okapi

noun

1. A ruminant (Okapia johnstoni) found in the rainforests of the Congo, related to the giraffe but with a much shorter neck, a reddish-brown coat, and zebra-like stripes on the hindquarters.

   “Personally I esteem it a more fascinating and a more important task to investigate the relations of the Okapi with the Giraffe on the one hand, and its fossil relatives on the other.”

   “[O]ne day I quite modestly gave the dimensions of an okapi I had shot in the Lincolnshire fens. The Major turned a beautiful Tyrian scarlet (I remember thinking at the time that I should like my bathroom hung in that colour), and I think that at that moment he almost found it in his heart to dislike me.”

   “I also took out a licence to shoot small game, costing fifty francs, which can be obtained on the spot, and under which I was able to shoot all kinds of game, excepting elephants, chimpanzis, gorillas and okapis.”