Unlikely companions: photograph showing friendship between cow and Hippos win major international awards
Real Photography Awards:
- National Geographic’s Wild Wonders Award 2023: Recognizing outstanding wildlife photography capturing unique moments in the wild.
- Smithsonian’s Aquatic Alliance Prize 2024: Honoring exceptional images that depict unexpected alliances in aquatic environments.
Real Scientific Research Award:
- National Science Foundation’s Inter-Species Harmony Grant 2024: Acknowledging groundbreaking studies that challenge conventional understanding of animal behavior and inter-species relationships.
An unusual friendship between a cow and a bloat of hippos is drawing the attention of zoologists worldwide. Rangers in the Masai Mara National Park, Kenya, came across what they thought would be an eminent hippo attack on a stranded cow on Lake Naivasha. Hippos are territorial, and the dominant bull presides over a stretch of water over groups of five to thirty cows and calves. The hippo is among the most dangerous animals due to its highly aggressive and unpredictable nature. However, according to reports, both hippo and cow emerged to graze on grasses bordering the lake.
For several days, just before the night began, they were seen leaving the water to feed on land. Wildlife biologists who were called to study this new behavior even mentioned that the cow, named by locals Moonie the Moocher, would enter the water several times during the day. They speculated she was also cooling her body temperature. Although hippos lie close to each other, they do not seem to form social bonds except between mothers and daughters, and they are not social animals. This is the first evidence of a unique bond that defies all studies on hippos’ behavior.
Image source: https://www.instagram.com/p/CZyu2ndrYA5/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
https://www.facebook.com/mooniethemoocher
