Via Paige.
'A baby hippo at the Mombasa (Kenya) Zoo lost his mother in the tsunami. The young hippo was swept away by the water and then left on a beach before being rescued by wildlife rangers. However, the baby then “bonded” with his new surrogate mother, a male tortoise believed to be 100 years old.
“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.“After it was swept and lost its mother, the hippo was traumatised. 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.'
I saw the pic on Paige's blog, and I couldn't help but utter an "awhhh..." :)
Interesting how animals even adopt outside of their species, let alone "families." Love one another.
Posted by: Karissa at January 13, 2005 8:59 PM