Mangesh Hattikudur
What the Okapi?
by Mangesh Hattikudur - July 3, 2007 - 8:37 AM

okapi.jpgIt doesn’t take a genius to figure out that I love animals, ridiculous creatures that they are. So, why is it that it’s taken me so long to hear about the Okapi? Apparently, the animal, which looks like a missing link between the zebra and the horse, resides in the Ituri rainforest of central Africa. Of course, I looked up the entry on wikipedia thanks to our friends at neatorama, and was so in disbelief that I double-checked the thing on Britannica. Apparently, it exists. In any case, here are a few facts culled straight from everyone’s favorite ‘pedia, just in case you too missed out on the huge okapi fad of the early 1900s.

  • Although it bears striped markings reminiscent of the zebra, it is most closely related to the giraffe.
  • The tongue of an okapi is long enough for the animal to wash its eyelids and clean its ears.
  • Okapis are essentially solitary, coming together only to breed.
  • The first Okapi to arrive in North America was at the Bronx Zoo in 1937.
  • Apparently, in the original Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy radio series, Arthur Dent’s brother was said to have been nibbled to death by an okapi. The exact circumstances that brought this fate about were left unclear.

Also, a pair supposedly make an appearance in Evan Almighty– the first two good reasons I’ve heard to see the flick.

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Comments (13)

  1. You can see several at the zoo here in San Diego.

    posted by Erin on 7-3-2007 at 10:08 am

  2. At the end of the Damned’s “Smash It Up”, the ‘nibbled to death by an okapi’ bit from ‘Hitchhiker’s…’ is looped over and over.

    posted by Jordan on 7-3-2007 at 1:10 pm

  3. I live in the San Diego area. We used to go to the Wild Animal Park a lot when I was younger. Okapis were always my favorite.

    Thanks for this post. It forced me to reminisce about happy times in my past. (Not that I’m not happy now. I just haven’t been to the Wild Animal Park in six or seven years)

    posted by Alison on 7-3-2007 at 1:42 pm

  4. There are okapis at the Bronx zoo as well, and my little brother was obsessed with them for quite a few years. He even has an okapi stuffed animal named Oscar.

    posted by sporkk on 7-3-2007 at 2:26 pm

  5. It looks like they ran out of paint!

    posted by Queen of Suburbia on 7-3-2007 at 5:20 pm

  6. They have a few at the Columbus Zoo as well.

    posted by Amy on 7-3-2007 at 6:56 pm

  7. I had not heard of them until I played Zoo Tycoon. :)

    posted by Lisa on 7-3-2007 at 10:17 pm

  8. San Antonio’s zoo has several. They’re bigger than I had imagined and that tongue is amazing.

    posted by Alice on 7-4-2007 at 9:18 am

  9. You can find them at the St. Louis Zoo as well.

    posted by Anita on 7-4-2007 at 9:30 am

  10. There’s also one at the Omaha zoo.

    posted by Sally on 7-5-2007 at 10:10 am

  11. I vaguely remember mention of an okapi from a Sesame Street song…Hooray for the letter O.

    posted by Anna on 7-5-2007 at 2:20 pm

  12. No one belived I saw a “Zebra-Giraffe” at the zoo (I was accused of smoking the good stuff) and had to make several trips there with disbelivers to prove I was right!

    posted by priscilla on 7-6-2007 at 8:56 am

  13. There is also a cross between a horse and a zebra, called a zorse!

    posted by Ellen on 7-6-2007 at 9:36 am

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