Lioness Has Calf Companion
An oryx is a type of antelope that lions prey on regularly, but in Kenya, there’s one famous lion who chose companionship over dinner. Kamunyak, a lioness referred to as the Blessed One, was discovered cuddling and mothering an oryx calf. The relationship consists of mothering as well as a bit of a cat-and-mouse game. It’s been suggested that Kamunyak might have gone through a traumatic event as a young lioness, sparking her aberrant behavior. The relationship is short-lived due to nearby predators. However, to this day, Kamunyak has separately adopted six oryx calves.
Male Tortoise Acts as Mom to Hippo
An abandoned baby hippopotamus that survived the tsunami waves on the Kenyan coast found a giant male tortoise to be its segregate mother. The male tortoise, who is more than one hundred years old, seemed to accept his position as the hippo’s new mother and the two have been inseparable ever since. “They swim, eat, and sleep together,” the ecologist Paula Kahumbu of Lafarge Park said. “The hippo follows the tortoise exactly the way it followed its mother. Somebody approaches the tortoise; the hippo becomes aggressive, as if protecting its biological mother.” A single photo of the pair has inspired a movie in production about their relationship.
Photo source: Emdot on flickr (cc)
