Crossword Genius

Right character to house a stripy African ruminant (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

okapi

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'african ruminant' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)

'right character to house a stripy' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'right' could be 'ok' (both are affirmative answers) and 'ok' is found in the answer.
'character' could be 'pi' (pi is a kind of letter of the alphabet) and 'pi' is found within the answer.
'a' is present in the answer.
No letters remain.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for okapi that I've seen before include "beast from Africa" , "African animal related to the giraffe" , "Small giraffe" , "One of the giraffe family" , "creature" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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