The dry season continues to grip Voi, which means the orphans are rather businesslike in their daily activities. Of course, there is always time for the usual hijinks — especially when Ngilai is involved. He has such an infectious personality, always eager to play and create fun. He and Tagwa have become special friends, which has gone a long way in bringing our shy girl out of her shell.
The Voi orphans came out of their stockades running and assembling for their delicious milk bottles. After finishing her milk, Pika Pika decided to hang around the milk feeding area in the hope of receiving another milk bottle. She lifted her trunk and sniffed the Keepers as they started washing out the finished milk bottles. Eventually Kenia and Ndii came to get her and take her to join the others who were already at the lucerne pellet feeding area, enjoying their morning supplement feed as part of their normal morning routine. There wasn’t much playing or messing around after the feeding today, and Tamiyoi quickly led the orphans out to the bush to begin their busy day of browsing.
Mashariki soon took over from Tamiyoi and lead the herd up Msinga Hill to browse where there was abundant vegetation compared to lower down the slope.
The orphans came down hill just before noon, moving in groups of five for the milk feed, and then proceeded to drink water at the baobab tree water trough. The weather was windy and cold and only Mbegu attempted to have a swim in the waterhole, but she soon reversed backwards, finding the water too cold today, and she went to lay down and play with Ndotto and Murit instead.
Meanwhile Ngilai went straight away to invite his new good friend Tagwa for a wonderful sparring game, and later went to catch up with another best friend Emoli, providing him ample excitement this afternoon before he went to join all the others who were well stuck into their afternoon of browsing by the time he had finished all his games.
Kenia is getting treatment on her eye at the moment as it is looking a little sore. Perhaps she got poked by a thorn, but to woo her closer for some treatment the Keepers have offered a milk bottle for the last couple of days. Today Kenia was the first out of her stockade and she ran down to the milk feeding area so she could enjoy a bottle of milk while the Keepers applied some soothing eye drops. Upon seeing her run past towards the milk feeding area, Emoli yelled out loudly in protest, perhaps thinking that Kenia was going to finish all the bottles herself! The Keepers moved fast to open his stockade too, so he and his friends could come for their milk too.
Sagala walked over to the red earth piles to start some games with her friends, but Embu and Tagwa had other ideas and wanted to prioritize browsing over playing; they walked past her and started moving out to the bush to browse and slowly but surely the others chose to follow suit.
The orphans browsed deep into the woodlands on the northern side of the Msinga Hill, turning slowly and arriving at the baobab water hole just before noon for their milk feed and a mud bath. The youngsters had a lot of fun mud bathing. Arruba stayed back with Pika Pika and enjoyed splashing around with her on the edge of the mud bath. Suddenly, Arruba became very excited, charging and running about, spraying muddy water everywhere. Ndii came running over jealously, drawing Pika Pika close to her side with her trunk and denying Arruba the opportunity of playing with her any further. A wild elephant herd arrived to drink water and there was a brief interaction between the two herds, before the orphans left to continue with their afternoon of browsing.
While Pika Pika is being cared for by Kenia and Ndii, Godoma and Mbegu have shown a lot of interest in looking after little Emoli recently, who is the second youngest orphan elephant in the Voi herd. Godoma finished her morning milk bottles in a matter of seconds this morning and went to stand behind Emoli who was still drinking his. She placed her trunk on Emoli’s back and stood guard over him while he finished. The two later joined their friends in the lucerne feeding area to enjoy some pellets.
This flourishing relationship was revealed once again later in the day when Godoma finished her milk bottle first and once more walked towards the milk vehicle to collect Emoli and escort him to drink water at the water hole.
There was later a lot of fun in the water hole this afternoon, with the orphan elephants deciding to play in the water as it was fairly warm today. Arruba was trying to remain behind with Pika Pika but was put under tight watch by Kenia and Ndii who noticed her intention and kept Pika Pika close to them. Finally, all the orphans came out of the water, with Mudanda and Tamiyoi using the baobab tree close to the water hole for a scratching session. Arruba soon joined them, while Panda and Tundani had a good time dust bathing on the loose soil.
It was a calm morning in the stockade compound today as the orphans were busy feeding on the lucerne pellets after milk feeding. They soon walked out to the bush without playing around as they apparently wanted to get on with their day of browsing.
After browsing for around two hours, Ngilai and Ivia the buffalo decided to take a break from feeding to enjoy a sparring match, as they hadn’t had a chance to play yet today! Emoli adores Ngilai and sometimes gets jealous when he plays with others, and he attempted to pursue them and interrupt their game, up but the two friends kept shifting their sparring grounds, forcing Emoli to surrender and simply go back to browsing.
