Keepers' Diaries, August 2021

Nairobi Nursery Unit



Maxwell spent the month in high spirits. Of course, like all creatures, he sometimes experiences mood swings. We can usually tell how he is feeling based on how he treats the Nursery’s resident warthogs. While Maxwell cannot see, his hearing and sense of smell are excellent, so he always knows when they have invited themselves into his stockade. When he is in a good mood, he doesn’t mind listening to them crunch away on his lucerne pellets. Should he wake up in a bad mood, however, he kicks up dirt to intimidate the warthogs and then herds them into a corner. This certainly keeps the warthogs on their toes, as they never quite know what to expect from Max! 

01 August 2021

Despite being an overcast day, most of the orphans appeared to be in a good mood as they were leaving the stockade compound to make their way to the forest. Unlike most mornings, Ziwadi was quite quiet today, and instead of stopping at all the water troughs for water, she would stop at one or two before slowly following the Nursery herd. Once in the forest, she quietly settled to browse. Although she has not had a seizure for quite some time now, the Keepers kept a close eye on her, making sure she did not overexert herself and that the rest of the herd left her peace. 

Larro, Bondeni and Esoit recently seem to have formed their own small trio as they are spending most of their days together. Larro has always had a close relationship with Bondeni and recently she has been getting closer to Esoit, even challenging him to some light wrestling matches. Both the bulls are so full of energy that they enjoy various games throughout the day, although they haven’t challenged each other to a wrestling match. Esoit seems to rather challenge Roho and some of the bigger bulls to a wrestling match. 

The orphans had a quiet day in the forest and being overcast none of them seemed interested in having a mud bath after their midday or afternoon bottles of milk. Some of the orphans such as Shukuru, Kinyei, and Kindani did have a short dust bath but otherwise they mostly spent their day browsing before heading home in the evening.

02 August 2021

As the orphans were leaving the stockade compound this morning, Maxwell was already up and about crunching away on his fresh greens which his Keepers had put out for him. Between each crunch he could be seen sorting his greens, moving his least favourite out of the way and eagerly searching for his acacia branches. As he was crunching away, some of the orphans settled just behind his stockade to browse on some of the fresh greens. Naleku, Roho, Esoit and Olorien were all busy browsing along his stockade wall. Unlike other mornings, Max was too busy enjoying his greens to come and check out who was behind his walls. 

After a couple of minutes, the orphans made their way deeper into the forest where they spent most of their day apart from a couple of their milk feeds which were down at the mud bath. Max, unlike other mornings, spent most of his time enjoying his greens and only came up to enjoy his Lucerne pellets much later in the day. After he enjoyed some of his pellets, he lay straight on top of them and had a long midday nap. 

In the afternoon, Max was busy walking around the furthest side of his stockade, eating the grass and relaxing in the shade. As the orphans ran back in the evening, Max was already back down in his bottom stockade once again eating his fresh greens. As all the orphans settled for the evening after their milk bottles, Max walked down to his bedroom where he settled for the evening. 

03 August 2021

It was a gorgeous sunny day, and you could see that the orphans were so excited about this as they were so full of energy throughout the morning, chasing each other around the forest and eagerly awaiting each of their milk feeds. Straight after their midday bottles of milk, Rama, Naleku and Mukkoka walked straight over to the mud bath. As always, Rama stood on the edge of the mud bath splashing mud all over his body whereas Mukkoka and Naleku walked straight into the muddy water and began to roll around. It wasn’t long before they were joined by some of the other orphans namely Roho, Larro and Naboishu who all love to submerge themselves in the water. Although Shukuru didn’t get stuck into the mud bath, she did enjoy splashing some of the cool water on her body. 

Bondeni, Kindani, Kinyei and Olorien continued with their sneaky game of standing right next to Rama as he splashed mud everywhere. Once they were covered, they walked over to the dust mound where they began to roll around playfully next to each other. Although not as quiet as the other day, Ziwadi still seemed more than happy to keep her distance from the mud bath so she could keep eating her greens. As it was such a hot day, the Keepers splashed a little bit of water and mud onto Ziwadi, to provide her with some protection against the sun. 

Once all the orphans had finished at the mud bath, the Keepers led them back into the forest where they had a quiet afternoon browsing before heading back to the stockade compound for the evening. 

