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DAILY NATION (Nairobi, Kenya) 06 January 05 Strange Love of a Tortoise And the Orphan Hippo
This giant tortoise has a new baby... a one-year-old orphan hippo.
The hippo rescued by KWS rangers from near certain death in the sea off Malindi, was taken to Haller Park in Mombasa where it has formed an unlikely but surprisingly strong relationship with the tortoise.
Named Owen by park staff, the hippo was placed in an enclosure at the disused limestone quarry that has been turned into a stunning coastal forest.
The lioness (pictured) at Samburu national park adopted a succession of baby oryx and took them for her own in 2002. The strange relationship between Owen and the tortoise is the latest in a series of odd bondings that have surprised and delighted zoologists in Kenya. Photo File
"It was incredible," said the park's general manager Dr Paula Kahumbu. "As soon as we let Owen into his new enclosure, he ran straight to the giant tortoise.
"He must have been pretty lonely after losing his family, and apparently he was looking for companionship."
At first the tortoise, a male, was not too impressed. He turned and hissed at the hippo, forcing Owen to back away. Within days, however, the two had formed a powerful bond. They now eat and sleep together, and Owen has even been seen to lick the tortoise.
The park's rehabilitation expert Sabine Baer believes the baby hippo's behaviour demonstrates just how powerful is the need for family bonding. "Owen has no way of knowing that the Aldabran tortoise is a male," she said. "He would not follow his father in the wild, so I think he is just desperate for a mother figure. The tortoise, on the other hand, would just see Owen as a companion."
The strange relationship between Owen and the tortoise is the latest in a series of odd bonding that have surprised and delighted zoologists in Kenya.
The best known previous one was the case of the lioness at Samburu national park, which in 2002 adopted a succession of baby oryx , and took them for her own.
Those adoptions ended sadly, either because the calf was taken away by rangers for its own protection, or was killed and eaten by other members of the pride.
No such sad fate should befall Owen and his giant tortoise however, although their strong bond might soon be broken.
For the park has a lonely female hippo called Cleo and they are hoping that before too long Owen will find a warm welcome in her lake.
The tortoise will not be lonely either. He is one of 13 at Haller Park and weighs around 300 kilogrammes. The staff have no way of knowing just how old it is, but they estimate he is between 60 and 100 years.
Hoteliers in Malindi first spotted Owen floundering in the surf off the coast, along with a number of other adult hippos, just before Christmas, when they alerted the wildlife authorities.
It is believed he had been swept down from Sabaki River.
Coastal vet Dr Kashmiri, who volunteered his services for the rescue, said the hippo calf would have died within a few days in the salt-water.
"Because the water is saltier than the hippo's body, he would have lost a lot of fluid," he said.
"So the longer he stayed in the sea, the more dehydrated he would have become. I don't think he could have survived there for more than a few days."
Owen was named after one of the men who helped to capture him, French volunteer Owen Saubion, an ecology student from France who has been helping KWS for four months.
Strange Love of a Tortoise And the Orphan Hippo

I just got through reading about this.

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the pictures for this story are priceless.