from remarkable distances, and males engage in ritualized neck-fighting displays despite their solitary nature. Listed as Endangered, fewer than 10,000 okapis survive in the wild, threatened by habitat loss and poaching.