A northern Indiana zoo is set to become the first in the state to exhibit an endangered African species that's a relative of the giraffe.
South Bend's Potawatomi Zoo recently acquired two okapi from Chicago's Brookfield Zoo. They're expected to go on display later this month. Both are males standing about five feet tall. They're related to the giraffe but sport shorter necks, similar long ears and a long tongue.
Zoo Executive Director Marcy Dean calls four-year-old Corky and two-year-old Will "the boys" and says zoo staffers are enamored with them.
Dean tells The South Bend Tribune the okapi are a coup for the zoo because no other zoo in Indiana or Michigan has them.
She says only about 20 to 25 other U.S. zoos exhibit okapi.