04 August 2021

Roho seems to have once again picked up his habit of stealing milk from the older girls’ mouths as they finish their milk bottles. He used to always do this with his old beloved friend Maisha, but since her passing he hasn’t really picked this up with any of the other orphans. Lately, however, if the Keepers let him down for milk feeds with orphans such as Larro, he will quickly gulp down his milk and then walk over to Larro and start to suckle some of the spilt milk from her mouth. Naleku has also picked up this habit, but the Keepers had really thought Roho was over this as he was now older. 

This afternoon, after the orphans enjoyed their 3 o’clock bottles of milk, Ziwadi and Shukuru could be seen slowly wandering off back towards the forest to continue browsing. Neither of them seemed interested in staying down at the mud bath as they both kept nudging towards the forest. As none of the orphans appeared interested in having a mud bath, the Keepers didn’t keep them down at the mud bath for too long. Once back in the forest Shukuru and Ziwadi happily settled to browse near one another and even accompanied each other back to the stockade compound when it was time to head home. 

05 August 2021

Maxwell has been in a very good mood lately and unlike other times, he has not really been paying much attention to the resident warthogs when they sneak into his stockade to have some of his Lucerne pellets. This morning, as he was carrying out his normal routine of sorting his greens and crunching away on his acacia branches, he could be seen listening to the noises around him. Some of the resident warthogs were already munching away at his Lucerne pellets and having such good hearing, Max was listening to them. 

Unlike other mornings, he didn’t just charge off to chase them away, this morning he calmly finished his greens, then had a sip of water before making his way up to his Lucerne pellets. As he approached, the warthogs were on guard, seemingly uncertain as to whether he was going to chase them or not. Today, however, he calmly walked past them and just began to enjoy his pellets. The warthogs then settled near him eating their share.

After finishing his pellets, Max settled in sun for his daily nap and some of the warthogs joined him too before dashing off back to the forest. 

06 August 2021

Despite the rains throughout the evening and the colder weather this morning, the orphans appeared to be in playful moods this morning as they came barrelling out of their stables and stockades. They were all happily rushing off to the forest and once in the forest, the bulls such as Mukkoka, Roho, Naboishu, and Esoit began to dash around and wrestle. Esoit enjoyed a brief match with Roho before joining Larro and the others who were busy browsing and Naboishu and Mukkoka also had a brief game. Once Naboishu and Esoit had run off, Roho and Mukkoka engaged each other in a long wrestling match which lasted up until their 9 o’clock bottles of milk. 

The day had warmed up so nicely and by the afternoon, the sun was shining brightly. The orphans were led down to the mud bath for their 3 o’clock bottles of milk, and as soon as they had finished gulping down their milk, most of them ran straight for the mud bath. Naleku, Rama, Bondeni, Shukuru and Mukkoka were amongst the first and they all walked straight, Rama just deep enough that he could stand comfortably and splash mud everywhere. It is always great to see Shukuru enjoying herself in the mud bath with the younger orphans. Naleku still seems to be in awe of Shukuru and appears to be so excited when she can mud bath near her, as she rolls around right by her side. 

The orphans all had a wonderful time down at the mud bath before heading back to the forest where they browsed for a short period before heading back to the stockade compound for the evening. 

07 August 2021

Elephants continue to give truth to the fact that they are extremely intelligent animals and have exceptional memories. The orphans had a quiet morning browsing in the Nairobi National Park before making their way down to the mud bath for their midday bottles of milk. Unlike the day before, none of the orphans were interested in mud bathing but instead just browsed and younger orphans such as Bondeni, Kindani and Kinyei enjoyed a brief dust bath with each other. Naleku and Olorien enjoyed a quick drink from the water troughs before eating some of the greens laid out by the Keepers. 

As the Nursery herd was making its way back to the forest with their Keepers for an afternoon of browsing, Ziwadi managed to slip away to head towards one of her favourite browsing spots near the mud bath. She was so quiet as she walked off that none of the Keepers or any of the other orphans noticed her slip away. As the orphans kept walking, the Keepers quickly noticed that she was not there, and they began to look for her and retrace their steps. 

As they were heading back towards the mud bath, they suddenly saw her calmly making her way back to the stockade compound. The Keepers were amazed to see how accurately she remembered the way home. The Keepers were quick to catch up to her, and once she was with them, she seemingly happy followed them back to the herd. She appeared happy to be back with the herd and quickly settled to browse near Rama, one of her closest friends. 

