What animal from Zaire, once only thought to be a legend, is related to the giraffe, is the size of a horse, the shape of a donkey, and has zebra stripes on its backside?

Me	Try Quagga Jan 10 03, 4:53 PM

sequoianoir

The only quagga to ever have been photographed alive was the London Zoo mare. Five photographs are known, taken by Frederick York and Frank Haes circa 1870. When the quagga mare at Amsterdam Zoo died on 12 August 1883, it was not realised that she was the very last of her kind. Because of the confusion caused by the indiscriminate use of the term 'Quagga' for any zebra, the true quagga was hunted to extinction without this being realised until many years later. http://www.museums.org.za/sam/quagga/quagga.htm Jan 10 03, 5:02 PM

Al	But the quagga was related to the zebra rather than the giraffe, and the picture I found show its stripes on the head. Surely the okapi is a better bet. Jan 10 03, 5:44 PM

sequoianoir

Actually the answer is OKAPI !!! When an okapi became widely known and 'discovered' by a western explorer in 1901, it was thought to be a horse by its horse-like upper body or a forest-dwelling zebra by its zebra-like horizontal stripes on its legs. Found only in the tropical forests of northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire), the okapi is a very unique animal indeed. It actually belongs to the giraffe family Giraffidae, the genus Okapia and the only known species johnstoni. This zebra and horse-like animal is sometimes called the 'forest giraffe'. Its giraffe-like feature becomes more apparent by looking at its long, black and sticky tongue, which is used to grasp tree branches and for grooming. Its tongue may reach 15 %96 18 inches and may be used to clean its eyes and ears. Thanks to this long tongue and its relatively long neck, the okapi is also capable of reaching its entire body for cleaning. Another one of its giraffe-like features is, it walks by moving its front and rear legs of the same side of its body rather than moving alternate legs on either sides like other ungulates. Male okapis posses blunt, hair-covered horns resembling the giraffe. Even though the okapi belongs to the giraffe family, its neck is not as long as its relative. It does not have light-brown patches like the giraffe. Instead, its body is dark brown in colour with creamy white and black horizontal stripes on its front and hind legs with white 'stockings' on its lower legs. It has a black muzzle with whitish-grey or tan cheeks, throat and chest. There is a picture here: http://st-louis-zoo.freeyellow.com/cow5.jpg Jan 10 03, 6:58 PM

sequoianoir

Information here: http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/animals_amazing_facts/72696 Jan 10 03, 6:59 PM