One afternoon, when Talek trumpeted because Shujaa kept play-mounting her, Sileita and Kerrio ran over to see off the boisterous bull. Later on, when a strength contest between Pardamat and Taroha got out of hand, the mini matriarchs intervened to separate the pair, each taking responsibility for one boy.

On the other hand, Kamili plays no favourites! While she is coming out of her shell with each passing month, our non-maternal girl has little tolerance for nonsense. Case in point: At the mud bath one morning, Pardamat was being unrelentingly in his quest for extra milk, pestering each Keeper in turn. Kamili decided that enough was enough. She whirled over, knocked the naughty boy down, and chased him away. 

Wamata has a collection of nannies that include Sileita, Latika, Kerrio, Nyambeni, Mushuru and Sholumai. Looking after Wamata is usually done in shifts, with one nanny moving away and another immediately taking her place. The little girl is content to hang out with the older females and hasn’t yet shown much interest in fraternising with her peers.

Of all Wamata’s nannies, Latika is the most devoted — and the most possessive. One afternoon, she was pulling down branches from tall trees so that Wamata could enjoy the tasty leaves that she was not able to reach. When Pardamat walked over to join them in the hope of also enjoying the treat, Latika pushed him away firmly. She was picking leaves for Wamata and no one else.

Taroha reminds us of Kerrio when she was his age. As a youngster, she really loved mud bathing and he is just the same. Thanks to lots of recent rain, the forest is peppered with puddles. Taroha goes from one puddle to the next, paddling, splashing, or even rolling in the muddy water. 

Since Loldaiga graduated to Ithumba alongside Choka and Mukutan earlier in the year, Shujaa has stepped up. Although he is six months younger than Kitich and Mageno — who are currently the oldest boys at the Nursery — he has taken on the role of senior bull. He sees himself as one of the big boys and is always keen to play wrestling games with his big brothers.

But with that said, Shujaa is also remarkably calm for a bull. We were reminded of this during an incident at the afternoon milk feed, in which Weka snuck ahead of her feeding group and overtook Shujaa in line. Rather than incite the naughty girl’s wrath, we decided to keep her occupied with an early bottle. As a result, Shujaa arrived to find Weka enjoying the bottle meant for him. Most orphans would have created an enormous fuss, but not Shujaa. He waited patiently until another Keeper was available to feed him. 

Needless to say, Weka is as mischievous as ever — but she does have a soft side. One day, Kerrio and Weka were browsing together in the forest. When Kerrio lay down on her belly to relax, Weka leant against her affectionately and draped her trunk over her friend’s head. We all enjoyed a moment of peace from Weka’s antics.

While Mzinga has expanded her attention from solely focusing on Tali, Nyambeni continues to be a constant companion to the newbie. This month, Talek decided to join their little gang. If Tali walks away from the herd — as he is still not comfortable being amidst a large group — the girls amble along in his wake. 

Tali was only rescued in February, so he’s still settling into his new life. He remains quite skittish and shy, but we are seeing progress day by day. One morning, he extended a trunk in greeting to a Keeper and, later at the mud bath, even tried to pinch an extra bottle of milk from the wheelbarrow. Friendliness and cheekiness are both excellent signs that an orphan is becoming more comfortable and confident.

Mushuru used to push away the babies, but now she is shaping up to be an excellent nanny. One afternoon, she had a lovely time looking after Olomunyak, trunk touching him and even pulling down tasty leaves for the little boy to enjoy. Another day, she walked over to browse next to Tali. He accepted her company and browsed with her, Talek, and Taroha. 

Kitich and Mageno are the oldest and strongest boys in the herd. The two friends have strength-contest games almost every day. Kitich is shorter but stouter than Mageno, not to mention two months older. During one bout, Kitich got the upper hand and Mageno turned tail to run away. Refusing to accept his surrender, Kitich ran after him — he kept touching Mageno’s tail with his trunk and then even tried to bite it. And so, the competition for dominance continues between the determined bull and his laidback friend.

