Arruba began April in a state of high relaxation. Mid-browsing session she lay down and closed her eyes, as if she was asleep. Mbegu and Mudanda looked worried and went to investigate whether Arruba was indeed just resting.
The orphan elephants came out of their stockades in a happy mood and left the stockades for the bush soon after the morning milk and lucerne pellet feeding.
They browsed peacefully for more than four hours. Arruba was feeling so relaxed she lay down and closed her eyes as if she was asleep. Mbegu and Mudanda looked worried and went to investigate whether Arruba was indeed okay, and they were reassured that Arruba was just resting. Godoma also came over and as soon as she got to Arruba she lay down next to her. Pika Pika became quite jealous of Godoma next to Arruba! She came running over and started climbing on Arruba’s stomach to attract her attention away from Godoma to her side. Godoma then looked lonely, so Pika Pika decided to be put her feelings aside and invite Godoma to a sparring game, consoling her and lifting her spirits.
When the breakfast routine was done the orphans left the stockades for the bush. At the foot of Msinga Hill, Mbegu got down on the ground and pretended to sleep but her friends ignored her and continued with their usual browsing.
They browsed all the way to the western side of Msinga Hill. Thamana, Lemeki and Embu enjoyed walking around the big round rock boulders browsing on the greens growing in amongst the rocks. As the noon feeding time approached the orphans started moving towards the baobab tree water hole. The group first to be released for the milk bottles were Tamiyoi, Sagala, Thamana, Pika Pika and Lemeki. The five started off sprinting towards the milk feeding area with Pika Pika protesting that she was getting left behind at the back of the group. She decided to stop and stood waiting in the middle for the second group, so that she could be at the front of that group for the milk feed!
The orphans then went to drink water down at the trough beside the baobab tree and after that they left without taking a mud bath as it was cloudy and windy today.
It was a wonderful morning with Thamana staying beside Suswa for the whole of the lucerne pellet feed. We think Thamana chooses to spend time with Suswa as she is the oldest in the orphan elephant herd, so she is the most experienced and he always feels happy and comfortable in her company. Sagala and Godoma were jealous that Thamana was choosing to spend time with Suswa but they couldn’t do anything about it as Suswa is senior to them.
Soon after arriving out in the bush Ngilai decided to get down on the ground to add some flavour to his sparring games with Emoli. They continued their sparring match with Ngilai in this position for some time! Off to the side, Sagala was busy pursuing Pika Pika and playing her own fun wrestling games with her.
The orphans later went for the afternoon milk feed and a very brief mud bath. Murit picked up small dry stick, holding it with his trunk and tickling Emoli with it as they were busy sparring. A wild elephant herd briefly joined the orphans at the mud bath and hung around with them for half an hour before leaving. The rest of the days browsing took place to the south of the water hole.
A wonderful morning it has been with the orphans gulping down their milk bottles and later leaving the compound for the bush.
Today Mudanda was looking to adopt one of the youngsters and sought to take Thamana for some browsing company. Lemeki, who often stays close to Thamana, was left behind and instead enjoyed some wonderful interactions with the rest of the orphans. Godoma browsed while flapping her ears as she felt quite warm.
After having their noon milk feed the orphans were joined by a wild elephant herd at the water hole who they enjoyed socializing with for quite some time. Emoli was delighted to stand next to two sparring wild bulls, watching on as if he were picking up tips on how he might handle Ngilai differently the next time they engaged in their own wrestling game! He then decided to play with Tamiyoi with some of the new tricks he had picked up from the bulls!
Mudanda continued her pursuit of Thamana in the afternoon, who she clearly has a soft spot for, holding him close with her trunk as they enjoyed a soil bath. Mbegu watched on from the sidelines feeling a little jealous of their close interaction.
The orphans spent the rest of the afternoon browsing on the eastern side of the Msinga Hill.
