Today was a beautiful autumn day, warm and sunny, which is why I planned to go to London Zoo. Sadly, my friend had one of her frequent illnesses and was unable to go. She will kick herself.
The okapi is a very shy animal that lives deep in the rainforest in Africa. It wasn't discovered till 1901. Man, of course, having found it, now hunts it for its meat and skin.
The okapi looks like a cross between a giraffe, a zebra and a horse. The coat looks really velvety, and I was just coming round the end of the okapi enclosure wondering if it felt that way, when I noticed that, at the far end of the enclosure, the male okapi was standing in what used to be a ditch, now drained and grassed over, right up against the fence, and apparently being stroked by a visitor.
I hurried along, and found that this supposedly timid animal was allowing people to pet him gently on the head, ears and horns. The coat here was not really velvety like I imagine the back would be, but it was a real thrill to scratch the ears of such a beautiful creature.
The meerkats have had their second litter of the year. Some of the smaller primates did their best to entertain the public. The lion cubs are getting huge. But today will be remembered as the day I touched an okapi.
Back in 1990 the late lamented Douglas Adams (author of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy) published a book about his trip around the world with naturalist Mark Carwardine (whose name I have misspelt on the following video). They visited places where there was wildlife in danger of extinction.
Now Mark Carwardine has repeated the trip with Adams' friend Stephen Fry, and the journey is currently showing on TV. Fry is both brave and foolish to undertake this trip given his unfit state. However, it is Carwardine's experience with the flightless New Zealand parrot the kakapo that is the funniest and most memorable moment in the show so far. Looks pretty painful, too:
We've all tried to help Vixenhood get its main man back for regular LOCI fixes. If we fail, it won't be for want of trying. Somehow this reused video and its song seem appropriate for how we feel right now.