At the water hole in the afternoon after milk feeding, Emoli and Godoma invited Pika Pika to join them in their wonderful rolling games in the water. Ndii became jealous of yet another attempt at stealing her adopted baby Pika Pika and came running over indignantly to disrupt their play. Ndii even went so far as to step on Emoli while he rolled in the water, determined to bring about an end to their game. Godoma saw what was going on and came over to join up with her little friend Emoli who she has been looking after recently, after Ndii left with Pika Pika.
Godoma teamed up with Pika Pika in a wonderful game of rolling and lying on each other, close to one of the stockade terraces. Ndii was jealous of their game however and came over and placed her foot on Godoma, bringing an end to her game with Pika Pika. Ndii loves her more than any other orphan in the herd.
Murit was sparring nicely with Tagwa, while Araba scratched up against one of the orphans’ favourite rocks. Ishaq-B went to scratch against the twin trees before joining up with her friends to leave the compound for the day.
The orphans browsed in single file, arriving at the water hole in the afternoon for their milk feed. Ngilai and Lasayen posed as if they hadn’t had their milk bottles yet and requested some more with their trunks raised in sweet innocence; the Keepers knew better however and sent them away so their friends could enjoy their bottles in peace.
The mud bathing session was wonderful, with Pika Pika charging about, chasing away some birds that had come to drink water. After, she came back into the water to continue playing with Arruba and Rorogoi, monitored closely by Ndii. Eventually Ndii together with Kenia came over to escort Pika Pika away for a dust bathing spree.
Ndii, Kenia, Ishaq-B, and Araba cuddled up close to Pika Pika after she had finished her milk bottle and they escorted her to the lucerne pellet feeding area. When they were finished Embu lead the herd out to begin their day. Tamiyoi wasn’t happy about not being at the front so she picked up her pace and was visibly seen trying to overtake Embu and resume her leadership role. Tagwa noticed what she was doing and tried to pick up her pace as well so as to accompany Tamiyoi in leading the others.
The orphans browsed along the southern side of the water hole but came back to the stockades for their noon milk bottle and to have some fresh water, as there was a problem with the water flow in the Msinga pipeline again. The orphans had a lot of fun mud bathing in the stockade waterhole after having their milk bottles. Godoma lay down to play with Emoli, who came over to climb on her stomach. Araba thought he was being naughty however, and went to push him off, giving Godoma some much needed peace and quiet while she continued playing.
Ngilai lay on the ground striking a mischievous pose, which succeeded in inviting Ivia the buffalo to a sparring match; this attracted the attention of many of the orphan elephants who came over to watch their game too. Mbegu later lead all the orphans to browse up Msinga Hill for the rest of the afternoon. This area still had quite substantial vegetation for them to browse on, as the dry season continues to grip the area.
The morning was bright with the orphan elephants playing briefly in the stockade compound before leaving for the bush to browse.
Tagwa seems to have fully recovered from what ailed her a few months ago, and she looks so strong and happy these days, eager to play wonderful sparring games with her Voi friends. While her particular friend these days seems to be Ngilai, today she invited Murit head-on in a sparring match which they enjoyed for a long time.
Soon after arriving out in the browsing grounds, Cheza the buffalo approached Lasayen in greeting, but Lasayen turned the greeting into a sparring match. Cheza isn’t like Ivia however and doesn’t like to play such games, and she ran away.
The orphans walked slowly towards the noon milk feeding area, browsing as they went, and stood under a commifora tree, fanning their ears as they waited for the milk vehicle to arrive. Godoma picked up a piece of wood and used it as a tool to successfully scratch between her front legs. Godoma kept on tapping up Emoli with her trunk, enquiring if perhaps he needed such clever scratching tips too. Ndotto and Sagala stood close by and watched the two orphans nonchalantly and waiting patiently.
Later on, after the feeding, Mudanda enjoyed a wonderful mud bath and then went to take up position on top of the loose soil, playing and dusting herself to dry off. Emoli and Godoma noticed the fun she was having and came to play on the loose soil as well. Mudanda had taken up most of the space so they had to wait for her to move over! The orphans then spent the rest of the afternoon browsing on the eastern slopes of Msinga Hill.
Once the morning milk and lucerne grass pellet feeding was over, Ndotto went to catch up with Arruba for a wonderful sparring game. Emoli invited Pika Pika to a similar wrestling match, which protective Ndii didn’t seem to mind at all and showed little interest in, as Emoli is still a minor and isn’t a threat to Pika Pika’s affection.
Tamiyoi stood slightly out in front of her friends, positioning herself to take the leading role and guide the orphans out to the bush for the day. The orphans scattered out to browse along the northern side of Msinga Hill, eventually congregating to move in single file towards the baobab tree water hole in the afternoon for their milk bottles and to wallow in the mud bath as it was quite a hot day.
