'THE HIPPOPOTAMUS AND THE TORTOISE'

[neildunne]

This is an email i had sent to me and thought you may like to see it
'THE HIPPOPOTAMUS AND THE TORTOISE'

' Much of life can never be explained but only witnessed.'



NAIROBI (AFP) - A baby hippopotamus that survived the

tsunami waves on the Kenyan coast has formed a strong

bond with a giant male century-old tortoise in an animal

facility in the port city of Mombassa , officials said.

The hippopotamus, nicknamed Owen, and weighing about

300 kilograms (650 pounds), was swept down Sabaki

River into the Ind ian 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

mothers 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.'

[ME SHELL]

I love these pics, I posted one a while ago. It is really supprising the bonds animals make to each other.

[70ridgeway]

thats amazing lovely photos i like the one were the hippo is asleep on the tort

[wildlifewarrior]

lol these pictures make made the rounds on here and many other forums loads of times but still great to see and to be riminded that the world is not a bad place

[swad1000]

I wonder what has happened since these pictures were took.

[neildunne]

Well first time i saw em, and it'll be a first for a few others no doubt

[ME SHELL]

They are wonderful pics and I could look at them again and again. In fact I have one pic on my desktop.

[joanna]

Amazing pics! They both seem content with each others company!

[kimmerz]

aww i love them pics, when i was doing my tort course my boyfriend made me a folder for all my lessons and put a couple of them pics on

[kim davies]

arh they are amazing!(neildunne your avatar is sooo funny).x