The orphans had a quiet afternoon browsing in the forest before all heading back to the stockade compound together. 

08 August 2021

Although Roho has grown to be a very independent young bull and he has made numerous friends in the Nursery herd, he can still be a very greedy bull when it comes to the specialist milk formula the orphans have three hours a day. For quite some time now, Roho hasn’t caused any dramas at milk feeding times but today he was in a particularly naughty mood. 

This morning, as the orphans were running down for their 9am bottles of milk, Roho ran down with Bondeni, Ziwadi and Kinyei. Ziwadi who is a slow drinker is always moved to her own little corner but Bondeni, Kinyei and Roho were all having their bottles near one another. Unlike Bondeni, Kinyei and Roho drink their bottles very quickly. As Roho gulped down his two bottles, Bondeni was still slowly sipping his and as a result as soon as Roho finished he came over to try and steal some of Bondeni’s milk. He slightly knocked the little bull, and this made the Keepers very upset with Roho as they quickly directed him away. As the Keepers pointed their fingers at him, Roho seemed to know he was in trouble and quickly ran off. 

The orphans had a quiet rest of the day in the forest breaking only for their milk feeds but as it was overcast, none of them show any interest in mud bathing. 

09 August 2021

It was another chilly morning as Nairobi National Park continues to be overcast. Despite the cold weather, Maxwell was full of energy this morning as he came bouncing out of his room just as the orphans were making their way out to the forest. He appeared to eagerly pace around his lower stockade, scratching up and down on his walls and kicking up some of the wet mud. Once he seemed to have sufficiently walked around his stockade, he walked straight down to his fresh greens where he ate his acacia branches first and the other greens last. It is always amazing to see how he just crunches down on the acacia branches without taking any notice of the thorns. 

Much like the other morning, as the orphans were walking out to the forest some of them settled behind Maxwell’s stockade to enjoy some of the fresh greens just there. Unlike the other morning, today they appeared to catch Max’s attention as he stopped eating his greens and seemed to be listening, moving his ears back and forth. As he could clearly hear the orphans, he then seemed to walk up to the top of his stockade to figure out who was there. As he got closer, he seemed to notice that it was just the orphans, so he resumed his morning routine. Shortly after he settled to enjoy his morning Lucerne pellets, the orphans were ushered off by the Keepers to start their day out in the park. 

10 August 2021

It was a very cold morning with light drizzles throughout Nairobi. As it was so cold, the Keepers chose to leave orphans such as Ziwadi, Bondeni, Kindani, Kinyei and Esoit within the warmth of their stables and they would come back to let them out later. The older orphans were all let out and all of them apart from Shukuru seemed fine with the rain. As soon as they got to the forest, Shukuru, who looked very unhappy with the weather, went, and stood under the big trees which seemed to lighten the rain. Naboishu and Roho came straight over and tried to huddle under her for warmth, but she stood there for so long that they too seemed to get bored and decided to move to some other browsing spots with the other orphans. 

As the morning didn’t seem to be getting any warmer, the Keepers decided to let Bondeni, Kindani, Kinyei, Esoit and Ziwadi out of their stables so they could join the others in the forest. They call came charging out of their rooms, seemingly eager to head out. As soon as they arrived in the forest, Larro appeared so excited to see them that she came running over rumbling and trumpeting. Larro is such a gentle matriarch, and all the orphans appear to really enjoy her company. Bondeni, Kindani, Kinyei and Esoit all spent most of their day following her around and huddling next to her and Shukuru for warmth. With the weather being so poorly the orphans were very quiet just focusing on browsing. 

11 August 2021

Mukkoka, Larro, Naboishu, Rama and Shukuru are the oldest in the Nursery herd. Most of them know that they are the oldest and that they need to look after the younger orphans, but Naboishu continues to be a very naughty boy and the loudest during all his milk feeds, trumpeting and rumbling at his Keepers for his bottles. His naughty behaviour can sometimes encourage some of the younger orphans to also be naughty and greedy. Naboishu was in a particularly naughty mood today.