While busy playing in the mud bath, a very friendly wild elephant herd arrived to drink water. They showed great respect towards the orphans, standing calm and waiting patiently for the orphan elephants to finish up with their mud bathing session. Tamiyoi lifted her trunk skyward, inviting them to come and join them, while Emoli came out of water and walked almost a hundred meters towards them, reiterating the orphans’ offer for the wild herd to join them. Ndotto noticed that Emoli was taking a long time to come back from interacting with the wild elephants, so he walked towards him to call him and escort him back to join their friends that were already leaving the water hole to continue browsing and leave the water hole area for the wild herd.
The milk-dependent orphan elephants came running out of their stockades this morning, grabbing their milk bottles and gulping them down, before settling for some lucerne pellet supplements. Sagala then went to sit on the orphans’ favourite rock, enjoying a good scratch on her bottom. When they were all done with their activities, the orphans left the compound for the day. They browsed slowly and carefully, making sure to select the best vegetation they could find, arriving at the baobab tree water hole just before noon. They enjoyed their milk bottles and later proceeded to the mud bath.
Mbegu chose not to go into the water, but stayed out lying just on the edge, enjoying the cool breeze. Ndotto was reluctant to go into the water too, and instead went to pester Arruba who was playing along the edge of the water hole. Before he reached Arruba however, Tundani noticed him and came over to invite him for an alternative sparring game. Arruba decided to change her playing area and went to lie and roll in the water with Pika Pika. Ndii was quick to notice however and came rushing over, pulling Pika Pika towards her. Pika Pika wanted more space to play in the water though, and when Ndii realized that she was in no hurry to come out of the water, she employed Panda to guard Pika Pika and wait for her to come out of the waterhole.
A short while later, Pika Pika became very excited when she saw a small wild elephant herd waiting a few yards away to come and drink water. She was running and charging about in the water, trying to welcome them to play. The wild herd waited for the orphans to leave however, before they came to drink. Emoli and Ngilai enjoyed a wrestling match before joining up with their friends to continue browsing for the rest of the day.
The morning was calm and the priority was the milk feeding as usual. Lasayen and Murit were the last to leave the feeding area as they were busy trying to suck up some of the spilled milk with their trunks. One cheeky baboon was present and was also trying his luck to get some of the milk, running at the two young elephant bulls trying to chase them away, but they just ignored him and carried on sucking up the milk and squirting it into their mouths. Eventually Lasayen and Murit moved off and went to join their friends in the lucerne pellet feeding area. Ndii was preoccupied with keeping away her friends from approaching her adopted baby Pika Pika throughout the feeding session.
Eventually all the orphans left and browsed along the northern side of the hill in the woodlands, turning and later coming back towards the baobab tree water hole for the milk feeding and a mud bath.
Pika Pika, who is such a water baby, wasn’t sure of the temperature of the water for a possible mud bath and resorted to using Ndotto as her thermometer. Pika Pika pushed her head against Ndotto’s bottom, technically pushing him into middle of the mud bath to gauge his reaction. Ndotto went ahead and lay down in the water, giving Pika Pika the much-needed reassurance and all-clear to proceed with her mud bath! Tagwa understands that only Ndii is really allowed to care for Pika Pika, so she decided to take Emoli, the next youngest, to play with her in the water which they both very much enjoyed.
Emoli noticed some wild elephants approaching and hung around the water hole area waiting to interact with them, but when he realized they were not in any hurry to come to the water he left and joined up with his friends.
It was a wonderful morning with the milk-dependent orphan elephants lining up in a near-perfect straight line to gulp down their milk bottles.
Ndii came to preside over the milk feeding. It looked as if she was inspecting all the orphans to make sure none of them had more than their fair share, but the Keepers knew she was really looking after Pika Pika.
On the way out to the bush, Ivia the buffalo approached Ngilai for a wonderful sparring match. Kenia noticed that Ivia was getting a lot of attention, as both Godoma and Mbegu were standing in line waiting for their turn to play with him too, and she decided to make the executive ‘matriarchal’ decision to chase Ivia away from the orphan herd. She wanted the elephants to concentrate on, and give priority to, browsing in the early morning, and not playing games.
When the orphans arrived at the water hole in the afternoon, Diria the zebra went straight over to meet some friendly wild zebra that had watched him approach. Ivia and Cheza the buffaloes didn’t want him to leave, and followed behind him, later escorting him back after about ten or so minutes of interaction with the wild zebra.
A small, thirsty herd of wild elephants joined the orphans to drink and enjoy a mud bath.
The wild elephant herd only had one small calf who it was difficult to interact with, as the brothers and sisters were very much on guard. Eventually the orphans got bored and restless and so left the waterhole and the wild elephants, as they proceeded to browse for the rest of the afternoon.
The morning milk and lucerne pellet feeding was over and the orphan elephants were busy playing a lot in the stockade compound. Mashariki and Mudanda, who have been more reserved these days, almost as if keeping their dignity around the younger orphans and trying to set an example, suddenly broke into playing a game this morning, which they have not done for some time. When they had finished their game, Mashariki approached Ndotto for a pushing game too, which Ndotto was all too happy to oblige.
