Okapi in the Ituri Rainforest

Okapi in the Ituri Rainforest is an original illustration set in Ituri Forest, DR Congo. It lies in equatorial latitudes, where the climate is tropical rainforest — hot and wet all year.

An okapi steps across a dim clearing, its deep chestnut body, velvety coat and boldly striped hindquarters and legs fully readable. Tall trunks and dense understorey close in behind, and the light is soft, green and diffuse.

Why does a forest animal have zebra stripes on its legs?

The stripes work as disruptive camouflage in broken forest light, and they may also help a calf follow its mother through dense cover. This is the giraffe's only living relative — same long prehensile tongue, same skin-covered horns — but built low and short-necked for browsing inside a closed canopy rather than above it.

Terpano is a free daily geography puzzle. You study one original illustration, place a pin on a borderless terrain map, and see how close you were. There is no account and no sign-up; progress stays in your own browser. It plays in 11 languages.