Odd Okapis

An okapi looks like a cross between a deer and a zebra, but it is actually most closely related to the giraffe, as evidenced by a blue tongue which is long enough to clean the insides of its ears and flexible enough to strip leaves off trees!

Source:  Wikipedia

The okapi is a native of the Democratic Republic of the Congo in Central Africa, but statues of them have been found carved by the ancient Egyptians.  It is an herbivore, but also fulfills its mineral needs by eating clay as do many other animals and birds.  It prefers living in higher altitudes from 1600 to 3200 feet in the rainforests and has an oily coat to help repel water.  The above picture is somewhat deceptive.   While it doesn't have the longer neck and legs of a giraffe, it's no shrimp either.  It can be 5 to 6 feet high at the shoulder and weigh over 700 pounds.  But its height still enables it to eat leaves in the trees that others can't reach.

Source:  Wikipedia

Okapi are mainly solitary only coming together to breed.  They are found in many zoos but only about 10 to 20 thousand are left in the wild. The okapi is a true animal oddity.