THE OKAPI 



(Okapia johnstoni) 



THE Okapi is the only other living member of the family Giraffida 

 besides the true Giraffe, and, as many of my readers no doubt know, 

 has only been made known to science during the last decade, its 

 discoverer being Sir Harry Johnston. 



As far as its general form goes, it gives us a good idea of what 

 the Giraffe's ancestors were probably like, foreshadowing, as it were, 

 that animal's peculiarities, for its neck and legs are rather long, 

 and its shoulders high, while its head distinctly recalls the Giraffe 

 shape. As in the Giraffe, the back hoofs are wanting, the front ones 

 forming the usual cloven hoof of a ruminant. The Giraffe is note- 

 worthy for having its canine teeth present only in the lower jaw, 

 and, as in ruminants generally, lying close to the incisors divided 

 by a deep notch, and this small peculiarity is repeated in the Okapi. 



Its horns, however, differ somewhat from the Giraffe's; for one 

 thing, they are confined to the male, and, though short and covered 

 with hairy skin, are tipped, not with a tuft of hair, but with a bare 

 cap of bone, like a very rudimentary Deer's antler. The two horns 

 are generally not quite like each other. 



In the colour and pattern of its gay and strikingly-marked coat, 

 the Okapi is very different from the Giraffe, and, indeed, from any 

 other beast whatever, though the banding of the bases of the limbs 

 and the hind-quarters are somewhat like those of a Zebra. In fact, 

 when the first definite proofs of the existence of the animal, in the 

 shape of pieces of the striped part of the skin, came to hand, it was 

 thought to be a new kind of Zebra, and named as such. 



The sexes are practically alike in colour, and the same may be 

 said of the young, though these have a more furry coat, the hair of 



the adult animals being very close-lying and sleek. 



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