Tsunami
Survivors
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 SabakiRiver 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 LafargePark, told AFP.
"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
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 youn g 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.
Freedom
isn't free! To insure the
continuation of this website and the survival of its creator in
these financially-troubled times, please send donations directly to the Birdman at
PO Box 66683, St Pete Beach FL 33736-6683
"The smallest good deed is worth the grandest intention."
Please
contribute today - buy our books - and spread the word to all
your friends!
Remember: Your donation = our survival!
* * * Back to the Home Page of John "Birdman" Bryant, the World's Most Controversial Author * * *