Okapi(often described as half-zebra, half-giraffe) - All you Need To Know

The striped okapi is often described as half-zebra, half-giraffe, as if it were a hybrid creature from a Greek legend. 

So rare is the okapi, that it was unknown to the western world until the turn of the 20th century.

While the okapi is virtually unheard of in the West, its image pervades life in the Democratic Republic of Congo -- the only country in the world where it is found living in the wild -- gracing cigarette paceed To Knowkets, plastic water bottles, and even the back of rumpled Congolese Francs.

The okapi is to the Congo what the giant panda is to China or the kangaroo to Australia

But decades of misrule under a succession of dictators has seen much of the Congo's natural resources spin out of the government's control, and okapi numbers fall by 50% since 1995

Today, only 10,000 remain.