Hippo and tortoise
This true story has been going around the Internet for years, but it still makes me smile. More proof that differences don’t have to matter.
NAIROBI (AFP) – A baby hippopotamus that survived the tsunami waves on the Kenyan coast has formed a strong bond with a giant male century-old tortoise in an animal facility in the port city of Mombassa, officials said. The hippopotamus, nicknamed Owen and weighing about 300 kilograms (650 pounds), was swept down Sabaki River into the Indian Ocean, then forced back to shore when tsunami waves struck the Kenyan coast on December 26, before wildlife rangers rescued him. “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’,” ecologist Paula Kahumbu, who is in charge of Lafarge Park, told AFP. “After it was swept away 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 ecologist added. “The hippo follows the tortoise exactly the way it followed its mother. If somebody approaches the tortoise, the hippo becomes aggressive, as if protecting its biological mother,” Kahumbu added. “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,” he explained.
(Thanks to Betty for the submission!)
Peru welcomes baby hippo
You’ve probably figured out by now that I’m a sucker for baby animals. So here goes:
Carlota and her partner Pipo are the proud parents of a new baby hippopotamus, the second born in captivity in the capital Lima.
The 66lb (30kg) male was born on April 2 but spent four weeks under observation before being shown off to visitors.
The baby spent most of his first day in the public eye swimming with his mother. Zoo director Tatiana Quevedo said he had been separated from his father and brother to avoid conflict among the males.
The young hippo has put on some weight since birth, but has a ways to go before catching up with his parents. Carlota weights about 3.5 tonnes and Pipo is a tonne heavier.
Local children will get a chance to vote on a name for the baby over the internet.
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