Talk:Okapi

Plagiarism in Okapi article

large parts of the reproduction section in this article seem to be plagiarized from the Animal Diversity Web: <http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Okapia_johnstoni.html>

Tongue Picture

Hi all, I've added a second picture to illustrate the magnificent Okapi tongue, since IMO the current one is too dark. Is two too many tongue pictures, and if so, which one should go? Best regards, Yummifruitbat 20:13, 27 May 2005 (UTC)

The gallery is ideal for this sort of situation. Both pics can stay in. →Raul654 20:14, May 27, 2005 (UTC)

Can't say fairer than that :) Yummifruitbat 01:20, 28 May 2005 (UTC)

The -only- animal that can lick its own ears? I severely doubt that. What about rabbits?

Or those cows from Asia, Brahmins I think they're called. 71.217.98.158 05:23, 23 February 2007 (UTC)

large scale revert and edit

Hey guys, I made a number of changes to this page, removing comments that looked as though they could have been vandalism, including reverting to quite an older version. I apologise if I've removed any information of value. Thanks. Stuhacking 12:22, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

many thanks for your hard work, Stuhacking. It's much appreciated.Lisapollison 19:38, 11 May 2006 (UTC)

How about a list of zoos that have Okapis?

I know that the Los Angeles Zoo has one but it might be nice to inlude a short list of Zoos and/or wild animal parks that have Okapis on display so that curious readers can go and see one near them. What do you think? Lisapollison 19:38, 11 May 2006 (UTC)

Only if you promise to stick around for the next ten years and keep it accurate. :-) Seriously, I think this is somewhat ephemeral information that would be hard to maintain worldwide (zoos frequently buying, selling, and trading animals around), unless you had a good reference site, in which case it would be easier just to link to that site. WP is better as the source of information that is stable and unchanging; you'll notice that very few articles give street addresses or phone numbers, for the same reason. Stan 00:12, 12 May 2006 (UTC)

I agree. There's also the issue of how many zoos we're talking about; a list with several hundred entries would just unnecessarily swamp the article. Postdlf 15:48, 12 May 2006 (UTC)

A quick Google search ([1]), of course, pulls up quite a few individual sites for zoos with okapis. Someday there will be probably be some kind of master web database which zoos could use to register their animals. Albanaco 10:57, 11 June 2006 (UTC)

Well, both San Diego Zoo and San Diego Zoo's Wild Animal Park have suberb exhibits of okapis. Dora Nichov 03:36, 2 September 2006 (UTC)

Sleep

I removed unreferenced claim that Okapis are unusual in only sleeping 5mins per 24 hours. This university textbook suggests that Okapis have similar sleep duration times to horses, and greater duration times than giraffes. Bwithh 00:12, 26 October 2006 (UTC)

• Actually, they mention that sleep stuff on the San Diego Zoo website, I think. Or at least some zoo website. Let's see what I can remember (so that, if somebody would clarify that, it would be great--I gotta go to bed)... A. Okapis don't release droppings for a certain period of time after birth. [b]B. Okapis can sleep for around 5 minutes and still be alert.[/b] C. An okapi can move its ears independently, much like a chameleon can do with its eyes. I hope that "B" cleared up the whole sleeping stuff. I'm sure okapis don't naturally sleep that shortly all the time. Hope that helps.--Dreyfus 03:44, 2 November 2006 (UTC)
  • Do you have a source? Also, "Okapis can sleep for around 5 minutes and still be alert" is pretty ambiguous; it doesn't really say they only need 5min/24hr, it even sounds more like they can be asleep for 5 minutes and still be conscious of what's around them. --Utaneus (talk) 23:05, 1 July 2009 (UTC)

Article mention in New Scientist

I will be the first to admit that this is of absolutely no importance whatsoever, and will do nothing to further the understanding about the okapi. However, as a bit of fun, you may wish to have a look in the current (10th February) issue of New Scientist, and read the Feedback section for a mention of this article. Or, have a look at this link: http://www.newscientist.com/backpage.ns?id=mg19325902.600 StephenBuxton 00:47, 10 February 2007 (UTC)

