Keepers' Diaries, August 2002
Voi Reintegration Unit
Nursery Elephants:- It has been a quiet month in the Nairobi Nursery, with all the babies thriving and gaining weight. Looking back at photographs that depict them as they were when they came in, terrified, emaciated and staring death in the face, it is hard to remember that they were ever that bad. Little Mpala has gained weight, and now has plump cheeks; Sosian is a very friendly and gentle little chap, a far cry from the "wild" calf that came in, wanting only to kill every human in sight, although he still carries the wounds on his legs from being hobbled on the ranch where he was held; Burra has grown, and is the picture of health, his damaged ear now flapping happily in two very healthy and healed halves; little Seraa has grown and is even portly, though still tiny for her age, whilst Solango is now almost the same size as Sosian and Burra, and Thoma just a touch taller. Deep friendships have been forged. Sosian and Solango are inseparable, Thoma and Seraa have a strong female bond that will last for life, and Burra and Mpala are best buddies. The warthogs are now having their tiny piglets, so pig chases provide a welcome diversion for the Nursery elephants, as does rivalry to try and be the closest to the favourite Keeper of the day. It is wonderful to see them all so healthy, so happy and doing so well. Sosian now spends time being admired by a human audience at mudbath hour, whereas before he felt intimidated.
01 August 2002
This morning Maungu seemed to be listless, but her condition improved as the day wore on. At 8 a.m. in the morning Lolokwe and Nyiro embarked on a wonderful game. They then went to fetch Laikipia, who became annoyed and knocked down Nyiro. Nyiro screamed for help, so Kinna and Yatta surrounded him, and then Kinna knelt down, holding Nyiro's head up with her trunk, so that he could rise.
After the noon mudbath Edo and Imenti joined Emily's group, having been away all night. They rounded up the other babies and took them back to the mudbath, where everyone wallowed happily, Edo lying down on his side so that Natumi, Edie and Ilingwezi could climb on him. The wallow lasted for one hour, and then the two Big Bulls escorted the babies back into the bush.
02 August 2002
Laikipia escorted the babies to the tractor for their milk, resting his trunk lovingly on Sweet Sally's back, and waiting for them to finish. In the meantime Maungu, having finished her bottles of milk, tried to get Mweya's share which resulted in a tough battle, that needed the intervention of the Keepers. Laikipia then escorted the babies back. After the mudbath a group of wild elephants joined Emily's group. Emily and Aitong enjoyed playing with a cow of their age, but Imenti was kept away by a bull within the group, and trailed behind the group.
03 August 2002
Lolokwe and Nyiro ganged up together to shove Icholta, who is the strongest within the female set. Icholta proved too good for them and pushed them into a thorn-bush. They both yelled for help, which brought Mukwaju along, but when he saw that it was Icholta he had to take on, he backed off!
On the way to the mudbath Salama became scared and sought shelter with the Keepers when he saw Edo chasing after a wild cow. For the first time ever, Emily was seen retaliating against Loisaba for pushing Tsavo away from her side.
04 August 2002
Edo joined Emily's group early in the morning and began to chase Aitong, wanting to mount her. This made Imenti very concerned, who tried to block Edo by coming between them. Edo poked Imenti with his tusks, inflicting minor injuries on his bottom, and this made Imenti take out his resentment on the Keepers. At 9.30 a.m. Mweya, Sweet Sally, Maungu and Ndara took to their heels, running to the Keepers, when two buffaloes who were chasing one another ended up in the centre of the orphan group. The babies were very traumatised, and the Keepers had extra work to restore their confidence.
05 August 2002
During a race to meet the Milk Tractor where Mweya was in the lead, Ndara grabbed Mweya's tail and hauled her back. Mweya screamed so loudly that Ndara let go. At 9 a.m. Natumi, Edie, Laikipia, Salama and Ilingwezi surrounded the dead body of a zebra that was lying on the ground. The five elephants stood motionless, maintaining a silence that lasted 10 minutes, as though mourning the zebra. They then trumpeted in distress before heading for the Keepers.
Emily and Aitong were intimidated by a bachelor group of bulls who approached them after the noon mudbath. They ran away and sought shelter with the Keepers.
06 August 2002
Ndara and Maungu had a tussle over the drinking water at noon when Nyiro went between to separate them. After this, they all drank peacefully. During the mudbath Mweiga had difficulty in getting up. Aitong went to help her, raising her head up with her trunk so that Mweiga could get to her knees, and then rise.