The early bird catches the worm, and when the orphans settled for lucerne this morning they found Thamana already very much next occupied by Mudanda as they browsed on the supplement feed, sending worrying signals to Sagala who was worried her close link to Thamana might be diminishing. Sagala consoled herself by quickly embarking on her leadership role and joining up with Tamiyoi to lead their friends out of the stockade compound towards the browsing grounds. Thamana is still open to being adopted by any of the older orphan girls however; sometimes Suswa takes an interest in spending time with him, and even Mbegu too!
Browsing continued peacefully this morning with the orphan elephants enjoying their mud bath after their noon milk feed. Sagala grew bold and decided to leave the water hole area early, just so that she could sneak off with Thamana for a soil dust bath. Mudanda saw what she was doing though and shot over to Thamana’s side, spreading her ears and hiding Thamana’s face hoping to block Sagala from seeing him. Suswa and Embu were left in the water charging around and enjoying themselves, before joining up with their friends to continue browsing for the rest of the afternoon. We watched on as Pika Pika enjoyed plucking leaves from the same bush for quite some time.
The orphans came sprinting out to the milk feeding area, gulping down their milk bottles in a matter of seconds before proceeding to the supplement food area. There wasn’t much playing around in the stockade compound as Mbegu took charge and decided to lead everyone out to the bush to begin their early morning browsing session.
The weather was fairly overcast and grey, so the orphans had their noon milk bottle as usual but didn’t go for a swim in the mud bath as it was too windy. Pika Pika and Arruba decided to put their feet in the water trough! A wild elephant herd came through to drink water soon after the orphan elephants had left the water hole to continue browsing.
Later in the afternoon the orphans decided to take a break and play all sorts of different games up until about 4pm in the evening. Arruba, who is still fully engaged in her mission of adopting Pika Pika despite the new arrival of Lemeki and Thamana, lay down and allowed her to clamber all over her. Sagala came to try and join them but Arruba kept throwing her trunk towards her and slapping Sagala to prevent her from joining in their game. Sagala was annoyed at not being allowed to join and charged about, so much so that Pika Pika bravely detached herself from Arruba and joined Sagala’s running game, forcing Arruba to get up and join them too.
Sagala lost Thamana to Mudanda again today and seemed to try and console herself by trying to spend more time with Pika Pika. Sagala took Pika Pika on a sprinting spree, including a game of hide and seek, but Arruba followed every step of their game to try and disrupt their interaction and make sure that Sagala didn’t have too much fun with her adopted baby Pika Pika.
The orphans then went out to begin their day of browsing and they started off in single file, all browsing in a line. Thamana stayed close to Mbegu for awhile.
Just before making their way to the noon milk feed area, Tamiyoi found herself at cross-roads of whether to stay with a wild elephant herd that she had just made friends with, or going with her friends for the usual milk feed; the price of which would of course be missing out on a delicious milk bottle! Tamiyoi opted to join her friends of course and followed them down to the milk feeding area. Shortly after the orphans were joined by another visiting wild elephant herd that came to drink from water from the trough beside the baobab tree, before leaving for their afternoon browsing walk.
After the morning milk feed, Tagwa went and picked up a huge bundle of lucerne grass and carried it over to a small rock where she enjoyed scratching and feasting on her own little bundle at the same time. Sagala went for yet another special engagement with Thamana and she went over to join him where he was busy feeding on some lucerne with Godoma. Godoma was enjoying her own private time with Thamana however and she tried to push Sagala away.
After about four hours of browsing out in the Park, Rorogoi went to lie down in an erosion trench. This got Pika Pika’s attention as she absolutely loves climbing on her elders whenever they lie down on the ground. Arruba immediately stopped browsing and came charging over towards Rorogoi and Pika Pika at a terrific speed. Embu and Mudanda intervened by moving in between to make sure Rorogoi, who was lying down, was safe against any possible attack by the jealous Arruba.
In the evening when the orphans were already shut up in their night stockades, a wild elephant herd came down the Msinga Hill to drink clean water from the stockade water trough before leaving as soon as they had their fill.
