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 Welcome to the special Keeper's Diary for Foster Parents.
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You have selected the following month for viewing: December, 2009
Entries for your Orphan (SHIMBA) have been highlighted in red
below:
Monthly summary for Nursery Unit : December, 2009
The Nursery suffered yet another two tragedies during December, first the death of Bhaawa on the 13th, followed by the death of baby Shaba on the 21st, putting a dampener on what should have been the happy build-up to Christmas and leaving us with 20 babies in the Nairobi Nursery.
Bhaawa, was 5 months old when he was flown to the Nursery from Maralal in Northern Kenya on the 15th October, having been pulled from the mud of a drying waterhole by passing herdsmen. Although emaciated, and extremely traumatized, he appeared to thrive initially, but then appeared what the Keepers called “dull”, and thereafter simply wasted away, seemingly having lost the will to live ever since Kenia began rejecting him, not partial to having her ears suckled. However, he never lost his appetite and was taking 40 pints of milk per day up until the day before he died. Obviously he was not absorbing the food, though why has defeated all the Vets, since others have thrived on exactly the same formula. The autopsy revealed all major body organs healthy, but mucous and black spots in the small and large intestine, which would explain the syndrome of brown stools – something that Emily’s wild-born baby, Eve, also had when she was returned to the Voi Stockades by her elephant mother in a weakened condition due to the severe drought conditions prevailing throughout the country. Just prior to dying Bhaawa showed signs of the dreaded turning back foot syndrome, which has been a common denominator in all the calves we have lost from this mysterious “wasting” disease. We have since heard that baby camels in Northern Kenya seem to be suffering the same symptoms.
Baby Shaba, also simply wasted away and died in a state of pathetic emaciation despite feeding well right up until the day before his demise on the 21st December. He, too, had the “foot syndrome” having come into the Nursery on the 20th September as a seemingly healthy newborn calf, but never thrived.
Suguta, Ndii, and Olare are sharing the Matriarchal duties with Dida who due to her calm and kind nature does not mind having some weight lifted off her shoulders. Suguta keeps a watchful eye on the youngsters and puts any bullies back in line. She still has a soft spot for Kibo and often plays with him in the water. Little Mutara is also a wonderful, confident and playful little elephant; she often sticks up for Chaffa & Shukuru who get pushed around by Tano. Mutara has also developed a keen interest in the older elephant groups. She loves to play with the older orphans and challenges everyone to a game. The older orphan groups have now merged; both the Suguta and Dida groups remain together all day except for half an hour during the 11am-12noon visiting hour when they are separated for the milk feed and visit. The older orphans love to spend the day together and new friendships are forming. Turkwel is doing very well now and has put on weight. She is even beginning to become a rather jealous and naughty girl during milk feed and often pushes the other orphans as well as the keepers who she gets possessive of.
Another baby that has caused us extreme concern this month has been Chaffa, who suddenly collapsed with fluid coming from the trunk, indicating pneumonia. Immediately, she had a 5 day course of Enrofloxacine, (which saved little Kibo when he was in a similar condition) and she seems to have weathered the pneumonia, but she has the “foot syndrome”. However, the good news is that she seems to be putting on condition again, and is definitely becoming stronger, so we are hopeful that perhaps the “foot syndrome” is as a result of extreme emaciation and that Chaffa might come right. Time will tell.
Meanwhile, we have had several tests done on the urine and blood, which have revealed nothing untoward – no evidence of tick-borne disease in the red blood cells and no protein loss through the kidneys. Having been defeated by conventional medical analyses, we are now trying alternative healing – Body Talk, Homeopathy, and everything else we can think of to try and get to the bottom of what is ailing so many of our elephant babies during this terrible drought year. The drought has taken a very heavy toll of all wild animals, irrespective of species, and since Global Warming seems inevitable following the failure of the Climate Convention in Copenhagen, 2010 will probably be yet another challenging year for all others that have the misfortune of having to share this small planet with the selfishness and greed of the human species, who seem bent on their own ultimate self destruction as well.
The Rhinos:-
Shida has begun to occupy a territory in the Park and is fast becoming more independent and wild. He has not shown up for the mudbath for almost the entire month and on a couple of occasions he remained out in the Park for several nights. The Keepers did attempt to check up on him to make sure he was ok as it is not usual for him to not come back to the stockades. They soon realized that he is fine and simply growing up and leaving the nest!
