Photos: Baby Hippo Adopted by 100 Year-Old Tortoise
by Michael Graham Richard, Ottawa, Canada 
on 02.11.08
Here's the heart-warming story of the day: "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."
More, with photos, after the jump.
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 followed its mother. 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.
For those who don't believe it, it's apparently true according to TruthorFiction.com.
::100 Year-old Tortoise acts as Mom to Baby Hippo, via reddit.
See also: ::Snakes Pandas on a Plane, ::"Weird" Animals Need Protection, Too, ::Who Wants to Save the Aye-Aye?
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Good grief, not only is this story four years old, but the tortoise and the hippo have since been separated.
Ummm didn't this go viral before anyone ever used the term. I think I saw this 3 years ago.
This is news? This story is three years old. Heck, my 5-year-old has the children's book about it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Owen_and_Mzee
OK, this is a true story, but according to Snopes, it didn't happen quite as described (hippo didn't "land on" the tortoise). Also, it happened in Dec. 2004, so it's an old story.
http://www.snopes.com/photos/animals/hippo.asp
It is very cute, tho!
This is so sweet and sadly too good to last.
I hope the relationship is going to be strong after the Hippo ages.
does it really matter if its old news? its still a heart warming story.
What a great story. Shows that animals have maternal nurturing feelings too. Who care how old the story is. It was very uplifting.
This is truly a heart warming story, a proof of what we call "maternal love" or the need to have someone to cling to. I enjoyed the pictures.Thanks.
What is wrong with you people does it matter when the story came out it is still a great story. It makes you rethink about how we treat others because they are different. So even if you have seen this before it should bring back the message of the story. So stop the nit-picking when it was first seen and get a positive life.
had this story occurred 30 minutebefore it made it to your eyes, or had it been fact-checked and undisputably accurate, would it be any more relevent? someone who takes the time to post negative and disparaging remarks about such a harmless and uplifting story should probably consider how they move through life, and ask themselves why they feel the need to bring others down. think about it.