Mudanda made an early decision to separate Thamana from the rest of the orphan herd again, and to him to hide behind a big rock. This caused some distress to Lemeki however who became very uncomfortable that she couldn’t find her little Thamana and Suswa quickly noticed her concern. Suswa took Lemeki and walked her over to where Thamana was with Mudanda, hiding behind a big boulder. Lemeki was very excited to be re-united with her love Thamana and hoped that Suswa would remain for a little while with them, which indeed she decided to do.
The orphan elephants then had a busy browsing day until just before they returned home at 5pm. Suswa lay down and invited Thamana to play with her. Thamana came over and enjoyed climbing on her back, which made Arruba a little jealous of the fun they were having so she got down on the ground as well and invited Pika Pika to play too!
The orphans felt very content after their morning breakfast of milk bottles, lucerne pellets and dairy cubes, so they were not in any hurry to start browsing and instead settled to play for a bit in the compound. Mudanda invited Ndotto head on in a wonderful sparring match. She got so excited while they were playing that she sat down and continued to engage Ndotto from such a funny posture! Murit sparred with his now best friend Emoli, while Tamiyoi played with Tahri. Lasayen was also being very funny this morning and climbed over a bush and just sat there as if enjoying the way it was tickling his tummy.
The orphan elephants visited the main water hole after their noon milk feed later in the day, but didn’t swim in the water as it was another cloudy day. Instead they had some fresh water before walking off to continue browsing. Murit invited Rorogoi for a sparring match before running to catch up with their friends who had already walked back up the hill.
When the morning milk feed was done the orphans moved to the lucerne feeding area before walking out to begin their day. Sagala and Tamiyoi led the way this morning. Out in the bush the orphans spread out to look for fresh green shoots from the recent small rain showers; these are their favourite thing to eat and are very nutritious and sweet!
Later the orphans made their way to the baobab tree water hole area for their noon milk feed. They walked down to the water hole where they came met with a big wild elephant herd. Mbegu was being quite mischievous and splashed about in the water trough with her dirty foot, splashing and stirring the water and making it all dirty for the visiting wild elephants! She didn’t really succeed though as there was still ample water for the elephants and it was still very clean too, especially compared to some of the other water sources around. Suswa came over to drink from the water trough and play around too.
Tamiyoi was quite determined to play with one of the calves in the visiting herd, but her mother was quite suspicious and didn’t want her baby to play with strangers, so she charged at Tamiyoi and Rorogoi to scare them away. The commotion meant that the orphans decided to leave the mud bath for the day and carry on with their afternoon of browsing.
The compound was full of rumbling this morning as the elephants eagerly awaited their morning breakfast milk bottles. They could hear them being prepared and were being very impatient for them. When the gates were open they came sprinting out as a group, full of energy towards their milk feeding area. Emoli and Pika Pika led the charge as they are always very eager for their milk bottles. Mbegu followed up at the back along with quiet Murit.
The orphans left the compound once they were done with their usual supplement feed and were ready to begin their day. Lemeki stayed close to Thamana while they browsed but Sagala and Mudanda also sought to keep them company, and stayed close to them the entire morning. Ngilai and Murit enjoyed a lengthy pushing game.
The orphan elephants later had a wonderful interaction with a visiting wild elephant herd close to the mud bath. Sagala and Pika Pika even wanted to follow them as they started to leave, but they listened to the Keepers and turned back as they are still young and need their milk formula and protection of the Keepers.
Ivia the orphan buffalo came out of his pen this morning to join the elephant orphans for some lucerne pellets this morning. The other buffalo Cheza didn’t feel comfortable joining them so she stood and watched from a distance, and the Keepers brought her some pellets to enjoy where she was standing. Ngilai looked at Ivia, his longtime friend, and considered playing with him as he always has, but he then thought better of it as Ivia has grown very big now and Ngilai was rather put off from playing with the big buffalo!
Mbegu was feeling brave though and went ahead with a sparring game with Ivia, who strategically positioned himself to avoid injuring Mbegu with his horns.
