In Ithumba, the highlight of the month fell on 6th August, when we welcomed our newest graduates to the family — Nursery rascals Weka and Shujaa!
A few minutes past eight in the morning, the truck carrying Weka and Shujaa arrived. Mutara, Mambo, Sities, Sunni, Turkwel, Sana Sana, Naboishu, Kainuk, Malkia, Kuishi, and Suguta were present and ready to receive the babies. This is standard procedure with our ex-orphans — they always seem to know when new graduates are arriving and purposely position themselves to be their welcoming committee.
There was trumpeting and bellowing of excitement when the babies were offloaded. Mutara and Kainuk forgot that they are now mature, wild-living females, lost all sense of reason, and even tried to climb the wall to reach Weka and Shujaa, clearly hoping to whisk them into their herd. The Keepers shooed them away to give the babies some space.
After Weka and Shujaa had their milk bottles, Muwingu, Mageno, and Kitich were brought over to meet them. They immediately recognised their old Nursery friends — Muwingu, Mageno, and Kitich only graduated to Ithumba in June — and everyone was very happy to be reunited.
The rest of the day passed well. Shujaa emerged as the star of the mud bath, wallowing with such enthusiasm that Mayan, Vaarti, Choka, and Mageno seemed to marvel at his technique. Both graduates stuck close to their Nursery Keepers, who always remain with new graduates until they are fully settled in, and closely observed and copied the rest of the herd’s movements. In the evening, Weka and Shujaa were escorted back to the stockades by Muwingu, Mageno, and Kitich, their old friends and new bedmates.
As it often happens, our new graduates were awestruck by the enormous elephants who suddenly surrounded them — there are no such big elephants in the Nursery! One morning, 14-year-old Orwa arrived with two wild colleagues. Little Shujaa, who is just three years old, saw Orwa and could not believe how big he was. Wanting to match his height, Shujaa climbed onto a rock to make himself taller. Orwa seemed to understand what the little boy was trying to do, so he greeted him with his trunk, as if wishing him well in life.
It is starting to dry up, which means more and more wild elephants and ex-orphans are circling through. They know that Ithumba is a safe and reliable place to find water. We always enjoy this time of year, as we get to reunite with members of our orphan family who have been away for a long time. In our current herd, Olorien is the only girl who shows little interest in young babies — one morning, we even watched her push tiny Sunni away when he attempted to share her scratching rock.
An influx of visitors also means more nannying opportunities for our baby-obsessed dependent girls. One memorable morning, Lualeni, Lulu, Lexi, Luki, Kalama, Kapuki, Maramoja, Kitirua, Naseku, Orwa, Ukame, Yatta, Yetu, Yoyo, Yogi, Yebo, Yara, Barsilinga, Lenana, Lapa, Laki, Mteto, and several wild bulls joined the orphans for morning lucerne feeding. Naleku took on the role of looking after Luki, while Suguroi attended to Kapuki.
Naleku seems to be hearing the call of the wild. Interestingly, Kindani and Kinyei — who are seven years old to Naleku’s six — show no such inclination. They are still very loyal to their ‘little brother,’ Bondeni, so perhaps they are waiting until he is ready to explore his independence.
But Naleku certainly has plans. One morning, Naleku, Suguroi, and Sattao (who is a bull, but a ‘gentle uncle’ who enjoys the company of babies) competed over who would get to play with the playful Gala. Gawa intervened and took her brother from the trio. Naleku was upset and walked away to look for Sunni.
Later that day, on the way back to the stockades, the Keepers realised that Naleku had dodged them and left for an attachment as a nanny in Mutara’s herd. She strolled back the next morning, walking close to baby Sunni. Naleku was in the company of Sities, Turkwel, Suguta, Kuishi, Malkia, Kainuk, Mutara, Larro, Sana Sana, and Mambo. Naleku didn’t bother to check what was in the stockade but kept herself busy with Sunni.
Choka has only been in Ithumba for a few months himself, but he is trying to flaunt his authority. Poor Shujaa and Weka received the brunt of this — he kept trying to monopolise the new babies, climbing atop them at every opportunity. The Keepers told him off until he got the message.
Meanwhile, our gentle boys Vaarti, Mayan, and Esoit would never dream of such behaviour. Even as they get older, they are unfalteringly polite. They spend a lot of time together, often browsing or dusting head-to-head.
On the last day of the month, Choka, Naleku, Lodo, and Roho emerged as the stars of the day by having a prolonged wallowing session. Mukutan spotted guinea fowl close by and decided to chase them away, which caused great excitement amongst the herd. In the evening, newcomer Weka led the way back to the stockade.