News

The audiobook version of my book Discovering the Okapi is now available on Audible. From the excerpt I've heard, although it is disconcerting to hear your own words (especially first-person passages) read by another, it seems really nicely and clearly read by Simon Barber. Available via https://www.audible.co.uk/ or your regional audible service

I appreciated these comments by Irene Camerlink in the review in the journal Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 303 (2026): "The book, written by Simon Pooley, is not just about the Okapi but about its discovery in Africa and the subsequent debates on its phenology and behaviour, and the attempts to keep Okapi in Europe and the US. This is what makes the book even more fascinating, as it does not only show the research related to the animal, but also the efforts surrounding it

I'm pleased with the following from Justin Raycraft's review on H-Net: "Pooley wanted this book to be the flagship monograph of the okapi that he himself had been searching for, and this he has largely accomplished. The book will surely inform public understandings of one of the world’s most fascinating creatures for years to come. I read the book intensively over a period of a few days and found myself surprisingly immersed in it. When I put it down to return to my ordinary

I was delighted to read the following review comments on Discovering the Okapi by E.J. Milner-Gulland (original available here ): " I absolutely loved this book. As the subtitle suggests it delves deeply into how Western scientists and explorers came to discover the existence of this beautiful, shy creature, and highlights the many unacknowledged contributions, especially the peoples who share the forest with the okapi. It includes the tragic stories of individual okapis like

I'm delighted that Wits University Press have now published an affordable African edition (ZAR450) of my book Discovering the Okapi , available in all SADC countries and Kenya. You can access this here .

I was delighted with a nuanced and appreciative book review of Discovering the Okapi just published in Oryx - The International Journal for Conservation , available Open Access here :

Join artist Jennie Webber and Simon Pooley on 31st Mar 2026 7pm - 8:30pm https://wildlifedrawing.eventcube.io/events/93842/wild-life-drawing-online-okapis/

On January 23 I gave a talk about my book Discovering the Okapi to the Linnean Society, which was filmed, and is available online at the link here .

You can view the talk I did for the Animal History Group, kindly hosted by the Society for the History of Natural History at the link here :

It was great to have my book Discovering the Okapi chosen for The Nature Conservancy's Cool Green Science holiday picks reading list

We went out to bat for okapi on Friday 5th December at the museum which once made it famous. Greatly enjoyed chatting to museum visitors at the library open day alongside the Natural History Museum, London, Library & Archives crack okapi table team Kathryn, Ben, Grace and Cat. They had done their homework, watching my online talk and some came to the ZSL talk the preceding Tuesday, so everyone was brimming with great okapi information. More than 1,500 visitors passed through

Enjoyable launch for this book at the Zoological Society of London's Huxley Hall last week. As you would expect, there was an interesting, informed and engaged audience. It was so good to talk about okapi in person, after all these years of work and learning. Pausing for reflection in the ZSL Prince Philip Zoological Library next door before giving the talk, I took stock of my long road to recovery from dengue fever and post viral fatigue syndrome, and felt deeply grateful I

Join me in person at the Zoological Society of London's Huxley Hall on December 2nd to launch my book Discovering the Okapi. Full details and (free) booking here: Book launch - Discovering the Okapi Tickets, Tue 2 Dec 2025 at 18:00 | Eventbrite

I'm looking forward to launching my new book Discovering the Okapi at the Huxley hall of the Zoological Society of London on December...