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Toegestuurde mail van Drika:

ï¿½ï¿½ The ï¿½ Hippo and the Turtle

(http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x87/kurtlippens/1hippo.jpg)

ï¿½ Much ï¿½ of life can never be explained but only ï¿½ witnessed."

(http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x87/kurtlippens/2hippo.jpg)

NAIROBI (AFP) - A baby hippopotamus ï¿½that survived the tsunami waves on the Kenyan coast has formed a ï¿½ strong bond with a giant male century-old tortoise, in an animal ï¿½ facility in the port city of Mombassa, officials ï¿½ said.

(http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x87/kurtlippens/3hippo.jpg)

The ï¿½ hippopotamus, nicknamed Owen and weighing about 300 kilograms (650 ï¿½pounds), was swept down Sabaki River into the Indian Ocean, then forced back to shore ï¿½when tsunami waves struck the Kenyan coast on December 26, 2004 ï¿½before wildlife rangers rescued ï¿½him.

(http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x87/kurtlippens/4hippo.jpg)

"It is ï¿½ incredible. A-less-than-a-year-old hippo has adopted a male ï¿½ tortoise, about a century old, and the tortoise seems to be very ï¿½ happy with being a 'mother'," ecologist Paula Kahumbu, who is in ï¿½ charge of Lafarge Park, told AFP.

(http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x87/kurtlippens/5hippo.jpg)

"After it ï¿½ was swept and lost its mother, the hippo was traumatized. It had to ï¿½ look for something to be a surrogate mother. ï¿½ Fortunately, it ï¿½l anded on the tortoise and established a strong bond. They swim, eat ï¿½ and sleep together," the ecologist added. "The hippo follows the ï¿½ tortoise exactly the way it follows its mother. If somebody ï¿½approaches the tortoise, the hippo becomes aggressive, as if ï¿½protecting its biological mother," Kahumbu added.

(http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x87/kurtlippens/6hippo.jpg)

"The ï¿½hippo is a young baby, he was left at a very tender age and by ï¿½nature, hippos are social animals tha t like to stay with their ï¿½ mothers for four years," he explained.

(http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x87/kurtlippens/7hippo.jpg)

[Look at ï¿½this beautiful picture!!]

This is a ï¿½real story that shows that our differences don't matter much when we ï¿½need the comfort of another. We could all learn a lesson from these ï¿½two creatures of God. Look beyond the differences and find a way to ï¿½ walk the path together.

Save the ï¿½ Earth. ï¿½ It's the only planet with chocolate.

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ALGEMEEN FORUM => Wil je gewoon iets kwijt => Topic gestart door: kurtlippens op 5 Oktober 2007, 20:03:18