Search for 'weird antelope' and Google serves up the saiga. It can't be easy going through life with that Gonzo-style schnoz, but strange looks are the least of the saiga's worries. Once numbering in the millions all across the Eurasian steppes and semi-deserts, the antelope are listed as critically endangered today, and only small, isolated populations remain. The species has also been plagued by mysterious dieoffs, including one that claimed 12,000 animals in 2010. Image: USFWS Headquarters, Flickr

Famous explorer Henry Morton Stanley described it as a strange sort of 'donkey' living in the forest. Early Europeans in Africa heard whispers of a mythical 'African unicorn'. Today it's sometimes called the forest giraffe. For yet another acceptable moniker, try okapi or even zebra giraffe. And since it's a wondrous hodgepodge that defies description, it's rather fitting that the okapi goes by many a name. Sadly, the species (which is unique to the rainforests of the Congo) faces a number of threats today, including habitat loss and the dangers posed by ongoing conflict in the DRC. Image: Derek Keats, Flickr 

Show a gerenuk to a newbie (and there are still gerenuk newbies out there) and you get one indignant cry: Photoshop! But alas, gerenuks are real – and isn't that awesome?! Also known as the Waller's gazelles, gangly gerenuks put those loooooong necks (topped by disproportionately teeeeny heads) to use when they hop up onto their hindquarters (we're still not making this up) and munch away on the leaves of acacia trees. Short antelope just stand by and watch jealously. Image: John Bennet, Flickr

Tiny, big-eyed and ridiculously adorable, dik-diks look more like cutesy stuffed toys than real animals. But give these diminutive antelope some credit. Life on the savannas of eastern Africa is pretty scary when you're this tiny - and predators don't care if you're cute. Big cats, eagles, baboons and even monitor lizards ... they all think dik-diks make delicious hors d'oeuvres. Image: Peter Steward, Flickr

Is it a goat? Is it an antelope? It's both! The Japanese serow belongs to a group of goat-antelopes known as Caprinae. They like high altitudes and mountainous terrain – and those bushy cheek beards are not just for the males ... the ladies have them, too (the decorative head greenery is optional). Once considered threatened, they now number about 100,000 in the wild. Image: tomosuke214, Flickr

We're with you – there's something just a little bit unsettling about fanged deer. And if you think the live specimen is strange-looking, just take a look at the skull! For Siberian musk deer (at least for the males), the tusks are like a consolation prize: no antlers, but hey, we get sabre teeth! The weapons (which grow up to 10cm) are used to deal with rivals. And let's not forget their famous aroma-producing skills – deer musk, a strong-smelling substance obtained from the glands of male deer, is one of the most expensive animal products in the world. Image: Николай Усик, Wikimedia Commons