Mudanda soon took Thamana, and with Sagala following behind, they started to make their way out to the bush. Sagala occasionally touched Thamana with her trunk to satisfy her dream of looking after him. Lemeki stayed away from them for a little while before missing Thamana and moving forward to join them all. Ndotto walked off slightly to the side of the group with Lasayen and Murit where they found a nice bush to enjoy. Godoma came to join them but she struggled to find a spot where she could fit in to enjoy the same bush!
The rest of the browsing day was peaceful.
It was a bright morning which we understood to mean that we wouldn’t get any rain today. The stockade dependent Voi orphans were busy feeding on lucerne grass after the morning milk feed at the far end corner of the stockade compound. After a few minutes of feeding Embu went back followed by Tahri, Suswa and Ngilai to have a of drink water, but then they returned to have some more pellets again.
Tagwa and Tamiyoi then took the lead of the orphan elephants out for their daily bush walks, and they settled deep in the bush overshadowed by Msinga Hill. Sagala, another leader among the herd, was preoccupied in her mission to adopt Thamana and found herself moving to the wishes and steps of Thamana.
In the afternoon the orphans walked down to the feeding area for the milk feed and then further down to the baobab water hole, where they interacted with a wild elephant herd that had a tiny baby. Ndotto was the last in the group to walk down to the mud bath as he was savouring every last drop of his milk bottle. Tamiyoi, Rorogoi and Pika Pika of course all had a soft spot for the calf and wanted to follow him, but Arruba kept holding Pika Pika back with her trunk to prevent her from joining and possibly going with that wild elephant herd. All was well however, and the orphan elephants left for their usual browsing bush walks for the rest of the day and with all the members of their herd.
After the morning milk and supplement feed, Ngilai and Emoli took part in their daily morning games and had a lot of fun. Tamiyoi left the upper part of the terrace and came down to scoop off as much range cubes as possible with her trunk, so she could take them off to her own area and enjoy in peace. Embu went to try and take a bath in the stockade water hole, but the water was too cold still so she thought better of it. Instead she went over to the red earth piles for a soil bath which was fun and also warmed her up.
Mudanda spent most of her time staying close to Thamana, as Lemeki squeezed herself in between them to make sure that she remains relevant to Thamana too, having grown up with him! Apart from Ngilai and Emoli the others didn’t time for many games in the compound this morning, as Sagala, Mbegu and Godoma took the leading role towards the browsing grounds quite early on.
On their way out, Lasayen made a stopover and lay down in a sandy area inside a trench, enjoying the warmth of the sand, before rejoining his friends as they continued walking and browsing.
The orphans went to their usual feeding area for their noon milk bottles then to the waterhole beside the baobab tree where they decided to swim today as it was quite a hot, sunny day. Godoma was having so much fun rolling on the edge of the water where she was watched over by Rorogoi and Tahri. Mbegu was rolling around in the deepest part of the water with just her trunk poking out as a snorkel! Murit decided to stand on the edge of the mud bath while Tagwa scratched on the baobab tree. The orphans spent the rest of the afternoon browsing close to that water hole area.
At a wonderful afternoon mud bath, Arruba was excited coming out of water. She lay flat and enjoyed basking in the bright sunshine.
Pika Pika, who was rolling in the deep waters, began screaming loudly, sending mixed signals. Arruba came up very fast with Suswa, Mbegu, Godoma, and Rorogoi, all hooking their trunks to support her up.
After that drama, the orphans came out of water for soil bathing. Arruba, Pika Pika, Mbegu, and Rorogoi shared a single small dust bathing hole, all consoling and assuring PikaPika before leaving for browsing. Tahri enjoyed browsing on all the green vegetation she could find on the hillside.
Later in the evening, Ngilai and Tagwa took a break from browsing for some wonderful sparring up games.
