Okapi
Discovered: 5th Century BCE
Location: The Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Okapi is a hard animal to ever spot in the wild. The species is most active during the day but usually travels around on its own. The exception to this rule is during mating season. Pregnancy for female okapi is quite long. It takes up to 450 days for a single calf to be born. To avoid issues with predators, the mothers will keep the calf in hiding for up to 6 months. Which only makes it tougher to spot one. First, they are only found in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Due to this, it’s hard to enter this territory most of the time for pretty much anyone. Second, their decision to travel solo makes it far easier for them to hide.
Yet their appearance is hard to miss. They look a lot like zebras due to their white horizontal stripes. However, they also have rings on their legs too. The overall body is usually between chocolate and reddish-brown. The males have short horn-like protuberances on their heads yet the females possess hair whorls while lacking horns. The species might favor zebras in a way, but their closest relative is actually the giraffe. While they do not get as large, okapi can get up to 5 feet tall with a length of a little over 8 feet. They can weigh between 440 to 770lbs too! They also have long necks as well.