« Thirsty Thursday: What Do You Do To Keep Your Sanity | Main | Iraqis Send Donations To California Fire Victims »

Mzee and Owen - The Tortoise and the Hippo

By Melissa Markham on November 1, 2007 5:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

A couple of days ago my husband sent me an email with an embedded story and cute pictures about a baby hippo that had imprinted on a tortoise. As I read the story that went with the photos, I began to remember hearing about this twosome a couple of years ago. Mzee, the tortoise, and Owen, the hippo, were survivors of the December 26, 2004 tsunami. Mzee, a 130 year male old tortoise, was 'adopted' by Owen, a baby hippo that weighed about 650 pounds and was less than a year old.

The pictures are adorable, but I couldn't help but wonder what has happened in the last almost three years to these two. Well, some research pointed me to the answer. First the photos(only a giant tortoise could make a 650 pound hippo look small!):

Now on with the rest of the story...

The Animal Liberation Front states that Owen and Mzee are still close buddies. They live, sleep and play together. They have even created their own language.

"They have created sounds unique to hippo or to tortoise and use gentle nods and pushes to communicate with one another," said a spokeswoman from Scholastic which has just released "Owen & Mzee: The Language of Friendship."

This is actually the second book about the pair. The first was titled: "Owen & Mzee: The True Story of a Remarkable Friendship."

Owen and Mzee even have their own website where you can keep up with their current lives. Owen and Mzee.com>.