As the orphans were all calmly browsing in the forest Naboishu suddenly decided to push Roho. Poor Roho wasn’t expecting it at all and as a result he fell to the ground and yelled out. As soon as Mukkoka heard Roho, he came rushing over and pushed Naboishu away, angrily rumbling at him and then checked on Roho who seemed fine apart from being a little shaken up. Naboishu knew he was now in trouble, so he quickly moved away and went off to browse near some of the other orphans. 

In the afternoon, Mukkoka was happily browsing with Olorien and Kinyei and Bondeni and Kindani were browsing near Larro. Roho and Esoit kept each other company and Naboishu was busy moving around between everyone and Shukuru was calmly browsing near Ziwadi, Rama, and her little fan Naleku before all heading back to the stockade compound for the evening. 

12 August 2021

As the orphans were settling down to browse in the forest this morning, Kinyei and Bondeni engaged each other in a fun little wrestling match. As the trio are always together, Kindani was not far behind them, and she eventually also joined their game and they seemed to be having such fun chasing each other around the forest. Naleku, Esoit and Olorien were also playing nearby and seemed to be having a great time. Recently, Esoit has been spending lots of time with Olorien and they seem to have a very sweet friendship that grows day by day. They spent their whole day together, browsing near one another and heading down for their milk feeds in each other’s company.

In the afternoon as the Nursery herd was back in the forest browsing Kinyei and Bondeni started up their game once more. As the herd was browsing, they were chasing each other around the forest and wrestling one another, having such a great time. Their game continued right until it was time for the orphans to head back to the stockade compound for the evening and as soon as the orphans were directed back, they both ran back together with Kindani.

13 August 2021

Maxwell did not seem to be in a good mood this morning. As the orphans were starting their day and heading off to the forest, Max was already up and about but this morning he was not alone in his stockade, and this appeared to upset him. The resident warthogs were all inside his stockade running around and eating some of his Lucerne pellets. As soon as he smelt them, he began to pace around his stockade kicking dirt up with his back feet and marking his territory. The warthogs seemed to realise that he was not in a sharing mood, and they all quickly tried to make their escape. 

Some of the warthogs seemed to get themselves stuck in a corner and they couldn’t get past the large rhino, so they seemed to start panicking. The Keepers saw them frantically trying to get out, so they decided to head over and open one of the gates slightly to let them out. The warthogs seemed so relieved as they quickly ran out. Once the warthogs had left, Max calmed down and went over to eat some of his greens. 

This afternoon Olorien and Ziwadi seemed quite tired and eager to head home a little early. As Olorien continues to refuse to walk over the gutter the Keepers keep having to take her on the new route, so they decided to walk them back slowly a little ahead of the rest of the herd. 

14 August 2021

This morning, all the orphans happily followed Larro and their Keepers out to the forest in a sweet single file line. They were all walking at a similar pace apart from Ziwadi who was at the back drinking water from all the water troughs before following them with one of the Keepers and Rama. Rama is a very sweet bull who has formed a close friendship with Ziwadi, and he will sometimes wait for her as she finishes her routine. Unlike the other morning, the orphans were not so playful today and all settled to browse near one another. 

After the orphans finished their 9am bottles of milk down at the mud bath, most of the herd enjoyed a short dust bath on the big dust mounds at the mud bath. Ziwadi, Bondeni, Naleku, Olorien and Kindani, however, did not partake in the dust bathing and instead walked over to eat the fresh greens the Keepers had laid out. 

After a long dust bath, the Keepers ushered the orphans back to the forest. All the orphans were walking together apart from Rama who seemed to decide to go his own way. He didn’t wander off, so the Keepers didn’t usher him back but just kept an eye on him. The orphans had a very peaceful afternoon browsing in the forest. 

15 August 2021

Shukuru has been doing well and seems to have a lot more energy each day. Today, she seemed to be particularly full of energy, happily browsing with the Nursery herd and even enjoying some time with the smaller orphans. She has also been enjoying her milk more and more and this is such a good sign that she is feeling better. This morning, as the orphans were being let down for their 9am bottles of milk, Shukuru walked down behind some of the older orphans. She quickly gulped down her first bottle and then eagerly awaited her second one drinking it just as fast. 

Her appetite has also increased for her greens and as soon as she had finished her bottles, she went straight back into the forest to continue browsing. In between when she eats her greens and has her bottles, she also enjoys dust bathing. She can often be seen loosening up the soil with her feet and then throwing dust all over her body. Down at the mud bath, she has also been enjoying more and more mud baths with the Nursery herd especially on warmer days. It is always so great to see her rolling around with the younger orphans. The Keepers have been so pleased with her progress and will continue to monitor her. 

