LONDON , England ( CNN ) -- Rare images of an African animal so elusive that it was once believed to be mythical have been released . One of the first pictures of the elusive okapi was taken by camera trap . The okapi is a shy animal related to the giraffe , with zebra-like stripes on its rear . It is native to the tropical rainforests of Africa but is now known to live only in the Democratic Republic of the Congo . Okapis were last seen in the DRC 50 years ago , and the images are the first to capture the animal in the wild . `` To have captured the first-ever photographs of such a charismatic creature is amazing , '' said Noelle Kumpel , manager of the Bushmeat and Forests Conservation Program at the Zoological Society of London , which took the pictures . `` Okapi are very shy and rare animals , which is why conventional surveys only tend to record droppings and other signs of their presence . '' The okapi 's face and long legs resemble those of the giraffe , their closest-living relative , but they look more like horses with long necks . The average height of their shoulders is 1.6 meters ( 5 feet , 3 inches ) , the ZSL says . They have a short , dense , velvety coat and dark prehensile tongue long enough to clean their own eyelids and ears . The new pictures show the okapi in the foliage of the DRC 's Virunga National Park , where decades of economic collapse and armed conflict have threatened the diverse wildlife . In one image , an okapi looks curiously toward the camera amid the green trees and groundcover . Its large ears , dark nose , and zebra stripes are clearly visible . The next shot shows the okapi walking away from the camera , giving a clear view of its striking black-and-white stripes on its rear legs . A third image released by ZSL was taken at night and gives a vivid side view of the animal . `` The photographs clearly show the stripes on their rear , which act like unique fingerprints , '' said Theirry Lusenge , a key member of ZSL 's survey team in the DRC . `` We have already identified three individuals , and further survey work will enable us to estimate population numbers and distribution in and around the park , which is a critical first step in targeting conservation efforts . '' ZSL said the images prove the okapi still thrives in the park despite threats to its survival , which include poaching , deforestation , military camps inside the park , and the influx of refugees at the park 's borders . The animal 's exact status is still a mystery , however , and it remains under threat , the ZSL said . Okapi meat reportedly poached from the park is now regularly on sale at the nearby town of Beni -- and if hunting continues at the same rate , okapi could become extinct within the park within a few years , the ZSL said . The Virunga National Park is one of only three protected areas the okapi are known to inhabit , the ZSL said . The ZSL 's study of the okapi is part of a larger EU-funded conservation project in the park . Though focused on okapi , the study has also managed to find other species including shrews and duikers , a kind of antelope , a ZSL spokeswoman said . The study involved 18 cameras set up around the park by the ZSL and the Congolese Institute for Nature Conservation , the spokeswoman said . The announcement comes a month after another group of researchers reported finding thousands of previously-unknown gorillas in the neighboring Republic of Congo . The U.S.-based Wildlife Conservation Society said in August they had found 125,000 Western lowland gorillas living in a swamp in northern Congo , adding significantly to the existing worldwide population of the threatened species . Okapi were well known by Africans for centuries but the animal remained elusive , thanks to its acute hearing and effective camouflage , according to The National Zoological Gardens of South Africa . Nineteenth-century explorers sometimes caught a fleeting glimpse of the okapi 's striped backside as it ran through the forest , leading to speculation that it was a kind of zebra , the National Zoological Gardens says . It was known to the pygmy as a sacred animal . Still , the okapi remained unknown to the Western world until the early 20th century , when British explorer Harry Johnston went to Congo and sent a complete skin and skull back to Britain , the ZSL said .
African animal so elusive it was once believed to be mythical is photographed . Okapi is shy animal related to the giraffe , with zebra-like stripes on its rear . Animal is now known to live only in the Democratic Republic of the Congo .