Good day everyone,
I hope you are all having a good day, welcome to CryptoGod-1's blog on Gaming, Literature, & Life. In this post I will be doing a write up about a heart-warming story I recently read regarding a baby Hippo and a very, very old Tortoise. The pair formed an unusual friendship back in 2004 and have gone on to garner much media attention.
Silence of the Ocean
On the 26th of December 2004 a record breaking event occurred which set in stone the lifelong friendship of Owen and Mzee. The faithful morning saw the 3rd largest earthquake in 100 years cause a sudden upward movement of the seafloor in the Indian Ocean. This earthquake measured 9.2 moment magnitude and averaged a near 6m change on the seafloor along almost 1300km of the north-east Indian Ocean plate. The earthquake began at 00:59 Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) and lasted 8 min.
The result of this earthquake was the largest tsunami ever recorded in the Indian Ocean. This tsunami was devastating and impacted nations on multiple continents which resulted in massive destruction and the death of over 250,000 people. However, this need not have been the case. The tsunami managed to spread silently across the ocean in all direction for a span of 8 hours due to the lack of preparedness and absence of warning systems. The worst of the damage happened in Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lanka, India and the Maldives.
The below gif shows the spread of the tsunami from the epicentre of the earthquake.
There were damages recorded in the middle east from Yemen, while the Seychelles also experienced low damages. The African nation of Somalia saw a highly vulnerable town impacted which resulted in the deaths of over 300 people. The tsunami waves propagated across the Indian Ocean from east to west and managed to strike the Seychelles, Socotra (Yemen) and the tip of Somalia almost simultaneously approximately 6 h after the first earthquake.
Thankfully for most African nations the sheer distance of over 6000km from the epicentre along with the dissipation of energy of the tsunami by shallow banks in the middle of the Indian Ocean meant they were spared from the devastation of other nations such as those in Asia.
As for Kenya, where the story of Owen and Mzee takes place, they were hit by the first and largest waves of the tsunami at low tide meaning the impact was lessened. Tanzania was also given this same fate, meaning both of these nations experienced waves as tidal surges of 1--1.5m amplitude which lasted for 5-10 minutes. A total of 11 people died in Tanzania and 1 in Kenya, and these were of people walking and swimming over shallow intertidal flats being trapped by the advancing and receding tidal surges.
There were no warning and response networks in place at the time, meaning the official response in Kenya to the public was via warnings from officials such as the police. Many of these warnings were ignored due to no faith in their officials or a lack of willingness to follow instructions from the public.
Baby Hippo & Elderly Tortoise
Owen was found alone and dehydrated near Kenya's Indian Ocean coast on the 26th of December 2004 following the impact of the tsunami. The waves had separated the baby hippo from his herd as they were grazing along the shore of the Indian Ocean. After the surging waves struck and dissipated, leaving carnage on the shoreline for miles, only one baby hippo was left stranded on the reef.
It took the local villagers hours and hundreds of volunteers to rescue the 600 pound animal. A man named Owen managed to catch the animal, thus giving the baby its name, and the baby hippo was wrapped in a net before being placed in a pickup truck. Unsure what to do with the baby hippo, the rescuers contacted Haller Park rescue centre, a wildlife sanctuary in Mombasa. On the 27th of December 2004 the manager of the sanctuary, Dr. Pauline Kimoto, and chief animal caretake, Stephen Tuei, made for Malindi to collect the animal in their truck.
Back at the park other workers were busy preparing for the arrival of the baby hippo. They chose an area in the park which had a pond and mud wallow along with tall trees and brush. These were everything a hippo could need, and the area was already home to a number of bushbucks, vervet monkeys, and a giant tortoise named Mzee. Unfortunately for Owen there were no other hippos there for him to interact with but almost immediately he made attempts to bond with Mzee, which is Swahili or 'old man.'
The hippo took to the old tortoise due to its large domed shell and brown colour resembling that of an adult hippo, and as soon as Owen was released from the truck he made straight for the old tortoise. Owen 'hid; being the tortoise, similar to how a baby hippo would hide behind its mother. Mzee was reluctant and uninterested at first, initially hissing at Owen as a warning to keep away. However, as time went on the pair grew on each other and are now considered inseparable according to park officials.
Mzee, an Aldabran tortoise, took such a liking to Owen that the pair went on to sleep beside each other. The tortoise was quite old at the time, considered around 130 years old, and had been living a life of solitude. Once Owen arrived everything changed for Mzee. He found a new lease of life, with the baby hippopotamus and the elderly tortoise effectively adopting each other. Dr. Pauline Kimoto, told reporters: "Since Owen arrived on 27 December, the tortoise behaves like a mother to him. The hippo follows the tortoise around and licks his face."
She also noted how once Owen had separated from his herd at such a young age there was no way the baby could be released back into the wild. It would not have learnt how to fend for itself and introducing it to another hippo herd would have resulted in them attacking and killing Owen due to him being an outsider and intruder.
The bond between Owen and Mzee became so strong that the baby hippo began to exhibit behaviours characteristic of a tortoise. At first the baby hippo would not eat and the park officials were worried that his state would weaken further. However, he started to eat tortoise food and developed a fondness for the taste of leaves, a staple in Mzee’s diet. It was only beside Mzee that Owen would eat, demonstrating the comfort and ease the baby hippo felt alongside the old tortoise.
The pair followed each other around the enclosure, swam together, eat, drink, and sleep alongside one another. Mzee had been living alone, as is quite common for a tortoise, but he found a new lease of life alongside the young hippo. The two are playful and show affection for one another, with Owen nuzzling Mzee's neck and the tortoise stretching his neck forward to ask for more.
As the years went by it was eventually determined that Owen had grown too large to remain safely interacting with Mzee. A separate enclosure was created from Owen which included a new female hippo known as Cleo. Owen bonded with Cleo very fast and is extremely satisfied in his new surrounds. With Owen almost twice the size of Mzee and well on his way to being socialized to other hippos, the most strangest and famous of friends have gone their separate ways as Mzee was returned to his original enclosure.
Many around the world were enthralled by the unexpected and remarkable story of Owen and Mzee. Several books were written and even a musical was created based on their story. To this day wildlife experts are baffled by their unlikely friendship. Is is highly uncommon for a mammal such as Owen to interact is such a fond way towards a reptile as it does with Mzee. There are some theories of course, with the most likely being:
Young hippos require the nature, care, and attention of their mothers. This is in order for them to survive, and although the old, slow, and small nature of Mzee pails in comparison to an adult hippo, it is likely that Owen saw Mzee as a mother like figure due to the colouring and round shape of his shell. Therefore, Mzee could possibly have been the mother hippo in Owen's eyes.
Mzee meanwhile always preferred to be alone, but there are instances of these tortoises living in groups. It is possible that Mzee considers Owen as an 'acceptable' tortoise who he is willing to spend his time with. It is also very possible that Mzee is clearly aware that Owen is not a tortoise and the old timer was just happy to have the company after taking a liking to the hippo.
In one of the most destructive earthquakes and resulting tsunami's in recent history a story of unexpected friendship emerged. It became a world known story embracing the courage of Owen to survive along with the heartfelt nature of Mzee. The pair are a fine example to everyone that no matter what the differences good natured actions can rise above all obstacles.
Have a great day,
Peace. CryptoGod-1.
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