Not related to the zebra, despite those stripes

Okapi (pronounced o-COP-e), a relation of the giraffe family, has a short neck and coloration definitely different from a giraffe. Okapis are reddish brown, but their legs have black and white zebra stripes!

Like giraffes, their tongues are blue. Okapi tongues are long enough that they can wash their own eyelids and ears. (Not many mammals can do that, and frankly, I don’t want to!)

Okapis are about 6 ft long and 5 to 5.5 ft high at the shoulder. This picture is of a mom and baby from the Brookfield Zoo in Illinois. Only the males have horns.

From the Ituri Rainforest in central Africa, okapis are not classified as endangered. But they are threatened by habitat destruction and poaching.

Jungle Jane