A bright and wonderful morning it has been, with the orphan elephants enjoying their morning of browsing after their usual milk and supplement feeding routine. Sagala and Godoma were occasionally sneaking over to browse with Lemeki and Thamana, whenever Mudanda wasn’t close to them. After the noon milk feed, the orphans had a lot of fun mud bathing in the waterhole.
Embu lay down in the water offering the perfect platform for Pika Pika to enjoy climbing on her back. Of course, Arruba became jealous, and although she came over rather calmly, she also lay down to offer herself for her darling Pika Pika to play on instead, and snub poor Embu’s games.
Later in the evening the orphans joined a wild elephant herd to browse. Their target was to invite one of the small calves in the group to play with them, and Mbegu, Embu and Rorogoi were leading this mission. They ended up being seriously charged away by the calf’s older sister however! Ngilai came over and acted all friendly and managed to turn the whole fighting scenario into a game with the older sister, as Mbegu and the others shied away and retreated back to their friends.
Ngilai returned triumphant later on and joined his friends in a celebratory mood. He was so excited he started trying to climb on Tagwa, as her friend Tamiyoi stood by looking very uncomfortable, until Tagwa managed to get away and she and her friend walked off to a different area to browse.
The orphan elephants left the stockades early in the morning, settling down to browse at the foot of Msinga Hill. Mbegu was plucking some green and palatable grass jutting out of a crack in a big rock and enjoyed scratching of her chin on the rock as well.
The sun was shining very bright and Ngilai, Ndotto, Suswa, Mudanda and Arruba all sought shade behind the same very big rock boulder. The orphans browsed up the hill and around the back of the compound where there was still plenty of untouched green browse.
Later on in the morning they came down to the stockades to have their noon milk bottles and some water. On the way into the compound, Ngilai met with his longtime friend, the male buffalo Ivia, who was grazing on the foot of the hill. Ngilai felt braver today and spent some quality time sparring with Ivia, making little Thamana very concerned about Ngilai’s safety as he had never seen an elephant playing with such a big buffalo before!
Thamana ran away from them, and Mudanda took the opportunity to move closer to him and reassure him that everything was okay; she stayed close to him for the entire time the orphans stayed in the stockades. It is so interesting to see this caring and nurturing side develop in Mudanda, all because of little Thamana! The orphans spent the rest of the afternoon browsing in the same area as they did all morning, as they really enjoyed the vegetation they were finding there.
Green grass has been shooting up since the recent showers we received, and the orphans were all spread out across the bush enjoying these fresh green shoots.
The orphan elephants later proceeded for the noon milk feeding at the baobab water hole and a mud bath. Thamana and Lemeki kept away from the visiting wild elephant herds and were escorted under tight guard by Mudanda. They only joined in to share water from the water trough and then retreated to their own little group again, away from all the other elephants. The rest of the Voi orphans had a lot of fun interacting with the wild elephant herds with Sagala and Tamiyoi, as always, on a mission to steal and play with wild elephant babies. Pika Pika then decided to follow the wild elephant herd when they were leaving, which she often does, but one of the wild calves in the herd turned and fought Pika Pika as if jealous that she was joining them. The Keepers had to walk an extra mile as they called Pika Pika back to join them, and eventually Embu, Arruba and Rorogoi assisted by going into the herd, rumbling and talking to Pika Pika, scooping her out to rejoin them. They escorted her back to the Keepers and they all walked back to the rest of the herd. Mudanda continued her tight security guarding Thamana and Lemeki for the rest of the afternoon.
A wonderful morning it has been with Embu, who also has a soft spot for Pika Pika as well as Arruba of course, teaming up to play with her in the stockade compound and also for the first part of the morning as they browsed.
The Voi orphans followed their usual daily routine, visiting the baobab tree water hole for their noon milk feed just after 11am. They decided to only have a very brief mud bath and came out to continue with their normal afternoon of browsing. It was not until 3.40pm when they took a break from browsing to play. Ndotto of course was the first to break away from browsing and off he went in search of first Mbegu, for some strength-testing games, before moving onto his new friend Mudanda who is looking like quite a big elephant these days and he wanted to test his strength against her as well!
