South Africa: Okapi - New Book Celebrates a Once Famous Animal and Recovers Indigenous Experts' Place in Its History

What the report says

The Conversation Africa, republished by AllAfrica, reports on a new book by conservation scientist and environmental historian Simon Pooley, titled *Discovering the Okapi*. The article says Pooley’s interest in the animal began in childhood in the Ndumo Game Reserve on the South Africa-Mozambique border and later developed into research on the okapi’s history, including archival work in London. The book is presented as an effort to tell the story of the okapi while also correcting the historical record about who contributed knowledge about the species.

The okapi, native to the Congo Basin rainforest in what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo, is described as the only living relative of the giraffe. The piece explains some of its distinctive traits and ecology, including its adaptation to rainforest life and its specialized diet. It also says that European collectors and scientists relied heavily on African hunters, trackers and Indigenous knowledge to find, catch and understand the animal, yet those contributors were often left out of published accounts.

According to the article, Pooley’s research highlights how colonial-era collecting, weak reporting of African expertise and later instability in eastern DRC shaped the okapi’s history. It notes that the species was declared endangered in 2015 and that no recent surveys have been possible because of ongoing violence. Current threats listed in the piece include habitat loss from mining, timber and charcoal, along with hunting. The article says conservation groups, local authorities and community partners are working to protect remaining habitat, including through the proposed Kivu-Kinshasa Green Corridor.