So.....is the lion the hippo, or the turtle...?
Posted on 01/21/2005 7:45:53 AM PST by jmhfnyc
Last Updated: Thursday, 6 January, 2005, 17:01 GMT
E-mail this to a friend Printable version
Odd couple make friends in Kenya
Mzee and Owen have become firm friends despite the age gap A baby hippo rescued after floods in Kenya last week has befriended a 100-year-old tortoise in Kenya. The one-year-old hippo calf christened Owen was found alone and dehydrated by wildlife rangers near the Indian Ocean.
He was placed in an enclosure at a wildlife sanctuary in the coastal city of Mombasa and befriended a male tortoise of a similar colour.
According to a park official, they sleep together, eat together and "have
become inseparable".
"Since Owen arrived on the 27 December, the tortoise behaves like a mother to it," Haller Park tourism manager Pauline Kimoti told the BBC News website.
"The hippo follows the tortoise around and licks his face," she said.
The tortoise is named Mzee, which is Swahili for old man.
Ms Kimoti said that if the 300kg hippo continued to thrive then in the next few weeks they would allow the public to see the unlikely pair together before they are separated.
The sanctuary, which is on the site of a former cement factory, plans eventually to get the help of the Kenya Wildlife Service to place Owen with Cleo, a lonely female hippo in a separate enclosure.
This is the latest in a series of unusual bondings in the wild that have surprised and delighted zoologists in Kenya.
In 2002, a lioness at Samburu National Park adopted a succession of baby oryx
(Excerpt) Read more at news.bbc.co.uk ...
So.....is the lion the hippo, or the turtle...?
LOL
"So.....is the lion the hippo, or the turtle...?"
See end of story:
"In 2002, a lioness at Samburu National Park adopted a succession of baby oryx."
I can't help but wonder if the little calfie isn't practicing for that wonderful day he can bite the tortoise's head off.
....so, should I be pulling out my tin-foil hat?
" can't help but wonder if the little calfie isn't practicing for that wonderful day he can bite the tortoise's head off."
Hippos are vegetarians! They eat only plants. Come on ... this is an adorable story.
"....so, should I be pulling out my tin-foil hat?"
Maybe. Cross-species adoption. What next?
When a turtle and hippo breed...
... you get a Tippo.
The lion shall lie down with the lamb, but the lamb won't get much sleep.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.