The orphans later joined up with a wild elephant herd along the southern foot of Msinga Hill and enjoyed a wonderful interaction with them, before continuing on their way as they browsed slowly back towards the stockade compound. Pika Pika and Sagala wanted to stay with their new wild friends but they thought better of it and ran to catch up with their friends.
It was the perfect beginning to a new day with the Voi orphan elephants emptying a morning milk bottle and settling for some supplement food before engaging in some brief soil dusting games in the stockade compound. Emoli and Ngilai enjoyed their morning games as usual as quite Murit and Lasayen settled for some lucerne pellets, seemingly uninterested in games this morning. Godoma went off to enjoy a scratch along one of the stockade terraces before joining the two quiet boys as well. Embu wanted to take an early mud bath in the stockade water hole but the cold temperature deterred her!
Tamiyoi, Sagala and Tagwa led the way out, and the orphans had a peaceful morning of browsing, visiting the usual feeding area later on for their noon milk feed. After they walked down to the baobab tree, and a visiting wild elephant herd joined the orphans there for some water. One teenage wild female decided to step into the water trough next to Mbegu while she was busy drinking there, which annoyed Mbegu but there was nothing she could do about it as the wild elephant was much bigger than her. Ndotto went catch up with her new friend Mudanda for a sparring session, which made Thamana worry about her safety as he wasn’t sure what was going on. Suswa came over and held Thamana close to her for reassurance, but it didn’t work and Thamana went charging over to stand in between Ndotto and Mudanda to end their game.
The rest of the browsing day continued to the south of the waterhole.
Ngilai decided to catch up with his old friend Ivia the buffalo this morning, who had joined the elephants to feed on the lucerne pellets. The two decided to leave the compound and continue their games out in the bush, and Ngilai was clearly excited to playing with Ivia again after not playing with him as much for the last month or so. Diria the orphan zebra, one of Ivia’s close friends, was very jealous of their game and tried to bite and hiss at Ngilai to leave Ivia alone. Diria bravely ran in front of Ngilai and Ivia and managed to snatch Ivia away from Ngilai for the same kind of sparring game. Ivia was certainly the celebrity of the day today, as later on even Ndotto also came over to play with him!
The orphan elephants later left Ivia, Cheza and Diria back with their Keepers to stay around the Voi compound which is a few acres, to avoid the possible threat of lions which have been spotted in the area recently.
We were delighted to have some light rain this morning as the orphans were all still in the stockade compound. Mbegu, Godoma, Lemeki, Sagala and Tamiyoi all lay on the ground at the same time to enjoy playing on the damp soil. They all lay in a line behind one another enjoying their games! Ngilai was busy with Emoli were busy with their usual morning sparring games away from the girls. Embu then came over and spoilt the game however, by lying on top of Mbegu and she was so heavy that Mbegu yelled out for help, making Lemeki, Sagala and Tamiyoi all get up and once and run away to find a different place to play! When Embu got off Mbegu then Tagwa then came over to lie onto Mbegu too! But Mbegu didn’t seem to mind as much and perhaps Tagwa didn’t put her full weight on her. Emoli followed Tamiyoi who was now rolling and playing in a different area, and he started to climb on her back while she was on the ground. This made Tamiyoi get up and decide just to continue with her morning of browsing, as her rolling games kept being thwarted by other orphans!
Later in the afternoon the orphans met with a wild elephant herd again. Once more Pika Pika insisted on leaving with the herd as she had a soft spot a small wild elephant calf in the herd. The Keepers were able to call her back to join her orphan elephant herd however, but it took quite a long time trying! Pika Pika must have such a strong memory of her wild life as she always likes interacting with wild herds, and we look forward to the day she is old enough to be totally wild once more.
The orphan elephants had their morning milk feed as usual and hung around the stockade compound playing and interacting amongst themselves. Thamana and Lemeki had a deep conversation with one another draping their trunks over each other and intertwining them.
