Baby hippopotamus with old turtle

In December 2004, the hippopotamus of less than a year old Owen lived with herds at the mouth of the Sabaki River in Kenya, when the tsunami struck the West African coast. The waves washed away hippopotamus and pushed it to the coast in Malindi city.

The residents here brought it into the Haller Park sanctuary. Here, Owen became acquainted with the 130-year-old Mzee turtle, perhaps due to the round shape and gray of the turtle shell, similar to the skin color of the adult hippopotamus.

At first, the Mzee turtle reacted. But gradually the two children proved to be close to each other, causing great surprise to the reserve staff. Owen followed turtles around the park, the pool, even nestled into a turtle shell to sleep.

The reserve park staff plans to introduce Owen to a single hippopotamus, Cleo, 13 years old.