16 August 2021

Being such an incredible nanny when the other matriarchs were at the Nursery, Larro has slotted straight into being the new matriarch and she is doing a great job. She is always so protective of the younger orphans making sure they are safe and not being bullied by any of the older orphans. Today, after the orphans finished their midday bottles down at the mud bath, Esoit was enjoying a short dust bath on one of the dust mounds when suddenly Roho came over to join him. Roho who is slightly bigger than Esoit, decided to lie on the poor small boy but he was too heavy for Esoit. Esoit yelled out in the protest trying to get himself out from underneath Roho but to no avail. Larro came running over and pushed Roho off Esoit and rumbled at him, chasing him away. 

After the orphans were finished dust bathing, the Keepers led the Nursery herd back to the forest to one of their favourite spots. As we have not had a lot of rain the Park is a little bit dryer than before, so the orphans are covering bigger areas to get their fill of greens. It is important for them to learn how to move around looking for fresher greens as they may follow large migratory routes when they are living wild. 

17 August 2021

The orphans had a great day out in the park but when it was time for them to head home, they had a funny encounter with the two old male buffalo that sometimes pass by the stockade compound. As the orphans were busy browsing, they were so focused on their greens that they didn’t realise that the two buffalo were just behind the bushes lying down. As the orphans came round the bush, they spooked the buffalo who both stood up which in turn gave the orphans a fright. The buffalo ran off further into the forest and the orphans did a quick 180 and came flying back towards the Keepers, running towards the stockade compound. All of them with their ears flared, rumbling and trumpeting. 

The Keepers had a good laugh watching the orphans and trying to calm them down but what really amused them was Ziwadi’s reaction. Unlike other times where she doesn’t take much notice to what has scared the orphans, this evening she was aware of what happened. As soon as she saw the buffalo, she quickly turned and started running behind the rest of the herd. As she came flying past the Keepers, her ears were flared, and she was trumpeting loudly. She kept running all the way back to the stockade compound. As it was nearly time for the orphans to head home anyway, the Keepers escorted them all back once they had calmed down. 

18 August 2021

It was quite a chilly morning as Nairobi’s winter continues and the Keepers chose to leave Esoit, Bondeni, Kindani, Kinyei and Ziwadi within the warmth of their stables. Larro, Naboishu, Rama, Mukkoka, Shukuru, Olorien, Roho and Naleku all made their way out with the Keepers and none of them seemed bothered by the cold. The Keepers and the orphans settled closer to the stockade compound, awaiting the younger orphans. Larro seemed very preoccupied as if she was constantly looking for them. At one point, Larro even began to walk back to the stockade compound as if she was going back to get them. 

It wasn’t too long before the morning started to warm up, and the Keepers went back to let them out. As soon as they opened their stable doors, they all eagerly ran out and followed their Keepers out to the forest. Larro was quick to spot them, and she came running over rumbling and trumpeting in excitement. Esoit also seemed excited to join the herd as he rumbled loudly when Larro came over to him and they shared a couple of trunk hugs as if to greet each other. The orphans then had wonderful day in the forest. 

19 August 2021

Recently Rama seems to have a bigger appetite, almost like Naboishu’s appetite although he isn’t as boisterous as Naboishu. This afternoon, as the orphans were getting their afternoon bottles of milk down at the mud bath Rama was eagerly awaiting another bottle from the Keepers. Every time the Keepers approached the wheelbarrow, he would eagerly step forward as if to see if that bottle would be for him. The Keepers tried to usher him away but as he wasn’t causing any trouble, they let him stay near the wheelbarrow. 

Bondeni and Olorien are slowly becoming closer friends and they will spend time with each other throughout the day. Bondeni also seems to enjoy imitating the bigger bulls, especially when he sees them wrestling, he appears eager to then wrestle with one of his friends which today was Olorien. Down at the mud bath, Mukkoka and Naboishu engaged each other in a strength testing match and as soon as Bondeni saw them he engaged Olorien and the four had the best time, but Bondeni didn’t play for that long. Bondeni’s favourite game is to play hide and seek or wrestle with his Keepers so as soon as he finished playing with Olorien, he went and played with his Keepers. Once they were done playing the Keepers led the orphans back to the forest.