Maxwell is growing and becoming a dominant male, despite not being able to see, he moves around the stockade with great confidence. He has taken to creating a dung pile near the main gate to his stockade which the Keepers have to clean daily. He seems very happy in his enclosure, often playing in the mud or in the rain.
Maalim too is growing quickly and getting assertive. This month he had an encounter with the elephant orphans which ended in Maalim getting intimidated and running away! He has been attending the mudbath after the public visiting time is over to avoid him knocking over guests. He actually enjoys having the mudbath to himself. He is becoming less interested in visitors, and in the evening no longer stops to greet the foster parents and instead trots past heading straight for his night quarters.
Monthly summary for Ithumba Unit : December, 2009
Last months excitement over the young new arrivals, Meibai, Naimina, and Enasoit is still at a high. The ex-orphans have been regularly visiting the youngsters to see the new babies. Enasoit is every female’s favourite baby; he is constantly guarded and looked after. Loijuk, Yatta, and Nasalot have particularly fallen in love with him. They often spend time browsing together and enjoying the mudbath as one large herd. On many occasions the ex orphans not only were there to greet the youngsters as they exited the stockades but also to accompany them back in the evenings.
Ol Malo is showing improvement, she has taken to sleeping in the stockades with the 3 new babies. On several occasions she left for the night with Yatta who has been looking after her with great care, returning her to the Junior Group whenever she wanted.
The Rainstorms have carried on this month which has transformed Ithumba from a drought stricken scrubland to a beautiful green flourishing land. The vegetation has started to recover and the orphans are relishing this. There is so much greenery around that they do not need to go far in search of browse, they often start feeding right near the stockade compounds as they make their way further a field and towards the mudbath. The orphans have been having a glorious time slipping and sliding in the mud and enjoying mudbaths found along the way. Due to the availability of food and water wildlife has spread out and as such the stockade water troughs have not had many wild elephant visitors. Towards the end of the month Rafiki, accompanied by the ex orphans paid a visit to the stockades which was a welcome surprise as he had been gone for a long time. Both Keepers and orphans were happy to see he was ok and the youngsters were in awe of him while Yatta and Nasalot were delighted to have him back amongst their group for a couple of days.
This month has seen a few changes in the ex orphan groups. Wendi spent a lot of the month with Yatta’s group leaving Galana in charge while Napasha and Rapsu have moved to Wendi’s. Kamboyo left with Wendi’s group on the 5th and it seems he has found a place among them. He is very happy to now be counted amongst the wild orphans and has not shown any signs of wanting to rejoin the junior group. On one occasion he came to the stockades with Wendi’s group and showed off his strength testing skills by playing with Taita & Rapsu outside the stockades before leaving with the rest of the group. Kenze has also taken to spending the odd night with the older orphans but chooses to return to his younger friends to whom he still has strong ties.
On the 30th on the way back to the stockades, Sidai, Naserian, Meibai, and Zurura mischievously evaded the Keepers. Loijuk was left to take the rest of the group to the stockades whilst the Keepers went in search of the escapees, returning with them about ten minutes later. Lately due to the abundance of vegetation the older orphans in Naserian’s group are showing less interest in returning to the stockades wanting to remain out. However as Meibai and Naimina who are attached to Naserian are still too young to remain outside the safety of the stockade the Keepers have to do their best to persuade them to stick to the routine.
Monthly summary for Voi Unit : December, 2009
With the arrival of the rains the Voi area has finally begun to recover from the devastation of the drought. The Orphans have all put on weight and are eating intensely as they feast on the new greens. Since there is a lot of food available the orphans spend most of the early morning feeding and by mid morning they often change to playing games together before their noon milk feed and mudbath. Emily & Edie’s groups have remained close although are not coming to the stockades as regularly as they had in November. This is perhaps due to the availability of food and water elsewhere.
The new arrivals, Kenia and Shira, are dearly loved by all the orphans and have settled in very well. On several occasions Shira has enjoyed swimming in the water with Mzima. Kenia feels right at home and is thrilled to be re-united with old friends from the Nursery. At times she even takes the lead in the morning as the orphans head to Msinga Hill.