Mashariki lay on the ground and Ndotto climbed on her back in great excitement. Mudanda went to sit and rub against one of the stockade terraces close by, watching Ndotto and Mashariki play.
Mashariki’s playfulness carried on up until when the orphans visited the water hole at midday. She invited Pika Pika to play while they were in the water, not realizing this was a big mistake. Ndii plunged into the water moving straight towards Mashariki, pushing her down and pinning her there. Mashariki yelled out loudly lifting her trunk above the water as a snorkel, while Kenia came running over to her rescue.
Emoli, who was busy playing with Mbegu in the water, ran out fast because of all the commotion. This marked the start of the afternoon browsing session as all the orphans slowly filtered away from the waterhole after Ndii’s slight overaction and the ensuing drama. Mashariki was fine, and she walked off with her friend Kenia while Ndii slowly walked out of the water with Pika Pika, looking a little sheepish.
The orphan elephants were rumbling away in excitement as they listened to their milk bottles being prepared this morning. They came out of their stockades at a terrific run to grab their bottles and enjoy their feed. Tamiyoi yelled out very loudly as she reached the milk feeding area, possibly trying to safeguard her milk bottle.
Embu went to lie on the piles of loose soil to invite some playtime, but her friends ignored her as they wanted to get started with their day of browsing and use the first light of day.
The orphans browsed from the big water hole near the spring gate, all the way to the baobab tree water hole in the afternoon. Their big tummies showed how well they had managed to browse throughout the morning.
The milk-dependent orphan elephant came to the milk feeding area in groups of five, with Ngilai sneaking behind the Keepers to join Tagwa, Tamiyoi, Emoli, Godoma and Pika Pika who had been allowed to run down to feed in the first group.
The orphans then proceeded to drink water from the trough but were reluctant to go into the mud bath today due to the prevailing cold weather. Instead, Emoli invited Pika Pika for some sparring games which they very much enjoyed under the watchful eye of Ndii and Kenia, who both know Emoli is just a youngster and won’t steal her away from them.
Ndotto kept himself busy having a good time sparring with his friend Ivia, before joining up with the other elephants to browse for the rest of the afternoon.
The sun was shining bright early in the morning, with the weaver birds’ cacophony of screeching calls welcoming the orphan elephants out of their stockades for their morning milk bottles.
Pika Pika saw Tamiyoi running over for her milk bottle and immediately stopped drinking, thinking that Tamiyoi was perhaps coming to steal her milk bottle. The Keepers moved her away from her friends so that she would carry on with her milk feed in peace.
Soon, Kenia, Ndii and Ishaq-B cuddled round Pika Pika for some early morning greetings, before settling down for the lucerne pellet feeding. When they were done, the orphan elephants then left the stockades for the Park, where they maneuvered their way through some thick bush close to the lower fence line, keeping themselves very busy with the days browsing mission.
After milk feeding in the afternoon, there was a cold wind blowing which meant that most of the orphans chose not to take a mud bath. Ndotto broke the calm however by running into the water, rolling and mud bathing in sheer delight. His excitement was cut short however when Ndoria plunged into the water. Ndotto ran away to the far end of the water and started a sparring session with Mashariki. Embu took up position mud bathing in the shallow water at the edge of the waterhole, staying away from Ndoria. Mbegu didn’t go into the water either, but instead chose to roll on the ground close to the water hole. Arruba enjoyed a wonderful dust bath, tossing huge chunks of soil into the air. Murit was captivated by her game and chose to join her before moving on to join up with their friends leaving for browsing.
The orphan elephants happily came out of their stockades for their milk feed. Ngilai was in a greedy mood and went to demand his friend Ndotto’s milk bottle after finishing his own, but Ndotto was fiercely protective and stopped his milk feed to chase Ngilai away. Ngilai got the message and quickly ran off! The orphans then assembled in a line to have some lucerne pellets, gathering up trunkfuls of pellets and stuffing them into their mouths. Ndotto then felt playful and approached Murit for a sparring game, but his timing was bad as their friends were already starting to leave the stockade compound.
The orphans browsed peacefully as they made their way to the waterhole in the afternoon to have their milk feed and a mud bath. It was quite cold again however, so only some of the orphans chose to swim, while others just stood on the edge and splashed water on themselves with their trunks. Embu was one who chose to get into the water and roll around. As she was swimming, she turned around to find out that Ndoria was right behind her, but fortunately Ndoria is much better behaved these days and didn’t bother Embu at all. Eventually the orphans started to move away from the waterhole and continue with their day of browsing across the grasslands.
The orphan elephants had their usual morning of milk and supplement feeds. A routine monitoring patrol found a single very big male lion near the orphans’ baobab tree water hole, so they didn’t go near there today. Instead, they browsed on the southern side of Msinga Hill, coming back to the stockade compound in the afternoon to have their noon milk bottles, some water and a mud bath.
