In this edition of the “Savannah Summer”, we head to the Republic of the Congo to see an incredibly rare and fascinating animal, the Okapi (Okapia johnstoni). Despite the stripy legs, this animal is related to the giraffe, as can be seen by it’s ossicones and long, prehensile tongue. They are solitary among the canopy forests of the Congo, where it is sadly in decline, due to illegal bushmeat trade and deforestation. As a result of it’s intriguing look, there are several figures of this species, and here we see one by Safari Ltd., from 1999.
The colouration is pretty good, getting the chocolate brown colouring perfect, but not having quite enough white on the head, here confined to the eyes. The sculpt is very well done too, despite the age, though the result is a very smooth model.
The pose is really fun, it reaching up, sticking it’s tongue out to reach food. It could quite easily be longer based on the species, but this is likely to prevent breaking it off. It measures 4.3″ high and 4″ long, so potentially a bit small compared to other okapi models, but not terrible.
This is a lovely little model, which works well despite the age of it, with a huge charm to them. I definitely recommend it if you find it. It is long discontinued, so eBay is your best bet, and I do say you should if you see it. Anything that might teach children to appreciate these rare and beautiful animals. Now, onwards with the “Savannah Summer”!!!!!
