The helpful hippo that rescues helpless animals from Mara river
Visitors to a safari camp close to where the film Out Of Africa was shot
stood in awe as they witnessed the annual wildebeest migration.
Here we go again: The hippo nudges the tiny zebra through the river to
the safety of the rocky shore in Kenya (Michael Yule/Sanctuary Olonana)
But as they watched thousands of animals cross the raging Mara river they
were astonished to see a hippo come to the rescue of two drowning
stragglers. The strong current separated a wildebeest, or gnu, from her
calf and she watched helplessly as it was swept away.
Good Samaritan: The hippo gets closer as he sees the wildebeest
struggling 'To everyone's amazement the hippo came to the gnu's rescue
and pushed it gently to the river bank,' said Abdul Karim, the head guide at
Sanctuary Olonana in the Masai Mara, Kenya.
The infant panted for a
moment before getting up and running to its watching mother.
But the
female hippo's work did not finish there. Within ten minutes she spotted a
little zebra crossing the same stretch of water and pushed it across, its
tiny head struggling to keep above the torrent.
I've got gnu, babe: The young animal is guided to the bank by the
hippopotamus
'It was an unforgettable incident,' said Mr Karim.
'Maternal love can be so strong it can even surpass species boundaries,'
he added.
Huge concentrations of game move between Kenya and
Tanzania's Serengeti National Park every year in the constant search for
fresh grazing.