Tongue

We have established that it can lick its own ears, but can it lick its own elbows?RSido 04:10, 19 April 2007 (UTC)

Hitchhikers Reference

Would anyone care to speculate on how Arthur Dent's brother came to be "nibbled to death by an Okapi"? - Ralphbk (talk) 14:18, 3 January 2008 (UTC)

Magic. --71.225.75.183 (talk) 00:27, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

Meh, probably just poetic license on Douglas Adams' part, since okapis are herbivores. Oh well. Doesn't matter. Clem (talk) 22:19, 9 May 2009 (UTC)

Pronunciation

I think we're missing a pronunciation thing, I don't know how to do that stuff, nor do I know how to read the pronunciation stuff myself, but on many other articles I have seen then. Plus, I also need to know to prove to my teacher about them. Thecutnut (talk) 09:14, 5 March 2008 (UTC)

Drinking

http://www.natureinstitute.org/pub/ic/ic10/giraffe.htm

"Only the giraffe (and its rain forest relative, the Okapi) have necks that are so short relative to their legs and chest that they must splay or bend their legs [in order to drink]".

Is this true? is it interesting?

192.114.175.2 (talk) 10:42, 17 June 2008 (UTC)

Color

The new picture that was taken recently obviously shows that they are not all dark colored on th eback. It is a light tawny color, not unlike a deer —Preceding unsigned comment added by 216.228.112.21 (talk) 20:18, 11 September 2008 (UTC)

Anyone watching this page? News Story: 'Mythical' animal finally poses for camera

• animal finally poses for camera
• Ling.Nut ^{(talk—WP:3IAR)} 03:08, 12 September 2008 (UTC)

I know it's what all the news links say, that this was the first time that an Okapi had ever been photographed in the wild, but I'm really doubting that is literally true. I'm currently watching a NGC documentary on the Ituri Forest that has very clear film footage of Okapi in the wild. Further, I doubt the Okapi Wildlife Reserve has been operating without anyone actually seeing any Okapi for decades, and the capture of Okapis for breeding in zoos, as that article mentions, obviously means someone has been encountering them in the wild. I'm thinking that the pictures were instead the first time the Okapi had ever been photographed in the wild in Virunga National Park, but reporters have carelessly failed to qualify that, going for the more sensational story instead. How can we establish that? Postdlf (talk) 23:02, 10 October 2008 (UTC)

Nocturnal/Diurnal

This article claims that okapis are diurnal, but many other sites are claiming that they are nocturnal, for example:

http://www.reference.com/browse/okapi http://www.nhm.org/site/explore-exhibits/permanent-exhibits/african-mammals/okapi —Preceding unsigned comment added by 129.105.244.193 (talk) 23:52, 25 January 2010 (UTC)

Pop culture section

I added a Pop Culture section after all the scientific information with the reference. This animal seems to be a favorite and used and noted by many actor', writers, and other notable people. I was watching a VH1 I love the 90s show last night at 4am and saw actor comedian Michael Biggins state he thinks he created it (in a comedic manor) and I also know science fiction writer Douglas Adams has said said something similar and the animal is in his Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series. I'm not an expert on wikipedia but I did read up on all the guidelines before contributing but if I did something wrong or anyone wants to clean up the wording or section feel free. 50.14.160.228 (talk) 15:04, 13 January 2011 (UTC)

