Keepers' Diaries, June 2014
Voi Reintegration Unit
In the month of June a number of school children were able to visit the Voi Orphans through the Trust's sponsored field trips program for Schools on the Boundaries of Tsavo. The children got a real thrill from this exposure to elephants, and loved seeing the very obvious varying characters of the orphans and the elephants loved showing off to an audience. Ndii soon became the children's favorite when she persisted in scratching her bottom on a rock which had them all dissolving in giggles. Lesanju and Ishaq B felt a little left out so began pushing Ndii off the rock so they too could get some of the attention. Dabassa watched from afar and decided it was time he got in on the action so he climbed onto a flat rock, very close to all the children, and sat on it! This was going to be a day they would never forget.
The orphaned elephants, just like children, love to play. For the bulls the strength testing games are a particular favourite and these include the constant pushing and wrestling games. These games are important lessons as it teaches them not only to learn how to win but also how to lose. Good manners are vital for when they finally choose to leave the safety of their keepers and venture out with the wild herds. Bad behavior is not tolerated in elephant society and naughty little bulls soon get put into line; more often than not by the older females who dislike rambunctious behavior around their young.
01 June 2014
The orphans quickly took their share of the copra cake and milk for the youngsters in Kenia’s group before Lesanju led them to the browsing grounds.
A group of school children visited the orphans today and they were very interested in the project and loved their trip as they were entertained by Tassia and Taveta who enjoyed a wrestling match.
Kivuko and Dabassa, had a lovely time in the mud bath as they lay in the water and rolled around playing with one another trumpeting in excitement. The orphans spent the rest of the day browsing in small groups.
02 June 2014
It was a beautiful day with the orphans browsing on the southern side of the Msinga hill before heading back to the stockades for their noon milk feed where they were met by another school group. The children seemed to be completely astonished by the calm and gentle nature of the elephants and asked some very intelligent questions.
The orphans later went into the main park with Kihari causing mayhem as she pulled a dry branch from a tree, only to find the whole tree falling onto poor Ishaq-B and Naipoki. The two screamed in fright and ran away followed by Sinya and Lesanju who had to work hard to calm them down. Tasia then attempted to do the same, only to find the tree didn’t budge an inch. Ndii led the herd home for the evening.
03 June 2014
The orphans hung around the stockade compound today and played for several hours. Kivuko and Panda were lying on the ground dust bathing and having such fun that Ishaq-B couldn’t help but join them. Taveta and Tassia were busy chasing Kenia after she attempted to mount Tasia, but it seemed that Kenia was just a little too fast for them. Kenia went running towards the field and settled in for a serious browsing session followed by Tassia and Taveta.
The day was cold and windy and as such none of them went into the mud bath.
As night began to fall a wild herd of elephants briefly joined the orphans before they headed home to the stockade. Mzima stayed with the wild herd but soon returned home, safe and sound.
04 June 2014
It was a cloudy, cold and windy morning,
Mzima tried his luck and attempted to mount Kenia, but Kenia was far too busy rubbing herself on a rock to take any notice of him. The orphans spent the morning browsing at the bottom of Msinga Hill.
Adventurous Kivuko, Layoni, Mbirikani and Ishaq-B decided that a trek up the hill to continue their browsing before joining the rest for the noon mudbath. The weather was not favourable for bathing, but Mbirikani, Kivuko and Naipoki entered the water for a few seconds before enjoying a dustbath
05 June 2014
There was a wild elephant herd at the stockades this evening before the orphans returned to the stockades. Mbirikani, Panda and Mudanda passed the herd ono their way for their milk bottle before Panda came back to greet and play with a wild elephant calf of her age. Tassia was bold and brave enough and went to join the wild herd for a drink at the stockade water trough. The ladies in Lesanju and Kenia's group did not like the interaction with the wild ones preferring to keep their distance.
06 June 2014
It was all fun and games as usual in the stockade compound after the orphans had their daily dose of milk.
Rombo and Taveta took each other on in a heavy going head push. Rombo soon took this playful game to an extra extent of pushing Taveta very hard with his tusk. The two stayed fighting even after all their elephant friends had retreated into the bush and they had to run to catch up. Wasessa went back to receive and welcome them back. At noon the orphans went to the water hole where they had a lot of fun in mud bathing games with Kivuko taking the lead of the small ones back to the stockade safety in the evening.
07 June 2014
It was a nice morning, with the orphans enjoying themselves with various games. Kenia and Rombo persisted in playing a strength testing game and refused to let Taveta join them. Wasessa and Mzima sat on the embankment of the stockade water trough scratching their bottoms while watching all the commotion before Wasessa went in search of her beloved baby Mudanda. There were only brief games after noon before heading home for the night.