Out in the bush, Ngilai and Mbegu felt in a mischievous mood, and started their own pushing game with Ivia the buffalo. Ivia tried to win the match against the duo by pushing Ngilai very hard, but Mbegu stepped in to offer reinforcements doing small little sidekicks to try and trip Ivia up. Their game went on for some time before Ivia surrendered and ran off in defeat as he couldn’t take on both elephants at once! Ndotto felt a little envious of their game and invited Araba for sparring match too. Araba agreed, which was a little unusual for her as she doesn’t usually engage in such games, but she seemed to have a fun time playing with Ndotto.
The orphans browsed to the south of the stockades until evening when Tagwa and Tamiyoi led the herd back to the compound for the night.
It was a bright morning as the orphans came out of their stockades in a very excitable mood. They headed straight for the milk feeding area, and when they were done, they decided to hang around for a while, enjoying their playing and bonding games as they fed on the supplement lucerne pellets. Mudanda decided to pick on Lasayen for some reason, but Ndii came to his rescue. Ngilai was messing around, trying to attract Emoli’s attention for a sparring game, but Emoli chose to ignore his invitation and kept browsing. Eventually, Sagala lead the orphans out to the browsing grounds and they settled to browse close to the old mud wallow area, browsing in the thick shrubs.
Ngilai and Emoli started a sparring game within an hour of browsing, attracting Ndotto’s attention who also wanted to join in. Suswa was busy browsing by herself a short distance away from the rest of the herd, calmly browsing and making her way through the bushes.
After the noon milk feed, Tagwa lead the herd down to the baobab water trough and mud wallow. Pika Pika took centerstage in the mud wallow enjoying her time with Ndii and Godoma. The orphans later resumed browsing until late afternoon when they made their way back to the stockade compound.
The stockade-dependent orphan elephants engaged in some brief games after feeding this morning. Ngilai went to engage Emoli in a wrestling match, while Ndotto went to play with Tagwa. Ndotto climbed on Tagwa’s back. Tamiyoi stood to the side watching, swinging her trunk and appearing to be slightly restless.
The orphans then left the compound to head out to browse for the day. After walking some distance from the stockades, Mashariki took over the lead, taking the orphans deep into the shrubs and bushes to browse.
Just before noon the orphans grouped together again and rested under the shade of a tree while they waited patiently for the milk vehicle to arrive. When it arrived, Tamiyoi and Tagwa sprinted down to the milk feeding area to be among the first to have their bottles, before proceeding down to the water trough beside the baobab tree. Diria the zebra quickly followed them down and drank alongside them at the trough, before the older orphans arrived. Upon arriving at the baobab Ndotto went straight to the water trough too. After quenching his thirst, he even decided to step into the trough as well! When he came out, he decided to engage Ivia in a sparring game, while the female buffalo, Cheza, went to drink clean water from the trough. Ndotto tried to impress and engage his friend Ivia by kneeling and pulling some funny poses to keep his attention and keep him playing for longer.
As the orphans slowly started to walk away to continue browsing, Ndotto decided to walk back to the water trough for some water. When he was done, he walked to join the others where they were browsing on top of Msinga Hill.
The orphan elephants played a few games around the stockade compound after feeding this morning. Rorogoi scratched on the orphans’ favourite scratching rock, while Embu waited patiently close by for her turn. Little Pika Pika rubbed her bottom against Kenia’s leg, and soon turned to Ndii to do the same on the other side. Of course Kenia and Ndii were only too happy to have their little favourite baby’s attention. Ndii was determined to win Pika Pika’s affection for herself, but she remained polite as she has great respect for Kenia the matriarch.
Later on after having their noon milk bottles, the orphans were drinking water at the baobab tree water trough. Cheza and Ivia the buffalos kept themselves busy by chasing away poor thirsty warthogs that came to drink water at the water hole. The orphan elephants were reluctant to go into the water for a mud bath. Pika Pika decided to go in however and walked all the way into the middle. She was allowed to play with Emoli in the water too, under the close watch of Ndii and Araba.
Upon exiting the mud bath, both Ngilai and Ndotto went over simultaneously to pursue Ivia in a sparring match, but Ivia was worried by the strength of the two of them together, and ran off to join up with Cheza instead.
Ngilai and Emoli were enjoying a sparring match today as soon as they finished feeding on lucerne pellets. Ngilai then decided to go for a dust bath and Emoli walked off. Tagwa spotted Ngilai and invited him to a sparring challenge before later taking on Ndotto in another wrestling match. It is so wonderful to see Tagwa doing so well these days! Godoma came to scratch against the rock just next to the dust bath, and next to her Sagala was hugging Tamiyoi affectionately with her trunk. Pika Pika lay down beside the terraces as Panda watched over her, and when all the orphans were ready, Ndoria lead them out for the day.
