Not A Horse, Not A Zebra

A mother and calk okapi photographed at the Bronx Zoo’s spectacular Congo Gorilla Forest exhibit. 

Though they look like part horse and part zebra, the okapi’s closest relatives are actually giraffes. These unique animals, which were only discovered by scientists in 1901, are only found in the Ituri Forest in the Democratic Republic of Congo. 

In 1992, the Wildlife Conservation Society helped establish the Okapi Wildlife Reserve – a 5,300 square-mile protected area that safeguards the core population of these unique forest giraffes.

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