Chinese company rescues hippo family from death

A policeman from the Administration Police, a department of Kenya Police Service, keeps the crowds from the mother hippo. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Mother's Day for a hippo and her one-day-old calf took on a new meaning Sunday by the life-saving intervention of China Roads and Bridge Corp (CRBC), reports Kenyan newspaper Daily Nation.

The dramatic rescue operation saw the Chinese firm, the builder of the 472 kilometer Mombasa-Nairobi Standard Gauge Railway quickly respond to calls from Kenya Wildlife Services to rescue the duo, who were stuck in the mud in the Athi River, about 30 kilometers from downtown Nairobi.

Rangers from the wildlife protection and conservation agency were notified about the incident by traffic officers who were having trouble managing a traffic jam at the scene. The growing crowd was preparing to pounce and slaughter the mother and baby.

According to the newspaper's story, the senior warden at the scene decided to seek help from CRBC for equipment to rescue the animals and salvage a situation that was quickly deteriorating as the crowd became restless.

"The hippo is an adult female about seven-years-old and it would be tragic to lose her. I knew the crane (from CRBC) would arrive faster than ours. We called them and in under 20 minutes, they had arrived," said Erasus Kanga, a senior assistant director at Kenya Wildlife Service

Reports indicate that the hippo gave birth on the banks of the Athi River and refused to return to the water without her calf, despite the growing danger. Mike Zhang, CRBC liaison officer, said the company is aware of the country's strong conservation efforts and this has been stressed in the company's policies.

Nairobi and its environs have been experiencing flooding triggered by the onset of heavy rains over the last three weeks.