Much of life can never be explained - only witnessed.
NAIROBI (AFP) - A baby hippopotamus that
survived the tsunami waves on the Kenyan coast
has formed a bond with a giant male century-old
tortoise in an animal facility in the port city of
Mombasa, officials said.
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.
"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. If 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 mother for four years,"
he explained.
"Life is not measured by the number of breaths we
take,but by the moments that take our breath away."
This is a real story that shows that our differences
don't matter much when we need the comfort of another.
We could all learn a lesson from these two creatures.
"Look beyond the differences and find a way to walk
the path together."
"Those who bring sunshine into the lives of others,
cannot keep it from themselves."
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