{ 08 juillet 2005 }
hippo tsunami survivor
according to a story from the afp, a baby hippo who survived the tsunami waves last december on the kenyan coast has bonded with a giant century-old male tortoise. they are both currently living in an animal facility in mombassa.
owen, the 650-pound hippo, was swept down the sabaki river into the indian ocean, then he landed on the shores of the kenyan coast where wildlife rangers rescued him.
paula kahumbu, an ecologist who is in charge of lafarge park, told afp:
“it is incredible. a less-than-a-year-old hippo has adopted a male tortoise, about a century old, and the tortoise seems to be very happy with being a ‘mother’… after it was swept and lost its mother, the hippo was traumatized. it had to look for something to be a surrogate mother. fortunately, it landed on the tortoise and established a strong bond. they swim, eat and sleep together… the hippo follows the tortoise exactly the way it follows its mother. if somebody approaches the tortoise, the hippo becomes aggressive, as if protecting its biological mother… the hippo is a young baby, he was left at a very tender age and by nature, hippos are social animals that like to stay with their mothers for four years.”
i love hippos, so that story just makes me smile.
posted at 12.57