| 释义 |
okapi|əʊˈkɑːpɪ|
[Native name.]
A rare ungulate mammal, Okapia johnstoni, of the family Giraffidæ, about the size of a horse and reddish-brown in colour, with horizontal white stripes on the legs; native to forested regions of the Congo, where it was discovered in 1900 by Sir Harry Johnston (1858–1927), the English explorer.
1900H. Johnston in Proc. Zool. Soc. 775, I found the Bambuba natives dwelling alongside the dwarfs called it ‘Okapi’. 1901Chambers's Jrnl. July 493/1 The native name for this strange beast, which is quite inoffensive, is the okapi. 1930Punch 24 Sept. 337/2 A photographer has succeeded in getting a ‘close-up’ of the shy okapi. 1958Listener 23 Jan. 154/1 The Pygmies are excellent trappers and they are paid to catch various kinds of beasts including the rare okapi, the short-necked forest giraffe, which are sold to zoos. 1960M. Spark Ballad of Peckham Rye iii. 35 ‘You look to me like an Okapi,’ he said. ‘A what?’ ‘An Okapi is a rare beast from the Congo. It looks a little like a deer, but it tries to be a giraffe.’ 1974Mochi & Carter Hoofed Mammals of World i. 7 The only living relative of the giraffe is the okapi, a forest animal living in the great rain forest of the Congo. |