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Date |
Entry |
6/14/2018 |
The morning was began with the usual milk and supplement feeding before the orphan herd made their way to the browsing grounds. Ishaq-B had a wonderful browsing moment with Tahri which made little Tahri very happy as she has been feeling a little out of sorts since the arrival of the six new orphans from the Nursery.
Lasayen and Ndotto together with Mbegu and Murit were browsing together today when Murit seemed undecided as to whether or not to follow the older orphans uphill or to stay with Mbegu, Lasayen and Ndotto. Murit lifted his trunk, smelling the older orphans who were busy browsing and decided to remain with his friends.
Kenia and Naipoki enjoyed a scratching session against two different rocks after which the orphan herd visited the baobab tree water hole where they had their milk bottle but forgo the water as it was too cold.
The group then made their way to the northern foot of Msinga Hill where they started to browse but became unsettled as a there was a female lioness busy mating with a big male lion who was roaring loudly which sent the orphans running off in fear. The keepers managed to get them all back tighter and calm them down but Mbegu, Lasayen, Ngilai, Godoma, Murit and Ndotto chose to stay close to the keepers for the rest of the day.
 | | Suswa enjoying fresh green shoots |
 | | Murit smelling other older wild Elephants |
 | | Mudanda enjoying scratching against a rock |
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6/3/2018 |
It was a busy morning as the orphan elephants assembled for their delicious milk bottle and range cubes before starting the journey to the browsing grounds. The mid-morning browsing session went well with the orphans interacting with one another. Mbegu’s herd of Lasayen, Ndotto, Godoma, Ngilai and Murit interacted well with the members of Kenia’s herd, with Godoma enjoying feeding with Embu and Arruba with Murit spend the morning hours browsing with Ishaq-B.
Tahri seemed to become a little upset with the attention of the new arrivals and pushed Mbegu hard from behind. Mbegu reacted calmly and simply sucked up some cold water with her trunk and poured it over Tahri! With the cloudy and cold weather prevalent today the orphan elephants chose to forgo wallowing in the mud bath when they visited the baobab water hole for a drink. When they had their fill of water they continued with their browsing activities on the northern foot of Msinga Hill.
 | | Arruba with Godoma |
 | | Suswa on Msinga Hill |
 | | Rorogoi solo browsing |
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5/26/2018 |
The orphan elephants were very happy as they exited their stockades this morning and emptied their milk bottles before proceeding for the range cube feeding. Mbegu’s herd interacted very well with Kenia’s for the days browsing activities.
The orphan elephants visited the stockade at noon, where the milk dependent orphan elephants enjoyed their afternoon milk bottle. Nelion and Ishaq-B engaged each other in a bathing competition, with the new arrivals watching them closely. Ishaq-B showcased her unique game of pocking the walls of the stockade water hole with her tusks while Godoma tried to copy her. Ndii saw their game and plunged into the water to challenge them, but was left surprised when the two sneaked out of the water leaving Ndii on her own. Arruba enjoyed a scratching session against one of the outcropping rocks in the stockade compound while Kihari lay down on the red earth piles as Mbegu watched.
Today the orphan elephants visited the middle water hole after the stockade bath, where Mbegu knelt down to wallow. Her game attracted Ndotto, Godoma, Ngilai and Lasayen who came to cheer on their mini-matriarch. The group then browsed their way to the big waterhole where Murit had a wonderful mud bath and became the day’s mud bathing star.
 | | Ndii leading |
 | | Araba playing on the red earth |
 | | Nelion and Ishaq-B in the water |
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5/16/2018 |
The morning began with the orphan elephants rushing for their morning milk bottle before settling for the supplement feeding. Panda then went and snuggled up to Tahri which upset Ndii who engaged Panda head on in a fight. Panda backed up to avoid engaging with Ndii as Tahri went close to her long time adopted mother Ndii.
Lentili who has been quiet for some time played her games in a rough manner today. She started by interrupting Rorogoi’s rolling around on the ground games which had Rorogoi running off after which she went and lay on Ishaq-B’s stomach preventing Ishaq-B from enjoying her morning games. Ishaq-B responded by trying to get out from under Lentili but was unable to do so.
The orphans spent the day browsing peacefully in the fields feeding on the all the lush green vegetation that was around them.
 | | Rorogoi at the front browsing |
 | | Ishaq-B with little Tahri |
 | | Sweet Lentili browsing |
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5/11/2018 |
The morning started with the sun rising early above the horizon of Tsavo predicting a bright and sunny day. The orphans began their day as usual before heading to the northern side of the stockade to browse where they remained for a while before slowly browsing their way to the big water hole.
On the way Mbirikani and Ajali separated themselves from the orphan elephant herd and joined up with a wild elephant herd. Kenia, Ndii, Panda, Ishaq-B, Kihari and Naipoki who were the last to arrive at the water hole again came running up to see if they would be lucky enough to get some milk but they were once again denied any.
At the water hole Araba and Suswa took the central position and had a lovely time wallowing and swimming in the water. Naipoki and Arruba had a wonderful soil dusting session during which they rolled around and lay on one another. Kihari picked up a dry stick, put it into her mouth and then threw it up onto her back. Panda and Nelion took enjoyed a scratching game on the same tree at the same time, while Suswa scratched against a different tree.
Later in the day, the keepers followed the wild herd that Ajali and Mbirikani had joined. The wild herd went running off together with the two orphans who seemed perfectly happy to remain with their wild friends while the rest of the orphan herd returned to the stockades with their keepers.
 | | Tawi playing with Oltukai the buffalo |
 | | Wild herd that wen with Mbirikani and Ajali |
 | | Naipoki and Arruba having a lovely dusting game |
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