Some Cryptids Don't Stay A Mystery Forever

The Okapi was a cryptid from Africa until its discovery. Just take a look at the thing and try to describe it. Take note, it's not a type of zebra, or horse, or antelope. In fact, it's most closely related to the giraffe.

Around 1890, Sir Henry Morton Stanley (yes, the one that found missionary David Livingstone) heard African natives describe a type of large mammal they called “Atti.” Other European explorers reported seeing the striped rear-end of the animal, which led some to suggest this “Atti” was some species of zebra.

Fast-forward to 1901, when Ugandan High Commissioner Sir Harry Johnston began his trek to find an okapi. He did manage to procure a few pieces of the okapi’s striped skin from natives, and send them to the British Museum. As you might guess, the okapi was announced as the discovery of a new species of zebra.

A painting of the okapi was then sent to the Zoological Society of London, which sparked even more consternation. Some thought it a Helladotherium, or a relative of other extinct giraffids (ancestors of the giraffe). Based on the fact Pygmies referred to it as a “horse”, another name suggested was – of course – Equus johnstoni. Some even felt it was possibly a new species of antelope.

Johnston, far from the deterred, set out with a group of Pygmies, to try and get more evidence: be it a carcass, full skin, or skeleton. When he finally got a complete skeleton and skin it appeared far from being a zebra, horse, or antelope; its nearest living relative is the giraffe.

German explorer Herbert Lang believed, “[The okapi] was one of the survivors of the giraffine group, such as the Paleotragus…The okapi had found a safe retreat in the heart of Africa, in the gloom of the Congo forests.” The scientific name assigned to the okapi by zoologist Philip Slater did give homage to Johnston: okapia johnstoni.

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