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美国国家地理儿童版杂志在线阅读
Hippo rescue
---文章选自美国国家地理儿童版杂志
BY SCOTT ELDERA baby hippopotamus sat alone on thebanks of the Zambezi River in Zambiaa country in Africa.His mother wasnowhere insight.Although a big adulthippo has nothing to fear from predators， an unguarded baby could easilyturn into a meal for hungry crocodileor hyenas lurking nearby.The morning sun rose， p arching thedehydrated two-week-old.With everypassing minute he lost more strengthCruising the riverina boat， IanStevenson spotted the distressedown before， since hippo mothers rarelyanimal“Td never seen a hippo calf on itsleave their babies， the conservationistsays.He assumed that by the time hecircled back， the mom would haveappeared.But the hippo was stil alonewhen he rounded the bend hours later.It's likely that the mother had died.Without his loving bodyguard， thebaby probably wouldn't make it throughthe night.Knowing this， Stevensonboosted the hundred-pound calf intothe boat and headed to the groundsof his conservation organization，Conservation Lower Zambezi(CLZ) .As they traveled， the hippo nuzzledStevenson's legs with his snout.Stevenson and his staff had never caredfor a baby hippo.So once back at CLZ，Stevenson contacted hippo experts tolearn what to feed the newborn.Ontheir advice， he mixed up a formulaof milk and eggs， but the weak calfwouldn't drink.Sluggish and growingtooth in， the baby needed nutrientsor he wouldn't survive.After severaldays of coaxing， the hippo finallyslurped formula from the bottle.Soon the young animal was stable andhad doubled his weight.Sti， he neededto be fed and sheltered unti he was oldenough to fend for himself.But CLZwas n't equipped to give the animal long-term care.So Stevenson reached out toAnna and Steve To lan， who ran theChip em be le Wildlife Education Trustrehabilitation center.Located on theLuangwa River and close to a thrivingherd of hippos， Chip em be le would beanideal home.The To lans agreed to take inthe hippo， but his caretakers at CLZfaced a problem.The center was a daysdrive away on rough roads.The voyagewould be dangerous l stressful for ababy animal.Luck iy， a local airline offered t ofthe hippo， now called Douglas， to hisnew home for free.Days later， the an i-mal was placed in a cage blanketedwith soft straw and then loaded into anar craft.After an hour-long flight， thepilot landed with his plump cargo.AnnaTo lan greeted the hippo at the airportwith three other caretakers.“Heseemed happy and healthy， she says.At Chip em be le， staff built a sleepinghut for Douglas by a pond where heliked to swim.They fed him milk andegg yolks every three hours.And theygave him plenty of affection， tickling hisears and scratching his legs.Douglasspent his days playing with the To lanspet dogs and swimming in the pond.Sometimes at night， hippos from thelocal herd wandered up from the near-by river to eat grass.Startled， Douglaswould waddle into his pond to hide.“Buthe soon overcame his shyness andinteracted with them， To lan says.Douglas remained at Chip em be lefor about five years before he was relo-cated to another part of Zambia.“I wasexcited for Douglas to return to thewild， she says.“It's where he belonged.
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