GIRAFFE & OKAPI

Giraffes and okapis are the last surviving members of a once-diverse family, Giraffidae. Despite their differences — giraffes towering over the savannah, okapis moving silently through dense rainforests — they share a common ancestry and unique traits.

Giraffes are the tallest land animals, with heads brushing treetops and shoulders towering over three metres high. Okapis, sometimes called the “forest giraffe,” are more elusive, cloaked in stripes and shadows, surviving in the Ituri Rainforest of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Both species are uniquely adapted to their environments, with long necks, lobed teeth, and skin-covered horns called ossicones.

▫️ Giraffes can run up to 60 km/h (37 mph) using a unique ambling gait.

▫️ Okapis communicate with infrasonic sounds, below human hearing.

▫️ A giraffe’s heart can weigh up to 11 kg (24 lb) to pump blood up their long neck.

▫️ Okapis were unknown to the outside world until 1901.

▫️ Both giraffes and okapis have incredibly long, dark-coloured, prehensile tongues — ideal for foraging.

▫️ Giraffes sleep less than two hours a day, often standing up.

Their lives are filled with quiet beauty — giraffes ambling in loose herds across the savannah, okapis navigating the undergrowth in solitude. They communicate through subtle sounds, body language, and even low-frequency vibrations felt through the earth. Their worlds are ancient, intricate, and irreplaceable.

And what have we done?

The Many Ways Humans Harm Giraffidae

Armed Conflict

In regions like the Congo, warfare and instability threaten okapis directly. Poachers and militias destroy habitats, kill wildlife for food and money, and undermine any chance of security.

Killing for Body Parts

Giraffes are hunted for their skin, tails, bones, and meat — sometimes under the guise of “tradition,” “medicine,” or “trophy hunting.” Okapis, rare and secretive, are also killed for bushmeat and profit.

Trophy Hunting

Giraffes are legally shot for sport and decoration. Their severed heads, legs, and skins become grotesque displays, sold under the banner of “conservation.”

Scientific and Commercial Exploitation

From invasive research to being packaged as exotic attractions, giraffes and okapis are reduced to specimens or commodities, stripped of their autonomy and dignity.

Captivity and Display

Giraffes and okapis are torn from their natural homes and imprisoned in zoos for entertainment and profit. No cage or paddock can replicate the vastness of a savannah or the mystery of a rainforest.

Habitat Destruction

Expanding agriculture, logging, oil drilling, mining, and urban sprawl tear apart their homes. Fences fragment natural migration routes, isolating populations and cutting off vital resources. Rainforests shrink. Savannas vanish.

Disease and Resource Competition

Human encroachment brings livestock and disease into contact with wild giraffids. Overgrazing and water extraction leave giraffes and okapis fighting for survival against impossible odds.

Climate Breakdown

Rising temperatures dry out savannas, shift vegetation patterns, and endanger food sources. Rainforests are destabilised. Climate chaos shrinks their fragile worlds.

Giraffidae are not resources. They are not trophies, curiosities, or photo opportunities. They are individuals with lives of their own — not ours to dominate, display, or destroy.

Their right to freedom does not depend on their usefulness to us. It is inherent, absolute, and long overdue for respect.