Tsunami victim'd hippo, adopts tortoise as surrogate mother! Awww!! (with pics)

[CodecX81]

http://www.digyourowngrave.com/torto...ts-baby-hippo/

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 follows 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.

[hyperion]

Heh that's cool.

[Oni-kun]

hehehe. hippos can be really nasty though i heard they are one of the most aggressive animals.

[goob3r]

This is very old news...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/4152447.stm

although some cool new pics that I haven't seen before!

[DJ_Peanuts22]

cute

[Tshute]

Animals are amazing.

[Emancipated]

Awesome.

[JAC]

The turtle's probably thinking, "Goddamit, if I could just move a little faster I could get away from this fat little bastard!"

[pandaharo]

That's awesome.

In 2002, a lioness at Samburu National Park adopted a succession of baby oryx.

I'm sure the lioness has big plans for her baby oryx.

[gaurav_fhs]

The turtle's probably thinking, "Goddamit, if I could just move a little faster I could get away from this fat little bastard!"

hahaha

[bug]

hehehe. hippos can be really nasty though i heard they are one of the most aggressive animals.

Only the agressive territorial males.

[Oni-kun]

Only the agressive territorial males.

How about aggressive mothers.

[felix]

I'm sure the lioness has big plans for her baby oryx.

Cool .. related links :
http://www.awf.org/news/5225
http://www.awf.org/news/6143

[hyperion]

Wow the lioness one is even more amazing. Why didn't the lioness eat it??