Thomas Holbens age 13 of Allentowns PA  for his question:

Whatis an okapi?,

No one would believe the pygmies of the African Congo when they described this animal. Whey produced bones and a skin but only the small pygmies could get into the tangled bungle undergrowth to study the living animal, This was at the turn of the twentieth century. Finally a few specimen were trapped and shipped to zoos around the world. The first one to reach America arrived in 1937.

After much debate, the experts decided that this newly discovered animal was the only living relative of the giraffe. They named him the okapi and zoos which had an okapi were very lucky indeed. The gentle animal is as big as a mule. He is colored chocolate brown, with pale garter stripes on his front legs, back legs and haunches. His face is white and he has big sensitive ears. Unlike the giraffe, the okapi has a normal sized neck and he could easily be mistaken for a relative of the horse.