On the 3rd both Emily & Edie’s groups joined the young orphans accompanied by a wild bull. They all had a glorious time playing with the babies, Lolokwe and Sosian showed great interest in Kenia while Mweya favoured little Shira. Wasessa was on high alert making sure none of the ex orphans took Tassia from her. She has formed a strong bond with Tassia, often feeding close to him and allowing him to affectionately suck her ears.
On the 4th Edie’s group joined the youngsters at the noon mudbath. Laikipia has developed a soft spot for Siria. They spent the entire time playing strength testing games, with Laikipia allowing Siria to push him despite Siria being of no match to Laikipia who is much bigger. Elephant social behaviour can in many aspects be compared to our own, with high complexities in social bonding and formation of friendships. Lempaute was most interested in Edie’s young wild born calf, she spent the entire time gently playing with Ella under Edie’s supervision. Salama went over to play with Kenia, while Mweya played with Mzima.
On the 8th the Keepers got a call from the Manga Community Warden regarding an Eland calf that had been seen. A rescue operation was organized and the Keepers now have a new addition to the Voi Stockades. The orphan Eland bull was named Manga and takes the place of Makonge who tragically died last month from a snake bite. The orphaned Kudu’s, Mkuki, Njia, and Aruba have been seen out in the bush amongst a herd of impala looking healthy and happy.
On the 22nd Edie’s group visited the stockades at about 6am as the orphans were on their way out. Laikipia and Siria straight away engaged in a strength testing game, with Laikipia taking the time to show Siria some important tactics. The ex orphans accompanied the youngsters to Msinga Hill for the morning.
The Keeper dependent group has had a wonderful month to end the year of 2009 which posed many hardships on Kenya’s wildlife as well as the orphans. There have been many joyous occasions in the last month as the orphans celebrate the arrival of the rains and their many new found friends amongst the ex orphan herds.
Below are the last five entries for SHIMBA in the daily review of the Keeper's Diary:
Total listings found: 308
Listings below from Page #1 of 62 : From 1 - 5
Date |
Entry |
6/24/2010 |
After a busy feeding day, Shimba embarked on a game in some soft soil, which surprised the Keepers, because he usually concentrates on his stomach! He tried to entice Kimana to join in, but Kenia moved in swiftly to thwart Shimba’s intention. In the evening Ndii led the group back.
 | | Shimba leading |
 | | Solango with the youngsters |
 | | Shimba lying down to play |
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6/10/2010 |
On a beautiful morning Lesanju and Lempaute vied with one another for Leadership of the group as they made their way out to browse. They browsed singly for most of the day, deciding against a mudbath because the weather was cool. Shimba led the group back in the evening.
 | | Lempaute browsing |
 | | The orphans soil bathing |
 | | Shimba lying down in front |
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6/7/2010 |
Taveta and Tassia had an altercation this morning, the reason for which was not observed by the Keepers. Wasessa moved in rapidly to protection Tassia and chased off Taveta. After the mudbath Shimba dug out some soil with his short tusks, while Mzima scratched his body against a tree and Kimana enjoyed suckling Kenia’s ears as she browsed.
 | | Kimana suckling on Kenia's ear |
 | | The orphans drinking water |
 | | Tassia |
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6/2/2010 |
It was hot today, so the orphans took to the shade of an acacia tree on the Western side of Mazinga Hill. Later they browsed their way to the waterhole at noon, hurrying for their milk feed, before taking water from the bins and enjoying a cooling mudbath. Shimba was first in, followed by Kenia and Kimana, Kenia keeping a close eye on Kimana, her favourite “baby”. They then browsed around the waterhole for the rest of the day until Sinya led them back in the evening.
 | | Shimba taking a rest with his friends nearby |
 | | Mzima & Siria in the water |
 | | Siria standing on a rock |
 | | The Orphans at the mudbath |
 | | Sinya |
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5/28/2010 |
It was a cloudy morning, with a promising possibility of rain. Shimba, Mzima and Siria decided to forage on the high ground above the KWS offices. Sinya, who was following, stepped on a loose rock which tumbled down the hill, frightening the orphans who all began screaming! The Keepers had to calm them, and brought them down the hill for their milk at noon. The afternoon was spent feeding along the Eastern side of the hill.
 | | Shimba grazing |
 | | Siria left and Mzima |
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