20 August 2021

Maxwell was once again full of energy this morning as he came bouncing out of his bedroom. Like most mornings, he proceeded with his normal routine of walking around his lower stockade and then settling to eat some of his greens. It is always funny to watch him sort his greens as he will often get branches stuck in between his horns and then walk around with them on his head for a bit before they drop off. As he began to crunch down on his favourite acacia branches, he seemed to stop and listen to something that was nearby. What he was listening to was Naboishu who had settled to browse just near his stockade. Once Max smelt that it was just one of the orphans, he went back to eating his greens. 

By the time Naboishu and the Nursery herd left to go to the forest, Max had already finished eating his greens and was now up at his Lucerne pellets. He ate most of his Lucerne pellets before heading down to his water trough for a sip of water. After a big drink of water, he went back up to his top stockade compound where he enjoyed a long nap in the sun. 

21 August 2021

This morning as the orphans were running down for their 9 o’clock bottles of milk, Naleku and Esoit ran down in the same group as Bondeni and Olorien. The four of them were running down so fast that they were all racing each other and crisscrossing between one another. They swapped positions so many times that Naleku ended up being first, followed by Bondeni and then Olorien. The Keepers themselves had to keep swapping positions to give the orphans their allocated bottles. As Esoit to the mud bath, he was going so fast that he struggled to put on the breaks and had a little speed wobble. 

As Naleku was drinking her bottle, Esoit appeared to get confused as to where his Keepers was, and he ran straight to the wheelbarrow and tried to grab one of those bottles. His Keeper quickly grabbed his attention and gave him his bottle. He was drinking his milk so quickly making sure he didn’t spill any of it. 

Naleku continues to be such a quiet, friendly girl and she seems to be friends with the whole Nursery herd as she doesn’t ever have any problems with any of the orphans. She still has her funny sibling spats with Roho but all in all they get along so well, and she is even close to Esoit and the others. She is also still in awe with Shukuru and will often be seen spending time with her throughout the day. 

22 August 2021

Naboishu and Bondeni can both be quite naughty, and they can even be naughty towards some of the visitors at their 11am feeding time. Bondeni has gotten into the habit of pushing some of the visitors or trying to crawl under the rope which cordons off the mud bath during the visit. Sometimes the Keepers must even move Naboishu and Bondeni to the back of the herd so that they can’t get close to the guests. Today, Bondeni kept trying to sneak past his Keepers to get to the visitors and the Keepers kept having to chase him off. 

Although Naboishu doesn’t push the visitors, he does push his fellow orphans around or tries to lie on them if they are dust or mud bathing. He has even gotten cocky with his Keepers at times and challenges them when they are telling him off, but he will always listen eventually and then dash off in the opposite direction. Today, he kept trying to push the younger orphans at the dust bath, and Larro, Mukkoka and the Keepers kept telling him off and he eventually stopped being mischievous. 

The orphans had a quiet afternoon browsing and Bondeni and Naboishu didn’t cause any further trouble. 

23 August 2021

Bondeni, Kinyei, and Kindani were all rescued at such a young age and around the same time that they share such a special bond and are the closest of friends. They continue to spend most of their days together and will often be close to each other whilst browsing. This morning, they all ran down together for their 9 o’clock bottles of milk, and since Larro keeps a close eye on the younger orphans, she too went down with them. As soon as they all finished their bottles, they all walked back into the forest and began to browse on the fresh variety of greens within the forest. 

Naboishu was let down for his bottle last as the Keepers just wanted to make sure that he didn’t bother any of the other orphans. He came trumpeting down and then gulped down his bottles before joining the rest of the Nursery herd in the forest. 

The three best friends will often be browsing together in the forest but they have also become closer to the other orphans in the herd so they will often browse with them too. Larro will spend time with them and the rest of the herd, moving and checking on everyone. The orphans had a lovely day in the forest. 

24 August 2021

Nairobi has finally been experiencing some warmer days which could be a sign that our summer has started. As the orphans were starting their day, it was a beautiful blue sky, and the Keepers were confident that it was going to be a hot day. After the orphans had settled in the forest to browse, little Esoit and Olorien engaged each other in a wrestling match. They were having so much fun chasing each other around the forest and pushing against one another. Running between the Nursery herd, you could tell that they felt safe and happy. 

