Class: MAMMALIA

Order: ARTIODACTYLA

Family: GIRAFFIDAE

Genus: OKAPIA

Species: JOHNSTONI

The okapi is peculiar - it is related to the giraffe, built like a fattish horse, and has back-legs like a zebra!

The closest living relative to the giraffe. The Okapi, a denizen of dense rainforest, is found in a restricted range of the Democratic Republic of Congo, formerly Zaire. The okapi and giraffe diverged some 11 million years ago, with the other giraffoids now extinct. It is thought that other giraffoids would have resembled the okapi, being short-necked, perhaps with similar patterning.