They're so fucking adorable.

Owen and Mzee are a hippopotamus and a tortoise, respectively, that appear to have formed a unique bond of friendship.

A baby hippopotamus, Owen, was orphaned in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Kenya near Malindi during the Asian Tsunami on December 26, 2004. The baby hippo, weighing 600 pounds, was rescued during a day long effort by nearly 1,000 villagers using shark nets. Owen's namesake is a Frenchman named Owen Saubion, who finally tackled the hippo during the rescue.

Owen was taken to Haller Park, a restored limestone quarry near Mombasa owned by Lafarge Eco Systems' East African firm, Bamburi Cement. He was released into a large wooded penned-in area that included a pond and a co-inhabitant -- a 700-pound, 130-year-old Aldabran tortoise named Mzee (Swahili for "wise old man").

Owen immediately bonded to Mzee, who initially resisted Owen's overtures. Over time, the old tortoise came to accept the young hippo, who began to mimic his adoptive "parent." Gradually, Mzee taught Owen, who was a nursing calf, what to eat and where to sleep.

In the first year, the two have become inseparable companions who eat, sleep, swim, and play together. They have surprised scientists with the strength of what appears to be a genuine bond, as well as a unique vocal communication that has developed between them.
-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Owen_and_Mzee

How is it that simple case of confused imprinting captivates us so? It is a human habit to see everything as human. There is nothing more grotesque and human-centric than the "animal rights" advocates who look at animals and see humans. There is a chasm between them and us that will likely never be bridged.

We make them human by using words like "friends". Then again, perhaps Owen and Mzee are, and I'm unable to see past the tip of my own species nose.