Just days after being born, Bumpy was on the shore of Lake Oloiden, in Naivasha, Kenya, nudging his mother with his little snout. He did not understand that she was never going to wake up.
On May 2, 2026, teams from the Kenya Wildlife Service found him like that: curled up beside her lifeless body, not letting go of her. They transported him by helicopter — a sign that every minute counted — to the Kaluku rescue unit, linked to the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, an organization that has cared for orphaned animals in Kenya since 1977. Even for them, such a newborn hippo was an exceptional case.
Today Bumpy follows his caregivers everywhere. When one of them sits down, he settles in beside them and closes his eyes. Those who now rotate shifts so that he is never alone have become his herd. 🌿