Is the Okapi Really Related to the Giraffe?

The Okapi and the Giraffe: The Only Two Members of an Ancient Family

Yes — despite looking nothing alike, the okapi (Okapia johnstoni) is the giraffe’s only living relative. Together they are the sole surviving members of the family Giraffidae, a lineage that once spread across much of the Old World.

An Animal That Fooled Science for Centuries

Science had charted the surface of the moon before anyone in the Western world knew the okapi existed. A creature weighing up to 350 kilograms — roughly the size of a large horse — was living undiscovered in the dense rainforests of what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo. It wasn’t until 1901 that British explorer Sir Harry Johnston secured physical evidence: strips of the animal’s distinctive striped skin. Scientists back home were so skeptical that many initially refused to accept the specimens as real. The species was eventually named Okapia johnstoni in his honour.

Why the Okapi Looks Like a Zebra

The okapi’s most striking feature — bold black-and-white stripes across its hindquarters and legs — has nothing to do with zebras. The two animals share no close genetic relationship whatsoever. The stripes evolved independently as camouflage, breaking up the okapi’s outline in the dappled, shifting light of the rainforest floor. This is a textbook example of convergent evolution: nature arriving at the same visual solution through completely separate pathways.

Beyond the stripes, the okapi has a prehensile tongue long enough to wash its own eyelids — a trait it shares with its giraffe cousin. It also has ossicones, the same skin-covered horn-like structures found on giraffes, present on males of the species.

The Last of a Once-Mighty Family

The family Giraffidae was far more diverse in prehistory. Multiple genera and species once roamed across Europe, Asia, and Africa. Today, only two lineages survived into the modern era: the towering giraffe of the open savanna and the secretive okapi of the equatorial forest. Their evolutionary split is estimated to have occurred around 11 to 12 million years ago, yet the two animals retained enough shared anatomy — the ossicones, the long tongue, the unique digestive system — to confirm their kinship definitively.

Still One of Earth’s Most Elusive Animals

The okapi remains one of the least-studied large mammals on the planet. Its entire wild range is confined to the Ituri Rainforest in northeastern DRC — a single ecosystem. Its preference for dense, remote forest, combined with naturally solitary behaviour, makes population surveys extraordinarily difficult. Current estimates suggest fewer than 25,000 individuals remain in the wild, and the species is classified as Endangered by the IUCN.

For an animal this large, living this close to human settlements across centuries of African history, its invisibility to Western science is a reminder of how much the natural world still conceals. The okapi wasn’t hiding — it was simply living in a place the outside world hadn’t looked carefully enough.