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120-YEAR-OLD TORTOISE BRINGS ORPHAN HIPPO OUT OF HIS SHELL

Owen the baby hippo was left orphaned and traumatised when the Asian tsunami of 26 December last year reached Kenya's shores and washed his mother away, but since then he has really come out of his shell.

Owen, who is less than two years old, has found a new parent in Mzee, a 120-year-old giant tortoise, at the home the unlikely pair share at Haller Wildlife Park in Mombassa, Kenya.

Mzee - whose name means 'old man' in Swahili - provided a shell to cry on for little Owen, who was only one when he lost his mother.

The orphaned hippo was spotted in the shallows on the Kenyan coast following the devastating tsumani, and wildlife rangers rescued him using fishing nets before taking him to his new home.

Young hippos usually stay with their mothers until the age of four, but Mzee was on hand to fill Owen's parental void and the pair have forged a strong bond despite their obvious differences.

Sabine Baer, an animal behaviour expert at the wildlife park, said: "It's incredible to watch them. They are inseparable. Never mind the age gap...or the fact that they don't look a bit like one another."

There are other hippos at Haller, but on Owen's arrival he made a beeline for Mzee, and the huge old tortoise was surprisingly accommodating. Now staff at Haller say their body language speaks volumes. Owen will often nuzzle Mzee's out-stretched neck, and rest his head on his surrogate parent's shell when he is tired.

The hippo and the tortoise like to wallow in the water together, rarely straying more than a few feet apart, but this is unlikely to be a permanent arrangement.

Stephen Tuei, a keeper at the park, said: "Eventually Owen will probably want to go into deeper water, and then he will have to leave Mzee behind, but for the time being they're happy together.

"The tortoise isn't bothered about being with other tortoises. He just likes having the hippo around.

"Recently, Owen has started to get protective. If I stray too near, he puts his head down and tries to charge me.

"He lost his real mother because he couldn't keep up with her, but he has no problem keeping up with Mzee."

Although Mzee sounds old at 120, he still has more than enough youthful energy to handle his adoptive son. In fact, with a life expectancy of 200 years, Mzee could even outlive the hippo, who will probably live to around 45.

Haller's staff say they are happy to see the two residents enjoying each other's company, but they are hoping Owen will switch his attentions at some point in the future - and it should only be a matter of time before a young female hippo named Cleo catches Owen's eye.