07 August 2002
Whilst engaged in a pushing match to determine dominance, Mweya hit her head against a tree trunk when Maungu won the round. She screamed and this brought Sweet Sally to her rescue. Salama persuaded Edie and Laikipia to join in a game kicking a plastic container around, something that lasted for an entire hour, and
entailed much excited trumpeting. Edo joined Emily's group at 2 p.m. and they then met up with Naomi's group of wild elephants. Emily did her best to entice away Naomi's baby, supported by Edo, who in turn began chasing Naomi. However, the baby ran to its mother.
08 August 2002
At 11 a.m. Mweya, Ndara and Sweet Sally had a wonderful game with some wild babies of their age, who were with four cows. This lasted until they heard the Milk Tractor approaching, when they ran towards that. After the Imenti got a terrible fright when a male impala "barked" behind him. He began to run towards the Keepers, before turning to investigate further.
09 August 2002
Natumi's group joined up with Yatta's group today. Salama began bullying Mukwaju and having been warned by the Keepers, went to sulk on his own for half an hour before returning to join the others.
10 August 2002
A tough fight broke out when Nyiro tried to mount Nasalot. Mulika came to reinforce Nasalot and together they shoved Nyiro into a thorn bush, from which the Keepers extracted him. In the evening, back at the Stockades, Emily was happy to find Imenti, who had been absent all day. Meanwhile Ilingwezi accidentally touched the electric wire with her trunk when she was trying to discourage a baboon from snatching her Copra cake.
11 August 2002
Tsavo spent a long time sucking Emily's ear, whilst exploring the inside of her ear with his trunk. In the afternoon Mweya and Sweet Sally were very frightened when three giraffes came running towards them. They rushed to the Keepers for protection.
12 August 2002
There was an altercation between Nasalot and Mukwaju over a branch. Yatta went in between to separate them. Laikipia tried to scratch himself on a tree trunk which broke and fell on Natumi, injuring her slightly on the back. At the mudbath, Mweiga slipped on the bank and found herself in. This time she revolved around until she could get up unaided. Having been treated for more than 2 weeks, the "wart" on Edo's face is improving.
13 August 2002
After leaving the Stockades this morning, Emily took all the babies to the Voi River where they joined a herd of seven wild elephants. Laikipia tested his strength against a wild calf of his age, but found himself pushed into a thornbush, which made him yell for help. Emily immediately rushed to the rescue.
14 August 2002
Aitong tried to snatch a wild baby of Maungu's age away from its mother today, and got chased off. Emily was scared of the wild cow, and kept her distance. As soon as Mweya, Maungu and Mweiga heard the milk tractor, they rushed to block it, refusing to let it pass until they had their quota.
15 August 2002
Imenti, who had been absent all night, joined Emily's group at 10 a.m. and enjoyed leading them all into the bush. They all returned for the mudbath with a wild herd. Mulika, Nasalot and Kinna then tried a trick. They escorted the babies to the milk tractor, and then attempted to shove them aside in order to hijack their milk! The Keepers had to warn them. It was a cold day, so none of the elephants wanted to wallow. Ilingwezi took some water into her trunk and sprayed it over Edie, who ran off.
16 August 2002
At 8.20 a.m. Icholta took Mweya and Sweet Sally off to feed away from the others, but when a male baboon barked, they rushed back to the Keepers for protection. Mweya and Sweet Sally were very traumatized and had to be calmed by the Keepers. Tsavo became very jealous when he saw Ndara sucking Aitong's ear, so he went round the other side to suck the opposite ear. Aitong stood still, happy to allow them to suck on her ears.
17 August 2002
Having left the Stockades in the morning, a slight drizzle of rain ensued, which made the orphans very happy. Kinna introduced to the others a game of running around trumpeting and breaking small bushes. Imenti was absent all day, but turned up at the Stockades in the evening. To begin with, Salama was scared to approach, but once he realised it was Imenti, he walked up to him confidently.
18 August 2002
After the mudbath, the orphans met up with a group of 5 sebras, who had a small baby with them. Mweya wanted to play with the baby, but got kicked in the head as she tried to sniff the baby's tail. Meanwhile Edie, Laikipia and Natumi chased away a group of 7 impala that were drinking at the mudbath. This turned into a fun game which attracted Tsavo and Loisaba.