Esoit is our newest rescue, and it is just amazing to see how well he has settled in amongst the Nursery herd. Each day he has grown in confidence and has formed great friendships with most of the herd and looks up to the older bulls. Having tragically lost his mother, these friendships play such an important role in his healing process, and they have given him a new family. Esoit is a confident bull, and he is extremely playful. Once the orphans were back in the forest after their 3 o’clock bottles on milk, Esoit once again started a new game with Naboishu and Naleku. As Naboishu and Naleku were enjoying a dust bath, Esoit kept trying to climb on their backs and Naboishu always seems to love these games with the younger orphans as he never complains. They were soon joined by Olorien who also began to roll around with them. 

25 August 2021

Rama, who was our newest rescue before Esoit, has also settled into the Nursery herd well and is now comfortable around all the other orphans although he does keep his distance from Olorien as she can be temperamental. This morning, as the orphans had settled down in the forest, Rama and Roho were enjoying a short wrestling match with each other. It is amazing to see him playing with Roho as he was quite the shy boy when he first arrived. 

Once he was finished challenging Roho, he went over and challenged Mukkoka. Mukkoka is such a gentle bull and when he wrestles against Rama, he seems to know that he is bow legged and plays so gently just lightly pushing against him. Sometimes, Rama will even wrestle Naboishu, but he always seems a bit cautious with him as Naboishu can be a little rough. 

Being a smaller herd, all the orphans seem to be close, and it is incredible to see shy orphans such as Rama, grow in confidence. When he first arrived, he spent most of his time with his close friend Ziwadi, who he still enjoys spending time with. He even continues to stand his ground against orphans such as Olorien, Kindani, Kinyei, Roho and Naleku, who all don’t dare push him around anymore. 

26 August 2021

Elephants can be so like people in that they all have their particularities and preferences. For example, some of the orphans don’t enjoy mud bathing such as Kindani, Kinyei and Bondeni, they prefer to stand on the side or to stand near Rama and get splashed by him. They do, however love their dust baths. Olorien, Naleku and Esoit all love their mud baths, and they all get straight into the muddy water, and submerge themselves in the water with the older orphans. 

It is always amusing to see the Kindani, Bondeni and Kinyei dust bathing together. Whenever the Keepers try to help them enjoy a mud bath by splashing mud on them, they all quickly try to run off, especially Kindani and Kinyei. The older orphans, Rama, Roho, Naboishu, Mukkoka, Larro and more recently Shukuru all love their mud baths and Rama and Roho are most eager as they will consider mud bathing no matter the weather. Ziwadi on the other hand will only occasionally enjoy a mud bath, but she prefers to stick to her greens. 

27 August 2021

Kinyei and Roho still enjoy their little sparring matches, especially in the morning as they settle in the forest. It is so funny to watch because most of the time when Roho wants to start playing with Kinyei, he will go down on his front legs, in a downward facing dog pose, as if to entice the young girl to come over and play. This morning, as the orphans were settling to browse, Roho was busy rolling around on the floor in front of Kindani, Kinyei, and Bondeni. It wasn’t long before Roho had convinced Kinyei to wrestle against him. They wrestled for a couple of minutes before Roho moved off to play with Mukkoka and Naboishu. 

This morning, Maxwell appeared to be a in a wonderful sharing mood. As the Keepers let him up to enjoy his Lucerne pellets, Max was happy to share his pellets with a few of the resident warthogs who had just arrived in his stockade. They could all be seen happily standing near each other, munching away at Max’s big pile of Lucerne. Once Max had his fill he went to walk around in his next stockade and then settles for his nap. 

28 August 2021

Naleku continues to be such a confident and independent girl, much like Kiasa, she is quite happy to lead the orphans out to the forest to start their day and will not worry about straying from Larro or Shukuru or the path they choose. This morning, as the orphans were making their way out to the forest, Larro was confidently leading her own little group with Esoit, Kindani, Kinyei, Olorien and Roho. She was leading them further into the forest and only settled once she had found enough greens. Larro who spends most of her days with the younger orphans, especially Bondeni, was spending time with Mukkoka, Shukuru, and Naboishu while Rama and Ziwadi were slowly following them from behind, taking their time and browsing as they walked.