I'm sorry I removed your addition as vandalism, this isn't that. But I still think the addition might be problematic. I just don't know that one actor's opinion about an animal is relevant enough to be mentioned in that animal's encyclopedia entry. It is often quite hard to find out exactly what is appropriate to put in a "in popular culture"-section on wikipedia (See WP:IPC about this). But I don't think this is appropriate. Also, a forum post does not qualify as a reliable source for references in Wikipedia. Because of this, I am I have to remove your addition, but thanks for trying, and please keep on editing Wikipedia.TheFreeloader (talk) 23:56, 13 January 2011 (UTC)

while I appreciate your kind and thoughtful tone, I am wondering if you are being sarcastic. It is hardly encouraging to contribute something and spend a good deal of time trying to word it right, to just find your entire contribution deleted. You said "you still think the addition might be problematic." Well why don't you help me along to better write, edit, and site it rather than just delete the whole thing? Why do you get to do that? How do you get to be the authority on the Okapi and if it should have a section on popular culture references or not? Now don't get me wrong - I am not trying to be confrontational but it is a bit befuddling to me. I think it's very relevant, and I think to a lot of people it would be very relevant. I was watching VH1 and a comedian (Blackout) who is listed here as Michael Biggins was talking about this animal and they showed it. I did not even know before that that it was a real animal, but I had heard the 'name' okapi from the douglas Adam's books the Hitchhiker's guide to the Galaxy series. So apparently using the 'okapi' is an in joke amongs eccentric writers and comedians.. I wanted to put a section together on tis and that was the start.

Perhaps I gave too much space to the comedian, but that is because I found that. How would I site the page from the Douglas Adams books? Can you please put it back in and YOU help me site it or shorten it so it communicates this interesting fact It's a "funny" animal. I really didn't think it was real, so I searched for it and here I am. I think that many others probably would find this information fascinating and useful, and relevant. I wanted to reference the VH1 show but it is copyrighted I don't know how I would do that, so I referenced what was shown on the show which was that web page. Perhaps more space to Douglas Adams? or just a short note about each of them? Surely he is a world wide famous author of beloved books - of which i thought he had 'made up' the Okapi as a monster until I saw Blackout talking about it. I have the hard cover books I could find the exact page if you need but there are various editions. Help me do something with this instead of being destructive and wiping out a curious part of the story of a curious funny animal. Also I have no idea how to get a name on here it doesn't seem to work i am trying to do that. 50.14.160.228 (talk) 01:34, 14 January 2011 (UTC)

I just don't know how I could help you make that Blackout reference relevant. No matter how short you made the mention of it, I still think it would come across to most people as irrelevant and out of place in this article. I bet the okapi has had innumerable mentions in popular culture if you really start digging through it, I remember it mentioned in an episode of Six Feet Under, but I don't think starting a list of all those would be helpful to this article. About the hypothesis that it is a generally "funny animal", it would be synthesis to make some conclusion about that from just a collecting of examples where it is used as such in popular culture. To say that the okapi is a "funny animal" you would need to find some reliable source which says just that. About the reference by Douglas Adams, if it is more than just a passing mention of the animal it might be relevant (please see WP:IPC to judge this). The way to reference the book is quite simple, you just make a reference note and write the name of the book, the author and the pages it can be found on. While there are more things which can be included if you want the reference to be perfect (see WP:CITE for this), name, author and page should do to begin with.TheFreeloader (talk) 02:23, 14 January 2011 (UTC)

Ok, I spent a lot of time researching and rewrote the entire thing in a more neutral tone and only included three major artists with references and I think I cited them correctly I read up on citing and only included what was said / is documented by a writer, a comedian, and a band - just to show the wide fan base of the animal from artists. I could not link to the VH1 video because it is copyrighted, but I did my best and kept it short yet accurate. I have read up on registering so I will try and come back here with a username rather than random numbers. 50.14.160.228 (talk) 03:16, 14 January 2011 (UTC)

Still, it does not pass the WP:IPC requirements for including passing mentions from popular culture, that is: "However, passing mentions in books, television or film dialogue, or song lyrics should be included only when that mention's significance is itself demonstrated with secondary sources." There are no secondary sources included as reference for what you are trying to add, and I have not been able to find any myself. Until such can be found, I don't think it is appropriate to include those pop culture references.TheFreeloader (talk) 03:34, 14 January 2011 (UTC)

