The Okapi and the Western World

The okapi became known to European explorers in the late 19th century, and then several explorers tried and failed to even see a live okapi. Sir Harry Hamilton Johnston often gets credit for its discovery, but there’s much more to the story than that.

Research:

• “Obituary: Dr. Wilhelm Junker.” Journal of the American Geographical Society of New York, vol. 24, 1892, pp. 148–50, http://www.jstor.org/stable/196694. Accessed 8 Apr. 2022.
• “Newly Discovered Beast of the Congo Forests.” Saturday Evening Kansas Commoner. June 27, 1901. https://www.newspapers.com/image/383188816/?terms=%22equus%20johnstoni%22&match=1
• Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. “Wilhelm Junker”. Encyclopedia Britannica, 2 Apr. 2022, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Wilhelm-Junker
• L., R.Dr. P. L. Sclater, F.R.S..Nature91,455 (1913). https://doi.org/10.1038/091455a0
• H., M. Sir Harry Johnston, S.G.M.G., K.C.B.Nature120,339–340 (1927). https://doi.org/10.1038/120339a0
• Kinder, John M. “Year Zero: Restocking the Post-war Zoo.” National WWII Museum New Orleans. Sept. 21, 2021. https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/restocking-post-world-war-ii-zoos
• Silverstein, Raymond O. “A note on the term “Bantu” as first used by W. H. I. Bleek.” African Studies. Volume 27. 1968. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00020186808707298
• “Okapi’s Half-century.” Zooquarium. Spring 2014. https://www.eaza.net/assets/Uploads/Zooquaria/ZQ85.pdf
• “A MOST CURIOUS ANIMAL,A CULTURAL SYMBOL,A SPECIES ON THE BRINK.” Okapi Conservation Project. https://www.okapiconservation.org/the-okapi/
• “World Okapi Day.” IUCN. Oct. 18, 2021. https://www.iucn.org/news/species-survival-commission/202110/world-okapi-day
• “Bronx Zoo Debuts Its Baby Okapi.” WCS Newsroom. July 27, 2009. https://newsroom.wcs.org/News-Releases/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/4802/Bronx-Zoo-Debuts-Its-Baby-Okapi.aspx
• Brzezinski, Bartosz. “Of okapis and men: Antwerp Zoo helps preserve endangered species.” Flanders Today. Aug. 14, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160814194411/http://www.flanderstoday.eu/living/okapis-and-men-antwerp-zoo-helps-preserve-endangered-species
• Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. “Sir Harry Hamilton Johnston”.Encyclopedia Britannica, 27 Aug. 2021, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Harry-Hamilton-Johnston
• Raffaele, Paul. “The Pygmies’ Plight.” Smithsonian. December 2008. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/the-pygmies-plight-93401092/
• Lindsey, Susan Lyndaker, et al. “The Okapi: Mysterious Animal of Congo-Zaire.” University of Texas Press. 1999.

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