Okapi — the only living relative of the giraffe

The okapi (Okapia johnstoni) is a large even-toed ungulate native to the dense rainforests of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the sole living member of the family Giraffidae besides the giraffe itself. Its striped hindquarters and dark chocolate coat misled early Western naturalists into classifying it as a relative of horses rather than giraffes; the 2013 Okapi Conservation Strategy Workshop estimated no more than 10,000 to 15,000 animals remaining in the wild, down from an estimated 40,000 a decade earlier, placing the species firmly on the IUCN Red List as Endangered. Western science did not formally recognise the okapi until 1901, making it one of the last large mammals to reach scientific description. It is also the national animal of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, appearing on the country’s franc banknotes and on the emblem of the ICCN ecoguards.

Key facts

  • Scientific name: Okapia johnstoni
  • Kingdom: Animalia
  • Phylum: Chordata
  • Class: Mammalia
  • Order: Artiodactyla
  • Family: Giraffidae
  • Genus: Okapia
  • Taxonomic rank: species

Physical characteristics

The okapi’s coat runs from chocolate to reddish-brown, with white horizontal stripes and rings covering the legs and white patches at the ankles. The pattern breaks up the animal’s outline in the dappled light that filters through the Ituri Forest canopy, functioning as camouflage rather than as any signal to rivals or mates. The fur itself is coated in an oily substance that repels rain and moisture, an effective waterproofing layer in a habitat where humidity is near-constant.

The tongue measures 30 to 36 cm (12 to 14 in) in length and is black or dark blue in colour. The okapi uses it to strip leaves from branches and also to wash its own eyelids and ears, reaching surfaces most mammals cannot clean without a forelimb.

Hearing is acute. The okapi possesses large bony capsules, the auditory bullae, enclosing the middle ear bones, paired with external ear lobes that reach 25 cm in length. Both structures enhance sensitivity to low-frequency sound. Infrasound, frequencies below the range of human hearing, is used for communication through dense forest, an ability first demonstrated in studies conducted in 1992 at the San Diego Zoo and the White Oak Conservation Center.

Locomotion and gait

The okapi walks with a pacing gait, moving both legs on the same side of the body forward simultaneously. This is the same pattern seen in the giraffe and is uncommon among mammals more broadly. The shared gait is consistent with the two species’ shared ancestry within Giraffidae, a family whose lineage diverged from other even-toed ungulates more than 20 million years ago.

Behaviour and reproduction

Okapis are solitary and diurnal, feeding during daylight hours and avoiding prolonged contact with conspecifics outside of brief mating encounters. Adults maintain overlapping home ranges marked by scent glands located on the feet, which deposit a tar-like substance directly onto the ground as the animal walks.

The gestation period extends from 414 to 493 days, with an average of approximately 440 days. A single calf is born weighing between 14 and 30 kg. Within 30 minutes of birth the calf can stand, and it begins nursing within 15 to 30 minutes. For approximately two months the calf remains concealed in dense vegetation while the mother forages in the surrounding area. Solid food enters the diet at around three months of age; weaning is complete at approximately six months.

Sexual maturity arrives at around three years of age. In captivity, okapis have been recorded living up to 30 years; their lifespan in the wild remains poorly documented.

Evolutionary history

Among the fossil taxa in the subfamily Palaeotraginae, the genus Palaeotragus is of particular interest: these animals had shorter necks adapted to woodland foraging and closely resembled the body plan seen in the modern okapi. One hypothesis identifies the okapi as the extant representative of Palaeotragus, though the question has not been settled.

The term ‘living fossil’ is sometimes applied to the okapi on the basis that its body plan has changed little over geological time and that it retains structural features present in Palaeotragus, which lived approximately 10 million years ago. The label is a rough shorthand rather than a precise classification, but the conservatism of the okapi’s morphology within a family that otherwise produced the giraffe’s extraordinary neck is a genuine structural puzzle.

Discovery and scientific description

The species was formally recognised by Western science in 1901. British special commissioner Sir Harry Johnston obtained pieces of striped skin and skulls from the Ituri Forest and forwarded them for analysis. P. L. Sclater initially named the animal Equus johnstoni, placing it among the horses on the basis of the striped skin alone. E. R. Lankester later corrected the classification and placed it in the newly erected genus Okapia, within Giraffidae, where it has remained. The scientific name Okapia johnstoni combines a term derived from the Mbuti word ‘O’Api’ with a tribute to Johnston.

Antwerp Zoo received the first okapi displayed to the public in 1919, when an animal from Buta, Congo arrived at the institution. The zoo has maintained a research focus on the species since that date and is regarded as the leading okapi expert institution in the world.

Conservation status and threats

The IUCN Red List classifies the okapi as Endangered, a status upgraded from Near Threatened following a reassessment led by the Institut Congolais pour la Conservation de la Nature (ICCN) and partners including the Zoological Society of London and the Wildlife Conservation Society. Population decline has been continuous since 1995, driven by armed conflict, human settlement, deforestation, and poaching.

Primary habitat is lost to logging, artisanal diamond and coltan mining, and slash-and-burn agriculture. Hunting for meat and skins adds direct pressure, and the presence of armed militia groups in the Ituri region prevents effective enforcement across large parts of the okapi’s range. The scale of the problem was made concrete in 2012, when poachers attacked and looted the reserve headquarters at Epulu and killed 14 okapi held at the on-site research station.

A 2025 study by Tatoutchoup modelling okapi population reconstruction identified a strong negative association between artisanal mining expansion, loss of primary forest, and okapi population decline. The San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance has recorded 70 okapi births at the San Diego Zoo and Safari Park since 1962, an accumulation that represents one of the more substantial captive breeding records for the species.

Cultural significance

The okapi is the national animal of the Democratic Republic of the Congo by tradition. It appears on Congolese franc banknotes and on the emblem of the ICCN ecoguards, the corps responsible for protecting the country’s wildlife. The combination of extreme elusiveness, late scientific description, and restricted range has made the okapi an emblem of the Ituri Forest itself, a region whose biodiversity remains incompletely surveyed.

Did you know

  • The scientific name Okapia johnstoni combines a word derived from the Mbuti pygmy term ‘O’Api’ with a tribute to Sir Harry Johnston, the British colonial administrator who secured the first physical specimens in 1901. (faunafocus.com)
  • Okapi calves do not defecate for the first one to two months of life, a behaviour believed to minimise scent trails and reduce the risk of predator detection while the calf remains hidden in dense vegetation. (animalhub.earth)
  • The San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance has recorded 70 okapi births at the San Diego Zoo and Safari Park since 1962, making it one of the most prolific breeding institutions for the species. (science.sandiegozoo.org)
  • Antwerp Zoo displayed the first okapi ever shown to the public in 1919, when an animal from Buta, Congo arrived at the zoo; the institution has studied the species ever since and is regarded as the world’s leading okapi expert institution. (zooscience.be)
  • The okapi shares a pacing gait with the giraffe, a walk in which both legs on the same side of the body move forward simultaneously, a locomotion pattern that is rare among mammals. (worldatlas.com)
  • The okapi is sometimes described as a living fossil because its body plan has changed little over millions of years and closely resembles that of the ancestral giraffid Palaeotragus, which lived approximately 10 million years ago. (worldatlas.com)

Data sources

Data updated: 2026-10-27