Mudanda came over and interrupted them however, separating the two and staying in the middle of them to break up their close conversation. She acted as if she was in charge of them and what they could do as their adopted older sister!
Soon after arriving out in the bush, Suswa surprised her friends as she lay down on the ground and lay totally still. Rorogoi looked worried and went up to her to check on her, and as she did so Suswa leapt up in a full-on playful mode, attracting nearly all of the rest of her orphan elephant friends to play. It seems like that was her cunning plan all along!
As the group of Keepers and orphans walked towards the baobab tree for the noon milk feed the Keepers noticed a big puff adder snake lying along the footpath, so they quickly changed the route to avoid any possible bites!
It was another wonderful beginning to the day with the milk dependent orphans running and gulping down their milk bottle in a matter of seconds, before joining their older friends for the range cubes and lucerne pellet supplements. Today there were only a few games of scratching and rubbing their bottoms on a rock in the stockade compound, before leaving for the bush
After browsing for more than five hours, Rorogoi invited herself to join Lemeki and Thamana who were busy soil bathing. Lemeki tried to get up and walk away, but Rorogoi grabbed her front leg with her trunk and pulled her back to force her to remain in the game with her. Lemeki obeyed Rorogoi and remained behind for a little while before leaving for more browsing.
Later in the evening, Pika Pika led her favorites Arruba and Embu to join up a wild elephant herd who was browsing very close to them, but the wild elephants started walking away when the three orphan elephants were called back to join the Voi herd. The three orphans started running after the herd as the Keepers tried calling them back. As the wild herd became more confused of what was happening, they ran even faster, too. We soon realized it was pointless trying to pursue them. We could only try to monitor them and hope that the wild herd would look after them, and that they might return if not. At least Pika Pika was with Arruba and Embu!
The monitoring team searching for Pika Pika, Arruba and Embu took off before the first morning light. Every wild herd they came across, they looked for the missing trio, but without success. Their best friend Rorogoi really felt their absence and was clearly agitated, rumbling time and time again. Perhaps she was even trying to communicate with them. Suswa, a close friend of Arruba’s, was also walking here and there as if she was looking for Arruba. The Keepers were most concerned for Pika Pika, who is still small and still has milk bottles, despite her independent spirit and how much she yearns for the wild. After a whole day of patrolling the team could still not locate them, but they could only keep trying.
Meanwhile the rest of the orphans had a quiet day as if they knew some of their friends had left the group and all rather suddenly! Ngilai and Emoli abstained from as many sparring games as they usually partake in, and most of the orphans concentrated on browsing for the better part of the day.
The Keepers awoke once more feeling concerned for their three charges who left with a wild herd a few days ago. They wondered where Pika Pika, Arruba and Embu had gone and if they were indeed safe or not. The team monitoring their whereabouts drank early morning cups of tea before once again setting off on their mission of tracing the three and making sure they were okay. Just as the Keepers were finishing their tea however, they noticed unusual behaviour from some of the orphans as they lifted their trunks, rumbled deeply and sniffed the air coming from the southern side of Msinga Hill. The Keepers soon realized why when Pika Pika, Arruba and Embu sauntered into the stockade compound happy and unharmed! The smile on the Keepers faces was restored and we couldn’t believe their arrival! All the orphans surrounded the three to greet them.
Arruba surprised the Keepers when she chased away her friend Rorogoi for some reason, and we can’t be sure what Rorogoi did to annoy her so soon after her return, but otherwise it was a very happy reunion and we are very happy to have our three orphans back safe and sound. The three were looking more red than their friends from the red ochre soil they had been mud bathing in for the last few days. Ndotto celebrated his friends return by taking Arruba for a sparring session out in the bush.
Thankfully the rest of the day continued as normal with the usual browsing activities and a quiet visit to the baobab tree mud bath with no wild visitors today!