As the orphans were running down for their midday bottles of milk, Naboishu and Esoit were let down together and boy did they make a noise as they ran down. Both could be heard rumbling and trumpeting as they ran down and they seem to be louder when they are let down last. Even when they got to their Keepers they continued to yell out until they were drinking their milk. Once they had finished their bottles, they ran off over to the mud bath and didn’t make anymore noise. 

29 August 2021

This morning, it was amazing to see Ziwadi spending time with Naboishu. Naboishu could be quite rough with Ziwadi when he was younger or in one of his moods, so it was very nice to see him calm and enjoying her company. They could even be seen sharing greens, him grabbing some of hers and vice versa. Naboishu rarely shares his greens, so this was a first for them both. 

Elephants are very intuitive animals so perhaps Naboishu can now sense that Ziwadi is not the strongest of girls and he now needs to be gentler towards her, especially since he is so much bigger and stronger than her. Naboishu who is still dubbed the naughtiest of the Nursery, certainly has his moments of kindness and he does share loving moments with the orphans. 

It was an extremely hot morning and by the time the orphans ran down to the mud bath for their midday bottles of milk, the sun was beaming down. All the orphans quickly downed their bottles of milk and then ran straight into the mud bath, where they submerged themselves in the cool water. Even Ziwadi showed interest in a mud bath although she didn’t get into the pool, she stood on the edge. The Keepers noticed that she seemed eager to cool off, so they gave her a helping hand and started shovelling water and mud on her back and body. At one point, she even attempted to lie down as the Keepers were spraying the hose on her but as soon as she dropped down, she seemed hesitant and stood straight back up. Once she had had enough of the mud bath, she walked over to one of the poles and scratched up and down. 

After their long mud wallow, the orphans had a quiet afternoon browsing in the forest. 

30 August 2021

As the orphans were heading out to the forest early this morning, they came across a troop of baboons who also appeared to be on their way to forage in the forest. As soon as Naleku, Roho, Naboishu, Mukkoka, Larro and Bondeni saw them, they all charged after them trumpeting and rumbling at the baboons. They all flew through the bushes catching the troop by surprise and all the baboons ran in different directions trying to get away. As Larro, Mukkoka and Naboishu were so fast, the baboons had no choice but to jump up into the trees. 

Little Bondeni was so speedy running after a young baboon with Naleku that he didn’t realise there was a large stick on his path which got caught up in between his legs causing him to topple over. Although uninjured, he yelled out, and as soon as Larro, Naleku, Mukkoka and Naboishu heard him, they came running over to see what had happened. Bondeni was already back on his feet, so once they all saw he was okay they went back to disturbing the baboons. The baboons eventually moved away. 

Shukuru continues to seem healthier, and even her skin condition is much better. The Keepers always say that you can tell a lot from the orphans’ skin and Shukuru’s general condition seems to be improving. She continues to enjoy her milk bottle and browse on a huge variety of greens. 

31 August 2021

This whole morning, Shukuru was browsing in the company of Ziwadi and Rama. Unlike before the three of them have not been wandering off far away from the herd but are instead staying close by and are always within the Keepers site. Later in the morning, Larro, Naleku, Naboishu, Mukkoka, Roho, Kindani, Bondeni, Esoit, and Kinyei all walked deeper into the forest to find one of their other browsing spots. Shukuru, Ziwadi, Rama and Olorien, however did not follow them as they don’t always seem too fond of walking further into the forest and prefer to stay closer to the milk feeding point. Ziwadi and Rama continue to the be the Nursery’s top browsers as most of their days they are just seen picking as many greens as they can as they move from bush to bush. 

Roho and Naboishu were being particularly naughty after their midday bottles of milk. Both gulped down their milk and then proceeded to bug all the younger orphans namely Olorien, Naleku and Kinyei. As the three girls were minding their own business, these two bulls kept trying to climb on their backs or push them around. When they weren’t successful at climbing on their backs, they would then both charge around the mud bath, disturbing everyone and the Keepers had to try and calm them down. 

Bondeni was also being cheeky at the visit, as he kept rolling on the floor right by the visitors as if to try and entice them to play a game with him. When the Keepers tried to move him away, he would walk one step and then lie down again making their work very hard as they had to keep pushing him along. This seemed to make everyone laugh, even the Keepers and once Bondeni got a reaction he carried on his antics until the orphans were led back to the forest.