The herd maneuvered their way along the rocky slope of Msinga Hill in search of fresh foliage, and then spent the mid-morning hours browsing along the open grassland beneath the hill.
After the noon milk feed, Tamiyoi led the first group down to the mud wallow. She decided to roll just outside of the water on the edge of the mud bath. Sagala looked over as she had second thoughts about joining her and getting in the water. Meanwhile Lasayen got straight into the water and had a great time splashing about. Murit chose to roll just on the edge of the mud wallow as well, and Mashariki stood beside him and just splashed water on herself. Ishaq-B stayed beside the water trough and was joined by Tundani.
Lasayen, Ndii, Pika Pika and Godoma has a great time in the mud wallow while the others decided not to swim today. When they were done they joined the others to resume browsing, leaving Suswa behind drinking from the water trough until she was satisfied.
The orphans left the stockade compound today as soon as they were done feeding today and settled at the foot of Msinga Hill to browse. Mashariki and Ndii were browsing together and Ndii kept turning to Mashariki and affectionately patting her.
The orphans browsed across the grasslands, again, at the foot of the hill. Sagala showed some love towards Emoli and then walked off to continue browsing. Tagwa invited Murit to a sparring game which went on and on! Meanwhile Godoma played with Lasayen and Ndotto played with Tundani until it was time to go for their noon milk feed.
Tagwa and Tamiyoi quickly walked down to the mud wallow. Tamiyoi rolled around on the cool soil just next to the mud wallow while Ishaq-B had a great time in the water with Kenia. When she was done, Ishaq-B went to scratch against the baobab tree.
Pika Pika relaxed with Panda, while Godoma, who had been rolling at the edge of the water like Tamiyoi, decided she hadn’t had enough, and walked back to get into the water to wallow fully this time.
The orphans later resumed browsing past the mud wallow across the grasslands. Later, when they returned home for the night, Ndii made the bold move of moving straight into Pika Pika’s stockade and browsing on the branches there, as if making a statement that she wanted to stay with Pika Pika tonight. The Keepers had to move her out and into her own stockade for the obvious reason that she would fight with the younger orphans in Mbegu’s herd that stay with Pika Pika.
The morning was peaceful with Ngilai initiating a game with Sagala after the milk and lucerne feeding. Their game didn’t last long however, as their friends were already leaving the compound to begin their day of browsing. The orphans settled to browse in single file for the best part of the day. Kenia browsed and interacted with Pika Pika very closely today. Ndii saw them and could not control her temper, and came over to force herself in between the two, separating them. Pika Pika didn’t like this behaviour at all and she yelled out loudly. She was very unimpressed with Ndii and went off to stick close to Kenia to continue browsing.
In the afternoon the orphans went to have their milk feed and proceeded to drink water and swim in the mud wallow. Emoli surprised his friends when he jumped into the water trough while his friends were still there drinking water. Pika Pika was amazed as Emoli splashed in the water and just stood there watching him. Eventually she decided to compete with the attention he was getting by rolling around in a small pool of water close to the water trough.
Tagwa took off from the main water hole, unintentionally chasing away a herd of thirsty zebras who had come to drink water. She was actually trying to join a wild elephant herd that was waiting a short distance away to come and drink after the orphans had left. Tagwa was unsuccessful in getting the wild elephants to join them, so she returned to her friends as she started to see them leave to continue with their afternoon of browsing.
The Keepers went to Galana Ranch very early this morning to possibly rescue a calf that had been reported as injured and all alone. When they arrived, they found that the mother had returned to the calf, but that it had passed away from its injuries.
The orphans browsed on the southern side of Msinga Hill this morning and after browsing for about three hours they decided to pause to play some games and relax for a bit. Murit engaged Ngilai in a wonderful sparring match. Tundani attempted to approach Arruba to play but Arruba declined his request and instead went to join up with Mashariki who was guarding Godoma. Godoma was lying down and playing and Ndotto was climbing on her and messing around, so Mashariki and Arruba wanted to make sure their game didn’t get too out of hand.
The orphans returned to the compound to have their noon milk feed and a mud bath today, and chose to spend the afternoon browsing not far from the compound until they returned home.
The moon was shining bright at 1am and the Keepers noticed a female elephant visiting the stockades. She came to drink water from the stockade trough and later went to hang around outside the stockade where Kenia’s herd spends the night.
In the morning as soon as dawn broke, the Keepers realized it was our very own Naipoki to who had returned to say hello after going wild with ex-orphans Edie and Mweya two years ago. She was here alone without any of the others in Emily’s herd, and the Keepers quickly realized that was because she had a small wound on her side, hence she had made the trip all the way home to receive help.
