okapi

Definition

A large ruminant mammal, of species Okapia johnstoni, found in the rainforests of the Congo, related to the giraffe but with a much shorter neck, a reddish-brown coat, and zebra-like stripes on the hindquarters.

Etymology

Borrowed from Mvuba okapi.

Example Sentences

• "[page 498, column 1] [I]n leading them [African Pygmies] back to the forests where they dwelt, I obtained much information from them on the subject of the horse-like animal which they called the "Okapi." […] [page 499, column 1] The coloration of the Okapi is quite extraordinary. […] The hind quarters, hind and fore legs are either snowy white or pale cream color, touched here and there with orange. They are boldly marked, however, with purple-black stripes and splodges, which give that zebra-like appearance to the limbs of the Okapi that caused the first imperfect account of it to indicate the discovery of a new striped horse."
• "Personally I esteem it a more fascinating and a more important task to investigate the relations of the Okapi with the Giraffe on the one hand, and its fossil relatives on the other."
• "[O]ne day I quite modestly gave the dimensions of an okapi I had shot in the Lincolnshire fens. The Major turned a beautiful Tyrian scarlet (I remember thinking at the time that I should like my bathroom hung in that colour), and I think that at that moment he almost found it in his heart to dislike me."