Posted on 12/29/2005 10:30:16 AM PST by presidio9
The unlikely couple of a baby hippo and a 130-year-old tortoise were still together, a year after the hippo was separated from its family by the Indian Ocean tsunami.
The relationship between Owen, the two-year-old hippopotamus, and Mzee, the giant tortoise, surprised conservation workers and made international headlines.
Owen was living with his family on the Sabaki River when massive waves from the Indian Ocean tsunami reached the East African coast. He was washed into the ocean and stranded on a reef.
Residents of Malindi, a small coastal town, used fishing nets to catch him. He was then taken to the Haller Park sanctuary, where he met Mzee and adopted him as a surrogate parent. Owen may have been attracted by Mzee's round shape and gray color that are somewhat similar to that of an adult hippopotamus.
The tortoise at first resisted. But the persistent Owen kept following him around the park, into the pool and trying to sleep next to him.
Mzee relented after several days. As the bond grew, the tortoise even returned signs of affection. They are now inseparable.
Conservation workers plan to introduce Owen to a 13-year-old female hippo named Cleo early next year, hoping to see the two develop a strong relationship. The female hippo has lived without companionship from her species for more than a decade.
The delicate process will begin with getting the two animals to meet and get used to each other's smell before they moving them into a larger enclosure together with the tortoise.
The attempt to transfer his affections to a female hippo are probably well-advised.
Does that mean Mzee is hi-sexual?
Actaully, it sounds to me like Mzee is the victim of unwanted sexual advances.
Quite a story!
Remember us?
Very cute.
...and the lion shall lay down with the lamb....
Reptiles are incapable of such emotions.
Probably considers the hippo to be a convenient source of warmth.
But Mama says...
That's just your medulla oblogata talking.
At least according to Ditto, who's presumably reporting from inside the mind of a tortoise . . .
Tortoises have pretty tough shells and "doors" that close firmly. I think he'll be okay when his hippo friend hits puberty :-)
Plus they are in a loving and committed relationship . . . with shared living space and full medical and dental benefits. Adoption will no doubt follow -- or a federal civil rights lawsuit for the right to do so. An appearance on Oprah is in order.
"...and the lion shall lay down with the lamb...."
And have lamb chops....
Why is the word affection interpreted by so many on here as a euphemism for sex? Especially when the articles points out that the Hippo adopted the tortoise as a "surrogate parent".
You have not dated some of the women I have dated.
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