Muridjo, our resident tomboy, has her own daily bouts with Shujaa. As the others browse, the best friends can usually be found sparring and shoving their way through the forest. Shujaa may be stronger, but it is Muridjo who calls the shots: If he pesters her or plays unfairly, she simply knocks him over and moves away.

When she first joined the Nursery herd, Sholumai was a withdrawn girl who kept to herself. As time passes, however, she is becoming more confident and even a bit pushy. One day, she gulped down her two bottles of milk and demanded a third from a Keeper. He gave her an empty bottle to suckle, which kept her occupied — but not for long. When she saw Kerrio enjoying her milk nearby, she tried to wrest the bottle out of her possession. A few months ago, such bold behaviour would have been unthinkable from Sholumai.

Poor Muwingu had a rather embarrassing moment this month. She and Shujaa were having a great time chasing the baboons, warthogs, and impalas. The baboons merely jumped from one tree to the next, the warthogs trotted out of their way and went back to grazing, and the impalas darted one way and then another. In other words, it wasn’t going in the elephants’ favour! Lumbering after several impalas, Muwingu took a corner too quickly, slipped in the mud, and slid onto her side. She trumpeted in alarm, which sent several of the older girls running to her rescue. Muwingu clambered to her feet, dignity bruised but otherwise uninjured, and went back to browsing.

One morning, Kerrio and Mzinga were in no hurry to head out to the forest. Hearing the Keepers whistle, the orphans plodded obediently up the path to the forest — except for Kerrio and Mzinga, who ambled from one water trough to the next, drinking from some and making splashes in others. When they had had enough of that game, they walked over to Maxwell’s lower gate to greet the rhino and drape their trunks over his head. It took three Keepers to persuade our clever girls to join the others in the forest.

Our toddler group — Talek, Taroha, Olomunyak, and Pardamat — are best friends one moment, bickering siblings the next. Sometimes they egg each other on, other times they keep each other in line.

During one memorable milk feed, Talek drank her two bottles and then ambitiously demanded a third. Trumpeting as if someone had neglected to feed her, Talek walked over to the wheelbarrow in the hope of pinching an extra bottle. To our surprise, it was Olomunyak who took the situation in hand. After drinking every drop of his milk, our stout boy marched over to Talek and shoved her away from the wheelbarrow. Realising that he meant business, she gave up and walked away to browse on lucerne. He followed in her wake, just in case she tried to misbehave again.

The month ended on a very funny note: Much to our surprise, Sileita hung around the wheelbarrow and then tried to pinch an extra bottle. We expect milk-thieving machinations from toddlers like Talek and Pardamat, but not the mini matriarch! We whistled and she walked away obediently. 

The orphaned rhinos

Raha had a great month. Most mornings, she finished her breakfast bottle, stepped out of her stable with confidence and marched up the path, leading her Keeper. Her journey is punctuated by animated squeaks and side hops, moving at exactly her preferred pace and not a beat faster. She is eating more and more greens, although she still prefers soft grasses to the roughage that black rhinos typically consume.

In true black rhino form, Raha is an obstinate little girl. She is often trailed by her wild warthog friends, who seem to enjoy her company and the protection of the Keepers. Most days, Raha chases them away, but occasionally she invites their company. The warthogs are about the same size as the small rhino, so they make a lovely little unit as they browse or nap together.

Because it’s been so rainy, Maxwell also had a wonderful month. After a night of showers, we would wake up to find him playing with the warthogs in the rain, chasing the little pigs through the mud. Aside from the sheltered area where he sleeps, his large boma has been transformed into an enormous mud pool — which is Max’s idea of heaven!

We had one interesting night with Max, in which he was stomping around his enclosure. This was very unusual behaviour, as he loves his long sleeps and can always be found resting on his sheltered bed of hay by dusk. He jogged around and began pushing his enormous head against a tree, as if in a fight. We tempted him away with his favourite treat, sugar cane, which he enjoyed enormously before returning to his bed. We suspect that he identified the presence of another rhino in the forest — Max may be blind, but his other senses are strong.