08 June 2014
It was another beautiful day, with the orphans playing games in the stockades compound after having their morning bottle of milk, copra cake, Dairy cubes and of course Lucerne. The browsing day went on undisturbed until noon when the orphans went to the water hole and all hell broke loose! Mud being flung everywhere, trumpeting and boisterous elephants charging in every direction. After milk feeding, Taveta and Rombo went ahead and continued the same old game of strength testing, while Lesanju decided enough was enough and their games had to stop. Later on the day, the stockade received a call from the desnaring team to rescue an orphan baby zebra in Irima area, that was suspected to have been hit by a vehicle and was in a bad condition, as she could not stand up on her feet. The baby zebra sadly had severely cracked her head and a few hours later passed away.
09 June 2014
What a beautiful day it was indeed, at the stockade compound, Panda invited little Mudanda to play hide and seek, which made Mudanda very happy. Wasessa kept a close eye on the two and intervened when Ndii attempted to join their game. When all the orphans had reached the browsing grounds, Layoni and Dabassa rushed up the hill to look for fresh browse. At the milk feed Mudanda tried to steal Naipoki’s share but was stopped from doing so by the keepers.
10 June 2014
Today at around noon a group of secondary pupils visited the orphans at the stockade. Ndii became the pupil’s favorite when she persisted on scratching her bottom on a rock. Lesanju and Ishaq-B felt a little left out and also wanted to get some attention, so they pushed Ndii of the rock. All of this was watched by Dabassa who decided to climb onto a flat rock and sit down. The students became extra excited and amused when they saw all the orphans climbing on top of each other. Lempaute heard all the laughter and moved closer to the fence where she extended her trunk in greeting to the students. The orphans later traveled to the middle water hole where they had a lot of fun in mud bath games.
11 June 2014
The orphans engaged themselves in a number of games around the stockade in the morning, with Layoni and Kivuko involving themselves in pushing games before they all headed to Msinga hill for a morning browsing session.
Lesanju and Wasessa were left behind browsing as the rest of the group headed to the mudbatha and had to run to catch up with the rest. Wasessa made a bee line for Mudanda who was under Lempaute’s wing. They all enjoyed the noon mud bath and a rest under an acacia tree before teaming up for the final browse of the day.
12 June 2014
It was a nice day, but the silence was abruptly broken when Mbirikani plunged into the water and rolled around like a hippo. Her great excitement while playing attracted Wasessa who joined her games. Dabassa was having great fun lying on the embankment and sliding into the water. Kivuko and Rombo were busy rubbing their big bottoms against each other before Kivuko joined them and tried to unsuccessfully mount Rombo.
13 June 2014
The orphans came out running for their delicious milk bottle before heading out to the browsing fields. The day was pleasant with Dabassa and Layoni engaging in a tough pushing game. The game went on for a while until Layoni went down in submission, leaving Dabassa as the winner. Kivuko came in and sat on Kivuko’s head and was immediately removed by the keepers. These games all took place in the field a few minutes before heading back to the stockade for the night.
14 June 2014
It was another beautiful day in Tsavo, andthe orphans concentrating on browsing with only a few games of hide and seek.
Kenia was the mud bathing star of the day watching her closely. On the other side, Kihari rolled in the soil, causing clouds of dust as Naipoki and Ishaq-B stood watching before Naipoki tossed huge chunks of dust into the air.
15 June 2014
The orphan’s day in the browsing grounds was fantastic. As soon as they arrived in the field, they encountered a wild herd of elephants that had a tiny calf. Taveta made the first brave step in joining them as the others followed.
Wasessa abandoned her adopted baby Mudanda temporarily to join Sinya and Lempaute in trying to take their wild calf away from its family but were prevented from doing so by the rest of the herd.
The wild herd stayed with the orphans for more than an hour before leaving and heading towards the Voi river side. Mzima and Tassia enjoyed going with them for half an hour before rejoining the orphans. They had a lot of fun at the mud bath, filled with playful games before browsing for the remainder of the day.
16 June 2014
The orphans came out early in the morning and carried out their daily routine of milk and supplement feeding before moving out to the bush for browsing.
It was a nice day with Rombo picking up a huge amount of mud with his trunk and throwing it back towards the herd, The mud was flicked straight onto both Dabassa and Sinya who had just come out of the water and were busy admiring Rombo’s games. Rombo’s intension was deliberately done to put mud onto Sinya who does not early like it.
17 June 2014
Panda and Ishaq-B attracted their fellow friends Mudanda and Kihari in a chasing and pushing game at the stockade in the morning. Lesanju stopped her copra cake feeding to intervene. The orphans then took off to the browsing grounds where they spent the better half of the day browsing on the northern side of the stockade arriving at the water hole at noon. The weather was still cold so Dabassa, Ndii and Kivuko went to take a partial bath before rejoining the others.
18 June 2014
The young orphans happily gulped down their milk bottle in pure excitement this morning. Since it was cold, the orphans never went to drink water at the stockade water trough but instead concentrated on the supplement feeding. Kivuko greedily pushed Kihari away from the pile of copra cake. Kihari was not impressed with this so she too decided to push Mbirikani away from another pile of the copra cake. The keepers intervened to ensure they all had a peaceful feeding. The rest of the day was engulfed by browsing and games.
19 June 2014
Another different school came to visit the orphans in the stockade at noon. All the children were really happy.
