The Cryptid That Turned Out To Be Real

Video Description

Thank you to CyberghostVPN for supporting Public Media. You can take advantage of an 84% discount, i.e. $2.03 per month + 4 months free by clicking on this link: https://cyberghostvpn.com/Storied With zebra legs, a giraffe tongue, and a unicorn’s reputation, the okapi sounds made-up—but it’s very real (and very cute). Once mistaken for a myth, this forest-dweller proves that not all monsters are imaginary… and some might just be hiding in plain sight. Filmed at the San Antonio Zoo. Learn more! https://sazoo.org/ For audio descriptions, go to Settings - Audio Track - English Descriptive. ***** PBS Member Stations rely on viewers like you. To support your local station, go to: http://to.pbs.org/DonateStoried ***** Written and Hosted by: Dr. Emily Zarka Creative Director: David Schulte Executive Producer: Amanda Fox Executive Producer: Dr. Emily Zarka Producer: Thomas Fernandes Editor/Animator: Ben Harisson Illustrator: Samuel Allan Executive in Charge (PBS): Maribel Lopez Director of Programming (PBS): Gabrielle Ewing Additional Footage: Shutterstock Music: APM Music Descriptive Audio & Captions provided by The Described and Captioned Media Program Produced by Spotzen for PBS Digital Studios. Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/monstrumpbs ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bibliography Bush, R. Mitchell. "Giraffidae,” 2003, pp. 625-633. Chinen, Allan B. The Muses of Truth and Transformation: A Jungian Perspective on Timeless Tales. Taylor & Francis, 2025. Foxon, Floe. “Primates.” Folklore and Zoology, Taylor & Francis Group, 2024. Foxon, Floe. “Heuvelmans the Heretic and Hidden Animals.” Interdisciplinary Science Reviews, vol. 49, no. 3/4, July 2024, pp. 332–48. Hall, Brian K. “The Paradoxical Platypus.” BioScience, vol. 49, no. 3, 1999, pp. 211–18. Hempel, Daniel, and Bill Ashcroft. Australia as the Antipodal Utopia, Anthem Press, 2019, pp. 109–26. Jones, Nicola. “How the Giraffe Got Its Neck: ‘Unicorn’ fossil could offer clues. Nature, vol. 606, 9 June 2022, p. 239. Karabulut, Șevval. “Okapi: A Celebration of Uniqueness and Self-Acceptance.” Bookbird, vol. 63, no. 2, 2025, pp. 70–71. Laurent, Béatrice. “Monster or Missing Link? The Mermaid and the Victorian Imagination.” Cahiers Victoriens & Édouardiens, vol. 2017, no. 85, 3188, 2017. Lobo, Jerónymo. A short relation of the River Nile: of its source and current; Of its Overflowing the Campagnia of Aegypt, 'till it runs into the Mediterranean; and of other curiosities. With a new preface. Written by an eye-witness, who lived many years in the chief kingdoms of the Abyssine Empire. Printed for the Royal Society, MDCLXIX: reprinted for, and sold by J. Lackington, No 46 & 47, Chiswell-Street, Moorfields, MDCCXCI. [1791] Hempel, Daniel, and Bill Ashcroft. Australia as the Antipodal Utopia, Anthem Press, 2019, pp. 109–26. Parsons, E. C. M. “Sea monsters and mermaids in Scottish folklore: Can these tales give us information on the historic occurrence of marine animals in Scotland?” Anthrozoös, 17:1, 2004, pp. 73-80. Peterson, Dale, and Karl Ammann. Giraffe Reflections. 1st ed., University of California Press, 2013. Swart, Sandra. “Writing Animals into African History.” Critical African Studies, vol. 8, no. 2, 2016, pp. 95-108. Tatoutchoup, Didier. “Okapi Survival Threats: A Population Reconstruction and Threat Analysis.” African Journal of Ecology, vol. 63, no. 2, 70032, 2025, pp. 1-7. Williams, Edgar. Giraffe. United Kingdom, Reaktion Books, 2011. Witelson, David M. “Revisiting the South African Unicorn: Rock Art, Natural History and Colonial Misunderstandings of Indigenous Realities.” Cambridge Archaeological Journal, vol. 33, no. 4, 2023, pp. 619–36. Wonderland of the Eastern Congo; the Region of the Snow-Crowned Volcanoes, the Pygmies, the Giant Gorilla, and the Okapi, 1922.