Zoo captures first picture of rare okapi in wild

A rare African animal has been photographed in the wild for the first time by staff from London Zoo.

The okapi, the closest living relative of the giraffe, was captured roaming through the Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The secretive animal was once believed to have been the mythical unicorn. Okapi are now common in zoos but had not been seen in the wild for nearly 50 years.

The Zoo and the Congolese Institute for Nature Conservation set up camera traps in the park and this week found the pictures.

Dr Noelle Kumpel said: "To have captured the first ever photographs of such a charismatic creature is amazing. Okapi are very shy and rare animals - which is why conventional surveys only tend to record droppings and other signs of their presence."

Norbert Mushenzi, deputy director of Virunga National Park, said: "The rangers and I are incredibly excited to find evidence of okapi still surviving here."