We were happy to begin the day on a good note as Lemeki, Thamana, Emoli and Pika Pika all ran in at a terrific speed to have their first milk bottle of the day. The rest of their milk dependent friends arrived a few minutes later, before everyone moved off to the lucerne pellet feeding area.
Sagala was keen to begin her day of browsing and she rumbled to everyone in the herd that it was time to go. Tamiyoi was the first to follow her and eventually the rest of the herd all followed in a line as well.
After browsing for about three hours Ndotto looked bored and decided to go and find his friend Mudanda for a pushing game. Their game had barely begun however when Mudanda quickly noticed that Mbegu was lying on the ground and was offering Thamana to play with her. Mudanda immediately finished her game with Ndotto and ran over to where Mbegu and Thamana were playing. She didn’t attack or hurt Mbegu, but it was clear from her face that she was extremely jealous and wanted Mbegu to end her game immediately. We haven’t seen this side to Mudanda with any other youngsters before! Thamana got up and went to cuddle against Mudanda’s side, so she instantly felt much better. Ndotto, who had been left high and dry, shifted his sparring games to catch up with his friend Arruba, occasionally taking a break from browsing to play with Arruba throughout the rest of the day.
It was a cloudy and cold morning today as Thamana, Lemeki, Emoli and Sagala ran as fast as they could for their early morning delicious milk bottles, as their other friends followed more slowly behind them. The milk dependent orphans later joined up with their older friends in Arruba and Mudanda’s herd for some lucerne pellets. Most of the games played today were conducted on the pile of red earth, as the orphans rolled and enjoyed dust bathing to get warm. Godoma led the way in these rolling games, positioning herself at the top of the pile as if she were Queen.
The orphans then left for their usual browsing walks under the leadership of Tagwa, Tamiyoi and Sagala. After browsing for more than two hours, Ngilai decided to kneel down in a funny pose to catch the attention of Tagwa and Tamiyoi, who took a break from browsing to watch what Ngilai was up to. It seems his plan worked and Ngilai, who always seems to be trying to impress Tagwa, started some very elaborate rolling games which eventually made Tagwa and Tamiyoi want to join in for a bit too.
As the orphan elephants were walking towards the water hole they suddenly stopped and smelled the air in the front of them. Further investigation by the Keepers revealed the presence of twelve lions hiding in long grass! As a result, of course the group changed route and returned back to the stockade compound today for the orphans’ noon milk feed and mud bath, before spending the afternoon browsing session high up on the hill again behind the stockade compound.
The orphans came out of their night stockades in a very excitable mood today, with the milk-dependent babies ready and eager to run to the milk feeding area for their first bottles of the day.
Lasayen, Godoma and Tahri, who were in the last group of milk feeding orphans, came running over and gulped down their bottles very fast, dribbling milk everywhere, before going to join up with the rest of the herd for their supplement food.
Ngilai for some reason didn’t want to play this morning, and in a turn of events decided to be one of the first to leave the stockades today, closely followed by his friend Ndotto. Usually it is Tamiyoi, Sagala and Tagwa that lead the way, but clearly Ngilai was eager to start his day of browsing today!
The orphan elephants spread out across the bush enjoying feeding on the lush green grass they came across, slowly making their way to the baobab tree water hole, that was clear of lions today, for their milk feed.
Lemeki, Tamiyoi, Thamana, Emoli and Tagwa were in the first group to run down for their bottles, before walking down the hill to have some fresh water. After just a few minutes the five came running back with their ears spread wide, after encountering a big herd of wild buffalos approaching to drink water at the same time! When their older friends arrived, they felt much bolder, and the whole group proceeded down to the waterhole with the Keepers. The buffaloes moved back slightly at the sight of all the elephants coming down the hill towards them! It was a cloudy day however, so the orphans decided not to take a bath. Rorogoi went for a soil bath with Thamana, but it wasn’t long before Mudanda came over and separated them to enjoy her own soil dusting with Thamana!
The rest of the browsing day went on peacefully until it was time for the orphans to return home for the night.