from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
okapi \o*ka"pi\, n. [Native name on the borders of Belgian
Congo, possibly the same word as Mpongwe okapo lean.]
A peculiar mammal ({Okapia johnstoni}) closely related to the
giraffe, discovered in the deep forests of Belgian Congo in
1900. It is smaller than an ox, and somewhat like a giraffe,
except that the neck is much shorter. Like the giraffe, it
has no dewclaws. There is a small prominence on each frontal
bone of the male. The color of the body is chiefly reddish
chestnut, the cheeks are yellowish white, and the fore and
hind legs above the knees and the haunches are striped with
purplish black and cream color.
[Webster 1913 Suppl.]