Enkesha's pregnancy is becoming increasingly apparent. Her body is morphing and she is showing occasional mood swings — though certainly not as dramatic as Murera's! The Keepers are happy to see her progressing well and are counting down the months ahead, knowing that Murera is expected to give birth first this year, followed by Enkesha next year.
Murera remains a force to be reckoned with. Ziwa found this out the hard way, after he made the mistake of trying to touch her tail. She had no tolerance for his nonsense and froze him out any time he visited in the following weeks. As the matriarch, she expects respect from the younger boys, and has no patience for those who forget their manners.
April brought some unexpected drama, courtesy of an eland that wandered into the forest with a buffalo following in its wake. The Keepers suspected the eland may have lost its bearings after being chased by a predator, as it is very rare to see one in the Kibwezi Forest. Kapei and Lenny gathered the courage to chase the large antelope away. Lenny trumpeted and effectively rallied the troops — the whole herd came together, with the females tightly forming an outer circle, shielding the little babies from danger. Protected though they were, Sulwe, Lenny, and Zigi joined the defence effort, blowing their small trumpets with their tiny trunks. As one, they managed to banish the eland and the buffalo.
Murera is the undisputed matriarch of the Umani herd, but sometimes there are small rebellions within the ranks. One morning, Kerrio, Amali, and Mwana put their heads together and chose a direction to lead the herd, going against Murera's plans. She stubbornly stayed put and rumbled a warning to Mwana. The dispute solved itself when Lima Lima and company arrived, changing the plan entirely.
Now that Lima Lima is spending more time in the forest with the nightclubbers and does not link up with the dependent herd every day, Kerrio has been assuming a greater leadership role. She defers to Murera, but is proving to be a calm and capable leader herself. Latika and Kamili, her fellow Nairobi Girls, clearly see Kerrio as their matriarch and follow her instructions to the letter.
Lenny and Sulwe are clever and curious little elephants, so naturally they became intrigued about what is inside the bottles they see some of the orphans drinking. Once Lenny had a taste of the milk formula, he decided he deserved one too. Because Lenny is not an orphan, he does not get a bottle — but that doesn't stop him from trying. He and Sulwe often come charging to the feeding point alongside the dependents, as if we might forget they are not in fact orphans. One day, Lenny snatched a bottle and pulled at it until he was given a small taste. In fairness, Sulwe was also given a taste. Satisfied, both babies then left for the waterhole. Interestingly, Zigi shows little interest in the bottles. He is much more reserved than Sulwe and Lenny, and tends to stick close to his mother.
Maktao and Kapei are becoming more and more independent. Older friends like Mwashoti and Alamaya play an important role, introducing the boys to wild bulls and looking after them during their excursions in the forest. One day, the orphan herd approached the mud bath only to find several wild elephants wallowing. We changed course so as not to disrupt them — but Mwashoti, Kapei, and Maktao wanted to stay. Mwashoti appeared to recognise the wild bulls and went about introducing Kapei and Maktao to his companions. Kapei looked very small beside the large bulls, but he was not afraid, even when one of them reached out his trunk towards him.
The following day, Mwashoti arrived from the bushes with Faraja and Alamaya. Alamaya was not his usual polite and friendly self — he kept pestering Lima Lima, Quanza, and Zongoloni, which is behaviour we believe he had picked up from his wild friends. He only showed respect to the matriarchs, Murera and Sonje. After observing his behaviour, Murera and Sonje made the executive decision to banish him from the waterhole.
By mid-month, Mwashoti and Alamaya had succeeded in encouraging Maktao and Kapei to spend nights in the forest with them, instead of returning to the stockades. When home time approached, the boys slipped away into the forest. Murera and the Nairobi Girls were only too happy to enjoy the boys' bottles, which had already been portioned out but could not be saved for the truants!
After the Nairobi Girls graduated to Umani, Mwana and Amali initially tried to bully them, but now everyone acts like one big happy family. As with any family, however, disputes sometimes spring up. One morning, Mwana woke up in a petty mood and tried to push Kamili at the pellet feeding area — but she got her own medicine. Kamili, who has the advantage of age and size, turned against Mwana and chased her all the way back to her mother, then savvily evaporated from the scene before Murera intervened..
Now that Murera is more than halfway through her second pregnancy, she is no longer so generous with her milk. She has stopped her 'nephew' Lenny from nursing entirely, and even her own daughter is given less access. Mwana is not happy about this development. She has devised a new way of nursing which seems to sit better with Murera: Instead of standing beside her mother, she lowers to her knees and scuttles beneath her, nursing at a baby's height. This has become her go-to approach, especially when Murera is in a bad mood.
Mwana is a special little elephant, but she is also very spoiled. She seems proud of having a biological mother and understands that many of the others do not. When something happens — even the smallest infraction — she screams loudly, knowing that Murera will come to check on her. Being a savvy and intelligent leader, however, Murera is wise to her daughter's tricks. One day, Amali shoved Mwana as a form of discipline. Mwana yelled as if she had been mortally wounded, but Murera only gave her a cursory glance before returning to browsing. She wanted her daughter to sort the situation out amongst her friends.
Every baby elephant has a unique character, and as they grow, that character continues to evolve. Zigi is now developing into a high-tempered character, just like his mother. When angered, he takes no prisoners — and very often, capricious young Lenny finds himself at the receiving end of these overreactions, though he seems largely unfazed.
Although Zigi is the youngest of the Umani babies, he is turning into a strong young bull — again, like his mother, who is unusually large and powerful, especially for a female. Aside from Murera, only Kiasa and sometimes Quanza are spared from Zigi's temper. He simply adores Kiasa, who is almost like a big sister. When she is standing by him — which is always — Zigi feels emboldened to behave even brasher than usual.