My goodness man, you wikipedians are insane tough cookies... Isn't a show that is not his show referencing him talking about an Okapi a secondary source? And with the Douglas Adam's material - that IS secondary material, that is an INTERVIEW with one of his co writers on the radio show so that IS secondary as well and goes into detail about his favorite line being the nibbled to death by an okapi.... and with the band - surely that is fairly notable - that they had a vinyl record skip on the track in an infinite loop. I'm sure I can find ore sources and i can see that someone already re-wrote my re-write better and I guess put it in the order of notability. I will find more secondary sources please mr authority on all things wikipedia and okapi give a humble okapi lover a chance to contribute. I'll find some more secondary sources of secondary sources... this whole thing is making me have a headache I think it reads really well now, it is at the end, and contributes to the overall article. But let me sleep tonight I will work on this tomorow. My god do you get paid for this are you wikipedia staff or something? I thought this was supposed to be an open contribution community it seems like a closed system with impossible guidelines! 50.14.160.228 (talk) 04:31, 14 January 2011 (UTC)

I just reverted the destructive edit which removed TheFreeloader's VERY acceptable rewrite of your additions, and I agree and support your additions and will help you find fore sources. The last person who just DELETED everything - well I agree with you that is total vandalism to me. I delt with a lot of that as well I am a fan of both Douglas Adams and Blackout and while I have never heard of the band you mentioned, to say "Douglas Adams" is not notable is the most ridiculous thing in the world, he's only one of the world's most famous authors. That's not notable? Give it a rest. The section reads well and contributes to the article. I know there is an actual printed magazine reference somewhere where Blackout talks about the okapi thing..and it is in a movie as well 2009 "FILM CONTEST?" I'll try and find it and help you out 50.14.160.228 - PS: It's very simple to register and make a name and far preferable to using your ip address. Simple...... click "log in / register" at the top right corner of the screen and do the process and verify your e-mail. Don't let these wikipedia nazis who think they run this place that you sometimes find get you down... they have no right to go wiping out whole sections without discussion you have just as much value in your contribution as the scientific parts do, you just need a few more sources perhaps. I'll help you later today when I'm off work. ManofThoth (talk) 11:41, 14 January 2011 (UTC)

The things, while Douglas Adams may himself be notable, not every detail of about what he has ever said or written is notable. There needs to be some secondary source which has picked up on the reference (according to WP:IPC) for it to be notable. While the thing about the record might in some sense constitute such a secondary source, a reference is still needed to verify that it is actually true. I am not sure at all the Blackout reference, while he might be doing a lot of promotion himself of his love for okapis, I still think there would need to be someone else to pick up on it for it to be notable under WP:IPC. To 50.14.160.228, I am sorry if editing Wikipedia seems harder than it should be, but "in popular culture"-sections are just a quite hard place to edit. People here have become quite vigilant about popular culture and trivia sections as experience has shown that if people aren't wary about keeping them down to what is strictly notable, they will soon come dominate most articles. I think if you start editing outside these kinds of sections you will find that Wikipedia can be a quite a bit more laid-back place.TheFreeloader (talk) 15:27, 14 January 2011 (UTC)

I don't think recognition in secondary sources is always necessary for cultural references; I wouldn't necessarily remove, for example, a notable kid's picture book that is about an okapi, or a notable film in which okapis play a major role (please, Hollywood, get on this), though including links to articles on those works under "see also" might be an even better solution than a "pop culture section". But here, I completely agree with TheFreeloader: these references are nothing but mentions that are insignificant to this topic and add nothing to the reader's understanding. They're like reverse annotations in a way: if someone reading the Douglas Adams book wanted to know what an okapi was, they'd want to read this article, but not many people already reading this article would want to know every book that had merely used the word "okapi". So I also support removal of the section.

If okapis are significant to another topic, but that topic is not significant to okapis, then that other article can explain its usage and link to this article, and that article will then show up in "what links here" for those who want to look up even the most tangential references to okapis. But okapis apparently aren't even significant to Michael Biggins, The Restaurant at the End of the Universe, or the other subjects mentioned, because it's not mentioned in any of those articles, which further supports the conclusion that it is trivial at best and contributes nothing of substance here. postdlf (talk) 15:41, 14 January 2011 (UTC)

[Edit conflict] Man of Thoth, please see your talk page for my comment on your use of "vandalism" and worse. I won't discuss it further here.