The SWT/KWS Mobile Vet was informed, and he came immediately to treat her. Naipoki was sedated and her wound treated. It is impossible to know what caused the injury, because there was no foreign object inside, but it could have been caused by a stick or possibly an arrow. After thoroughly cleaning the wound, the team administered antibiotics and revived Naipoki. Naipoki’s friends in Kenia’s herd made quite the commotion when Naipoki was sedated, but with the help of the Keepers they were reassured that Naipoki was receiving the help she needed. Naipoki was okay after the treatment and accompanied the rest of the stockade dependent orphans to browse for the day. The younger Voi orphans were a little apprehensive of Naipoki at first as they were not very sure who she was, even Kenia was seen avoiding her sometimes, but her best friend Panda was beyond delighted to see her friend again. Naipoki has chosen to stay with the Voi orphans for now and spend her nights in the stockades with the others, and perhaps we will just wait until Emily’s herd next choose to visit and she will go wild with them again once more.
The milk dependent orphan elephants came out of their stockades to gulp down their milk bottles before proceeding to have some lucerne grass pellets with their milk-weaned friends. Pika Pika was relishing being the youngest and had both Kenia and Ndii vying for her attention whilst they feasted on pellets. Kenia and Ndii wanted Pika Pika to feed in between then and she rumbled in happiness with all the attention she was getting.
Soon after arriving out on the grasslands, Lasayen and Godoma took a break from browsing to engage in a fun sparring match. Their friends scattered out across the northern grass lands, reaching the baobab tree water hole in the afternoon after their milk feeding. Ndii climbed into the water trough as she imitated Emoli, who had done the same a few days ago, but she didn’t stand in the water for long because it was very cold. Ngilai followed Ndoria who had plunged into the waterhole for a swim, but he soon came running out as if he had been stung by bees because he felt the water was too cold! Arruba and Ndotto were showing off in a very tough wrestling match, before linking up with their friends to leave the mud bath area and browse for the rest of the day.
It was a cool morning and the orphans chose to socialize for a while after the milk and lucerne feed. Tundani went straight to catch up with Ndotto for a wrestling match, but he was being quite tough, and soon Ndotto had to bring an end to the game by running away! Perhaps he thought that Ndotto posed a threat to take over as the strongest bull among the Voi orphans. Tundani is the oldest bull among them and is very peaceful, but perhaps he still doesn’t want to be substituted as the oldest and most dominant male.
Pika Pika went to introduce herself to the new arrival today, ex-orphan Naipoki, who has recently returned to receive treatment for a wound in her side. She left Kenia’s side and went to stand beside Naipoki for a bit, even rubbing her head against her foreleg. This annoyed Kenia a bit and she seemed slightly agitated. Eventually, she chased Naipoki away from Pika Pika and walked off with her. Kenia seemed to hold this grudge against Naipoki for the rest of the day, as she was even spotted chasing Naipoki away when they were beside the waterhole, trying to keep her away from the other youngsters in the herd. Kenia doesn’t want to lose her matriarchal status or the affection from the younger orphans to another female.
In the afternoon Ngilai went for a quick swim and went to catch up with Ivia who was on his way to the water hole to drink water. Ngilai stood mischievously in the way to block Ivia, so that he would choose to play with him instead. Ivia wanted a drink however, and became nervous, so he started ramming Ngilai with the broad part of his head until Ngilai moved and allowed Ivia past. The orphans eventually started to filter away from the mud bath and continue with their afternoon of browsing.
It was a bright morning with Naipoki keeping herself a safe distance away from Kenia so as not to annoy her. Kenia stood close to her adopted baby Pika Pika while she had her milk bottle. Naipoki walked off with her good friend Panda and the two could be seen enjoying their own private conversation.
Out in the bush it seemed as though Ivia wanted to make amends with Ngilai for not playing with him yesterday, and he approached Ngilai slowly as if to build bridges and enjoy some games. The two enjoyed a very friendly sparring match which made Ngilai feel better and he was visibly happy.
Kenia stuck close to Pika Pika while they browsed, offering her such care and loving attention. For the most part it was a very peaceful browsing session for Naipoki today, after agreeing and accepting that she mustn’t go anywhere near Pika Pika to maintain the peace!
Pika Pika, Emoli, Tagwa and Tamiyoi arrived in the first group for their noon milk feed, closely followed by the rest of their milk feeding friends. Kenia and Ndii came running and charging down the hill towards the milk vehicle, as they had temporarily lost sight of their dear Pika Pika. They collected her once she had finished her bottles and escorted her to drink water from the baobab tree water trough. Here the orphans interacted with a small wild elephant family that had one small calf with them. The interaction became somewhat boring for the orphans however as the calf was heavily guarded by its older brothers and sisters, so once they understood they wouldn’t be able to play with this wild friend they decided to leave the waterhole to continue browsing.
The orphan elephants settled for fresh and high quality lucerne grass after the milk bottle feed this morning.
