Friday, December 30, 2005
04:08 PM
sweetness & light at last
sweetness is on the left

Tale of the tortoise and the hippo: "David Pescovitz:
A year after they first met, Owen, the baby hippo that survived last December's Tsunami, and Mzee, a 130-year-old tortoise are still best pals. They live together at the Haller Park preserve in Mombasa, Kenya. From Snopes.com:

Bereaved by the forces of nature and discovered by wildlife rangers near certain death in the Indian Ocean off Malindi, the one-year-old male hippo calf dubbed Owen was on 27 December 2004 placed in Haller Park, a wildlife sanctuary in the coastal city of Mombassa, Kenya.



As soon as he was placed in his enclosure, the orphaned youngster immediately ran to the giant tortoise also housed in that space. The tortoise, named Mzee (Swahili for 'old man') and estimated to be between 100 and 130 years old, was not immediately taken with the brash newcomer — he turned and hissed, forcing the hippo to back away. Yet Owen persisted in following the tortoise around the park (and even into a pool), and within days the pair had forged a friendship, eating and sleeping together. Owen has even been seen to lick the tortoise, whom he regards as his new mother. (Wildlife workers speculated that Owen may have been attracted to Mzee as a parental figure because the tortoise's shape and color are similar to those of an adult hippopotamus.) Link(Thanks, Paul Saffo!)

This week, children's book publisher Scholastic has announced the publication of a book based on their tale. 'Owen and Mzee: the True Story of a Remarkable Friendship' was co-written by Craig Hatkoff, his seven-year-old daughter Isabella, and Dr. Paula Kahumbo of Haller Park.
Link

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(Via Boing Boing.)