Tassia attempted to mount Kenia by the stockade water trough but failed in this attempt. Kenia then climbed the flat rock to receive a close greeting and salute from the students. Wasessa picked up Mudanda and Panda and led them to the southern side of Msinga hill where they spent the rest of the day followed by the rest of the group.
20 June 2014
A baboon was given the privilege to watch Ndii’s scratching games at the stockade in the morning. Ndii, who was sorting out her itchy buttock on a rock, allowed the baboon to stay and watch her, but that did not last as once done Ndii assisted by Kihari, Naipoki and Ishaq-B decided to chase the baboo away.
The orphans then went out to browse reaching the water hole later than usual. On arrival Ishaq-B became very brave and suddenly jumped into the water. Ndii and Kenia watched this jealously but they could do nothing about it. The rest of the day was fantastic with Panda leading the herd of small ones to the stockade in the evening.
21 June 2014
It was a new day and the orphans were having a great time playing games in the stockades in the morning. It was a fairly cold day when the orphans arrived at the water hole at noon. Naipoki and Panda attempted to step in the water but quickly had second thoughts.
A small wild elephant family came in to drink water as soon as the orphans had left, the wild herd went directly to the clean water barrels only to find the orphans had already emptied them. They briefly drank water out of the main water pan.
22 June 2014
The orphans browsed on the far northern side of the stockade and slowly moved to the water hole at noon.
One hour before they arrived, a big elephant cow brought her family for a drink of water. The big cow was very familiar with all the activities that were happening there and firmly halted her whole herd, waiting for the keepers to fill the water in both the barrels and the main water pan before they came any closer. The orphans were surprised to have met with such a big congregation of wild elephants and it was truly fascinating to watch Lesanju, Mzima and Dabassa making friends with some of the wild herd, even playing with one another. This wild herd stayed with the orphans for two hours before heading back into the bush.
23 June 2014
Today another group of school children visited the orphans at the stockade compound at noon. Tasia and Dabassa ran the show today, in their hide and seek games, drawing all the children’s attention onto them. The two naughty elephants played and played enjoying the students reactions. The orphans later went onto the western side of the stockade where they spent the rest of the day browsing. They never visited the water hole at noon as they had already drunk enough water at the stockade.
24 June 2014
he orphans arrived into the water hole at noon but didn’t take a bath because of the cold weather. The orphans instead settled down and enjoyed a dust bath. Soon after leaving the southern side of the stockade, a wild elephant family with a tiny calf came to drink water.
In the evening Layoni attempted to mount Rombo but got it all wrong as he mounted Robmo’s head instead of his back and was quickly tossed off by Rombo. Taveta and Tassia then came over to try and comfort Layoni who was embarrassed about his error.
25 June 2014
It was a wonderful beginning of the day with the orphan’s playing endlessly. Rombo and Dabassa played their usual wrestling but was outnumbered as Tassia came at him from behind. Upon realizing what was happening he cried out for help from the keepers who together with Sinya intervened and broke up the game. All the orphans then settled down for a day of browsing.
26 June 2014
The weather was warming up and the orphans were off to the water hole. It was a big surprise to see Sinya enter the water today closely watched by both Naipoki and Panda. Layoni was the only one to get into the water with her.
The orphans went further afield this afternoon where they had a dust bah in some grey soil that they found along the way. The orphans arrived home quite late this evening after their long travels up north.
27 June 2014
The orphans left the stockade in time to reach the water hole by noon where they plunged into the water and covered themselves in red mud. All the orphans went into the mud including Sinya who normally does not enjoy the water.
Lempaute chose Panda and separated her from the rest of the orphan herd, so she could play with her in the soil and stopped their game to watch Dabassa leaning onto his front legs and showing off. Kihari lead the herd home for the night.
Lualeni the ex-orphan had visited Sagala ranch and was looking happy and was in the company of a male and female wild zebra and an orphan eland. They all enjoyed feeding on the Lucerne grass that had been brought to them by the keepers.
28 June 2014
The day started off with Panda and Kenia running for their morning bottle of milk as soon as the gates of their stable were flung open in the morning. They later joined the bigger ones on feeding on the supplements. Layoni and Mzima took each other on in a mud competition. The rest of the day went on well with browsing being everyone’s greatest priority.
29 June 2014
A female wild elephant and her 3 year old baby came to drink water at the stockade water trough at six o’clock in the evening. The orphans were already in their respective stables and watched the little baby with great interest. Mbirikani and Panda went to salute them in greeting with a deep rumble and the wild elephant cow responded by rumbling back, before joining their friends on the peak of Msinga hill above Malaika house. At around Mid-night the whole herd came down to the stockade to drink, waking up the orphans. They went off after hanging around the stockade compound for approximately an hour.
30 June 2014
The orphans went to the foot of Msinga hill for an afternoon of browsing after their daily visit to the mud hole.
Mbirikani went missing but the keepers spotted her on the hill. The keepers noticed that she was in not coming down and had to get her and lead her back to the stockade with a bottle of milk. Panda who had missed her welcomed her back with great excitement.