Of course the great Douglas Adams is notable! No-one is suggesting he is not. However, not everything written by any writer, however great, is notable, and I am struggling to see the relevance to this article of one brief mention by him, let alone the similarly minor mentions by far lesser people.

Editors may find it helpful to read this WP guidance note: WP:TRIVIA.

To keep the material in this section, we need to be sure that it contributes to the subject covered by the article. I can't see that it does: Freeloader's comments above eloquently explain why. I'd add that secondary sources do have to be WP:RS themselves, not just passing mentions in some blog or magazine article.

Having said all that, I am intrigued by the mention in this edit of okapis being an "inside joke". Freeloader deleted this as original research, and if it is OR, no matter. However, if sources can be found for it, then we really do have something notable, and the other mentions would serve as examples. Richard New Forest (talk) 16:12, 14 January 2011 (UTC)

It is attitudes like this "The great Douglas Adams......" but then you go and call the other two "far LESSER people," that is an absolute shameful and pompous sort of wikipedia elitism. Now, I agree that to me, and obviously to you, it appears that Douglas Adams is a GREAT writer, yet that is only 'opinion' no matter how many people say it, I'm sure their is someone who will come in here and call anything or anyone "lesser" or "unworthy" or "not popular enough" and his 'sales figures' or the fact that you like him and perhaps don't know of other writers who have sold as many books or have never heard of the band because they were not as famous as Elvis should not establish that the other two references are "lesser". I have no idea about the band or the record either but it certainly seems that to a very many people they were or are "GREAT" since they are still performing. It also seems extremely notable that of all the things in the world, they choose THAT line to skip on their record. I am trying to find out more about the band and the record and I will site it if I do. I have heard the okapi story many times on Blackout's show, yet you are correct it is not mentioned in his WIKIPEDIA article, but it is all over other material on him several years back and some current. Wikipedia doesn't cover every thing every person has ever said as some sort of life document or court record. All the articles are written by groups and sections appear and disappear because editors consider some things 'lesser' . I would think that we could all agree that the okapi is an odd looking animal at best, but I don't know if that is original research or not. I do see that there are Egyptian references. If it was just, "made up" by the writer then I have been nibbling down the OKAPI hole myself and I have found some occult references and sources and it looks as if Aleister Crowley was in on this okapi thing as well and it goes back to Egyptian magic... but let me sort this out and find usable sources. It may be that this is like something similar to the wilhelm scream but throughout a far longer time scale, but I am writing that here in the discussion, not in the actual article. ManofThoth (talk) 03:22, 16 January 2011 (UTC)

I'm not really ashamed of thinking highly of Douglas Adams. The others are lesser, to me, mainly because for some reason I'd never heard of them. However, it's not my opinions that are important: the point I was making is that however great a writer is (in whoever's opinion), not everything they write is notable. You say that things are included on WP or not because of the opinions of editors. Unfortunately this sort of bias does happen, and this is exactly why we use reliable sources to decide what is notable, not our own opinions. I have no objection to the inclusion of the material we've been discussing, but only if we have evidence from reliable sources that it is notable. Richard New Forest (talk) 11:10, 16 January 2011 (UTC)

Undid the massive pop culture section delete by Freeloader. I am warning you Freeloader - continuous deleting of sections YOU deem non notable is unacceptable and borders on article vandalism. Notability has already BEEN established - that is not the argument. Have you READ this entire discussion? Some more sourcing for the SECOND reference on the record is needed. Sourcing that is other than wikipedia I am thinking. If you do an entire section wipe again without a consensus (playing wikipedia God on your own - which you have no authority to do) then I am going to call for some higher ups to get involved. In the mean time I am continueing on my search to find a site for the 2nd reference to the record. The other two have established notability in film, tv, radio,and literature. ManofThoth (talk) 10:20, 2 February 2011 (UTC)