The Okapi

Abstract

IN my letter published in NATURE of May 27(vol. xcv., p. 342) dealing mainly with the “Supposed Horn-Sheaths of an Okapi,” I stated that “it is only when extremely young that the backward slope of the back is very noticeable.” It is perhaps the only statement I have made regarding the okapi which was not based on my own observations, and it appears to be erroneous. The impression was derived from a photograph reproduced in M. Fraipont's “Monograph on the Okapi,” of a very young one captured by natives and brought into one of the Uele stations. I have since seen a photograph of the same animal from another source which shows that there was very little backward slope. At maturity the height of the okapi at the shoulders is only 2 to 3 in. at the most more than that above the hindquarters. The following measurements taken from three animals lying as they fell, one by Mr. A. E. H. Reid, and two by myself, bring this out quite clearly:—