Tensas gazette. [volume] (St. Joseph, La.) 1886-current, 1908-02-21
THE MYSTERIOUS oKAPI.
Lieut.. Alexander Tells How He
Caught One Of the shyest
of Animals.

Lieut.. Boyd Alexander told the
Royal Geographical Society in London
recently how he captured an okapi in
Africa year ago. The okapi is a
variety of antelope and is among the
shyest of creatures-so shy that few
Africa natives have ever seen it
and no white hunter had heard of II
up to the time a specimen was dis.
covered by Sir Harry Johnston some
years ago.
The okapi taken by Lieut.. Alexand-
er could not be taken alive to Eu-
rope. 1t was so timid and shrinking
that it could not thrive in the pres
ence Of man, and then the difficulties
OF travel forbade its transportation
Its skin is now being mounted for the
Natural History Museum of London.
Lieut.. Alexander said that at Angu,
on the Welle-Makua, he first heard of
the okapi in that region. The party
spent three weeks in the effort to
obtain specimen.
They found that its haunts are
small streams running through
swampy ground, where grows a plant
some six feet high whose young
shoots, punching at the top, are an
essential part of the animals food.
Here it roams about, singly or in
pairs, and the natives said that some
times three are found together.
The natives added that they had
very seldom seen the animal, and this
statement was readily believed, for
Capt. Costing, though he had certain
evidence on three occasions that he
was near the animal, did not catch
glimpse of it, for it was perfectly
concealed among the leaves. But
three weeks of study revealed its hab-
its well.
In the night the okapi wanders
along in the mud and water in search
of its food. Capt. Costing found 1t
feeding as late as s a. m, but after
this hour the animal retires to the
seclusion of the forest, where it re-
mains until nightfall.
Owing to its restless nature and
keen hearing, the thick foliage of the
plant on which it feeds and the per
feet seclusion of its forest retreats the
natives say they are never able to
kill the okapi with their weapons; 1t
is almost impossible to track 1t and
the few specimens they have killed
were trapped in pits.
Jose Lopez, a Portuguese collector
in the employ of Lieut.. Alexander,
a solitary animal for three
successive mornings in the neighbor-
hood of a stream. He observed that
on leaving the water the okapi always
took the same course between two
large trees about 100 yards from the
stream.
With the help of the natives he dug
a pit four and half feet deep be-
tween the trees and carefully con-
cealed 1t with branches and leaves.
Early the next morning he again ap-
preached the stream and heard the
uOlSt VI tue Ohdpl dS IL Iuoucu away.
An instant later there was crash
and the little animal was struggling
In the pit. The native assistants. ~
Ing in wait, at once secured 1t.
The natives say they know no 9TH
sr animal so mysterious as the okapi. |
IN their opinion 1t is always on the |
move and never lies down to sleep. |
Lopez's observations seem to bear |
,ut this assertion. On every occa-
hon when he heard it feeding it SIM
ply paused to take a leaf here and |
here and then moved on again.
DR.. Ray Lancaster is now examin-
ng all the skins and skulls of the
,kapi that have thus far been brought
o Europe-about twenty. Nearly
very specimen differs greatly from
very other specimen. 1t is one of
he most variable animals that have
ONE under DIR. Lankester's observa-
York Sun.