Ndii and Kenia kept Pika Pika in between them, as usual, while they all fed. They kept a close eye on Naipoki and kept glancing over to her, as they have branded her a threat to taking their little Pika Pika away from them.
The orphan elephant, buffalo and zebra left the stockade compound when they were ready and as their stomachs were already somewhat full, they browsed deliberately and slowly.
At the noon milk feeding time Rorogoi sneaked away from the bossy Keepers and ran down with the others in the hope of getting some milk today, even though she was already weaned about a year ago! There wasn’t any milk to give her however, so she just carried on running down towards the mud bath. At first Lasayen was worried that Rorogoi was going to steal his share so he stopped feeding to watch her, but he resumed once he saw her run down towards the baobab tree.
The elephants had a lot of fun in the mud bath today. Mbegu and Godoma even found a golden opportunity to roll around in the water with Pika Pika! Emoli and Arruba were both jealous of all the fun they were having and came running over to play too. Arruba attempted to break through to join in but Mbegu kept on rolling and blocking her out. Arruba and Emoli quickly consulted with one another about how to join in, and then Arruba went to go and sit on Pika Pika while Emoli climbed on Mbegu’s stomach, all in an effort to bring an end to the fun they were having without them! Pika Pika yelled out loudly with Arruba sitting on her, which meant Ndii came running into the water to rescue her. This brought a swift end to all the mud bath fun and the orphans soon resumed their afternoon of browsing.
The milk bottles were prepared and ready as usual early this morning. The milk dependent elephants came running out of their stockades excitedly, gulping down their milk bottles in a matter of seconds as they stood in a near-perfect straight line, before proceeding to have some supplement food with the others. There wasn’t much playing today after the feeding, and as soon as they were done the orphans all started to walk out to the Park.
Later on in the day after their noon milk feed, the orphans walked down to the water hole to drink water and swim. Lasayen came across some wild giraffe, zebra, water buck and elands coming to drink water at the same time and decided to playfully chase them away before returning and settling down with his friends to drink.
Ndii took caution in the mud bath today and was busy guarding Pika Pika, pushing Arruba away from her after what happened yesterday. While Ndii was focusing on pushing Arruba away, Rorogoi managed to get the opportunity to play with Pika Pika instead. Eventually Ndii noticed her however and she came running over to chase Rorogoi away as well! Since Pika Pika wasn’t able to play with any of the others in the water today, she decided to leave to continue browsing along with some of the others.
Kenia and Ndii came running all the way down from their stockade in the morning to strategically place themselves next to Pika Pika and keep Naipoki away. Arruba and Ndotto engaged one another in a tough wrestling match, kicking up huge clouds of dust. Tagwa played with her friend Ngilai as well and had a lot of fun. Murit took on Emoli head on, but later when Ngilai grew tired of playing with Tagwa, he went to snatch Emoli away from Murit for a different wrestling match.
Due to some challenges of water flow from the Mzima water pipeline, the orphan herd came back at noon to drink water from the stockade water trough and swim in the small mud bath there. Lasayen sat on a small rock close to the water hole after his mud bath, scratching his hind area. Godoma enjoyed playing in the water with Mbegu and then they came out together at the same time to go and dry off on the loose soil. Suswa was in a very relaxed mood and chose to go into the water after everyone else was done. She lay down flat in the water, relaxing and closing her eyes in shear bliss after all her friends had left and it was nice and peaceful.
A wild elephant herd and their calves came to drink water at the stockade compound just after 5pm, when all the orphan elephants were safely shut into their rooms for the night. Pika Pika lifted her trunk to smell them and rumbled at them in greeting. Kenia and Ndii yelled out loudly thinking that Pika Pika was on her way out to join the wild elephant herd! They remained very uncomfortable for about half an hour until the wild elephant herd left the stockade compound at their leisure.
The Voi orphan elephants left the compound to begin their day of browsing after the milk and lucerne feeding. Ndoria decided to lead the herd to the northern side of Msinga Hill, overlooking the grassy plains below. Nobody dared to overtake her as Ndoria used to be a notorious tail-biter and no one wanted to risk having their tail bitten! They were happy to let her be the leader this morning.
The orphans spent the mid-morning calmly browsing until about 10:30 when they turned around and headed back towards the stockades for their noon milk feed and mud wallow.
Ndii and Pika Pika enjoyed their play time all alone in the stockade mud wallow, as the rest of the herd were busy feeding on some supplement pellets after the milk feed. Godoma came over and wanted to join them in the mud bath, but she paused for a scratch on a rock before finally joining Pika Pika and Ndii in the mud wallow.
Ngilai and his favourite playmate Emoli enjoyed an exclusive sparring match. Ndotto felt brave enough to invite Tundani to another wonderful wrestling game and he learnt a lot of tactics from him. The orphans resumed browsing and decided to go up Msinga Hill for the afternoon. Just before 5pm Tamiyoi and Sagala decided to lead the orphans back in the evening for the night.