19 August 2002
During a wonderful mudbath, Kinna accidentally stepped on Mulika's tail, resulting in Mulika charging Kinna, chasing her away about 200 yards. Meanwhile, Ilingwezi tried to thwart Laikipia drinking from the bin, so he pushed her head into the water. This made her scream, so the Keepers intervened. Edo joined the group at 2 p.m. and upon finding Imenti there, he positioned him between his tusks and pushed him off into the bushes in order to accompany him (Edo). Imenti reported back to the Stockades alone at 6.30 p.m.
20 August 2002
The noon mudbath was lengthy and very happy. Mweya introduced a wonderful game - climbing up the slippery sides of the mudbath, and sliding down into it and this incorporated Nyiro, Mukwaju, Nasalot, Mulika and Ndara. All three groups of orphans joined up at l0.30 a.m. when Salama tried to mount Tsavo.
21 August 2002
At 8.20 a.m. Mweya was unphased by a woodpecker high up a tree. She charged the tree, but could not reach the bird. Imenti, followed closely by Edo, joined the orphans at their noon mudbath, joined also by a wild herd of 6, who spent the rest of the day with them.
22 August 2002
Laikipia tried to mount Natumi after a long mudwallow, but slipped off and fell down. He screamed for help, but instead Salama came to punish him, giving him a shove. The Keepers warned Salama to let Laikipia get up without interference. Emily chased a male buffalo at 10 a.m. which took refuge in a bush, prepared to do battle. Emily wisely simply trumpeted and left the buffalo. Having finished his bottle of milk in the evening, Nyiro managed to grab that of Mulika, which was on the ground, and ran away with it, downing all the contents.
23 August 2002
Sweet Sally began to suck on Nasalot's ear, as she was trying to scrape a tick off against a bush. Mulika, who is Nasalot's closest friend, pushed Sweet Sally away. In the evening Loisaba was selfish over the Copra cake and refused to let Edie share it. Emily intervened to allow Edie to take her share.
24 August 2002
Yatta had a disagreement with Icholta when she tripped on Icholta's leg whilst running for the milk. There was a clap of thunder which sent all the babies running to Emily. She tried to calm them by laying her trunk across their backs as they clustered around her.
25 August 2002
Four zebras joined the orphans in the morning, and grazed peacefully amongst them, until Mukwaju initiated a charging game, which was joined by Nyiro, which sent the zebras away. After a night out, Imenti joined the orphans at the noon mudbath, allowing Natumi to push him around, as though she was the winner. This Natumi enjoyed immensely, and trumpeted happily, running here and there.
26 August 2002
At the noon mudbath, Sweet Sally was having a lovely time, watched closely by Mukwaju and Nyiro, who joined in roughly, hurting Sweet Sally's front leg. She emerged limping, but improved later in the day.
27 August 2002
This morning, Sweet Sally's leg was painful, and she lagged behind the others. Maungu, Nasalot and Mulika walked slowly with her, and spent the day with her, slightly apart from the rest. Aitong was restless at the mudbath, finding Maungu, Nasalot, Mulika and Sweet Sally not there. She left the mudwallow and went to look for them, but having established that they were fine, she returned to join the others. When the orphans returned in the evening, Imenti was standing at the entrance to the Stockade, which frightened Ilingwezi, until Imenti approached her, and laid his trunk across her back.
28 August 2002
Having had her leg treated for the past two days, Sweet Sally was better today. She enjoyed an extensive mudbath with all the others. Imenti came with three wild cows and their families to join the orphans' mudbath, when Natumi played with a wild calf of her age. The wild group left when the tractor approached.
29 August 2002
Mweya, Maungu and Sweet Sally enjoyed a wonderful game of hide and seek after the mudbath, in which Mulika and Nasalot partook. The game ended abruptly when Mweya collided with Mulika head on, resulting in each one screaming, which frightened the rest. Afterwards, Edie employed a new technique to uproot some plants - kneeling down and using her tiny tusks, thwarted by Salama who repeatedly climbed on her! Mweiga defended her bottle of milk from Tsavo, shoving him away whenever he approached.
30 August 2002
Mukwaju, who is never very keen on the mudbath, pushed Mulika in instead. She wallowed happily. Back at the Stockades, Loisaba and Tsavo ganged up to prevent Laikipia from having his share. The Keepers warned them.
31 August 2002
The babies today joined a group of three giraffes and fed amongst them until Mweya lost her nerve, and went to join Emily, suckling Emily's ear. In the evening it was noticed that all the babies had small worms in their dung. All, Edo included, were given a de-worming dose.