The okapi, 'the African unicorn'
Stanley heard in 1890 of a donkey-like animal of the Ituri forest called the atti; in 1901 Sir Harry Johnston sent skin and skulls to London and the okapi was described as a new animal, a forest relative of the giraffe.
1901 CE · 1.39, 28.58 · status: official
The account
Johnston at first thought it might be a surviving form of horse. The okapi became the emblem of cryptozoology: a large mammal unknown to science until the 20th century, though well known to the Mbuti and other forest peoples. The point is Epulu, home of the Okapi Wildlife Reserve.
The sceptical view
A real species, described once specimens arrived; it shows what local knowledge contains rather than proving other cryptids.
The researched reading
The emblem of cryptozoology is a real animal that local people knew and science learned of late. It shows the value of local knowledge, not the existence of other cryptids.
| Explanation | Weight | Why |
|---|---|---|
| An unknown or out-of-place animal | 96% | Johnston’s skin and skulls led to the okapi’s description in 1901 as a forest relative of the giraffe; living okapis are now studied and kept in zoos. |
| Something known, misidentified | 1% | Johnston first thought it a kind of horse, the only misidentification in the story. |
| A hoax or fabrication | 1% | Excluded. |
| A cultural story | 1% | The Mbuti knew the animal well. |
| Perception, memory or mind | 1% | Not relevant. |
| Genuinely anomalous | 0% | Ordinary biology. |
Official position: A confirmed species, Okapia johnstoni.
Connections in the atlas
- The second coelacanth, Anjouan
- The giant forest hog is found
- The hairy giants of the Virungas are found
- The feather in the hat: the Congo peafowl