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Early in the morning, Mbegu and her herd of ex-orphans visited the stockades and joined the dependent elephants for breakfast. Mbegu, Tagwa and Godoma clustered around the lucerne while Ngilai, Ndotto, Naipoki and Murit lined up at the feeding trough, enjoying pellet treats with Ashanti, Busara, Hildana and Thamana.

Sholumai, Mushuru and Rokka soon led the resident herd out to the browsing fields on the rocky side of Msinga Hill. The ex-orphans remained behind to finish the lucerne grass.

In the afternoon, the orphans had their usual milk feed and walked on down the hill to the mud wallow. Ashanti, Akina, Losoito, Thamana and Epiya splashed and rolled around in the water. When a family of wild elephants arrived at the baobab tree water hole, Busara, Lemeki and Tamiyoi rushed over to greet them.

The orphans resumed browsing over the open fields. While the others pulled up clumps of shrubs and grasses, Mushuru and Ashanti played a pushing and sparring game at the foot of the hill.

On a sunny morning at the Voi stockades, the orphans were having their breakfast as usual. Newbie Serenget stayed inside her stockade and also not-so-newbie Chapeyu, who is still reluctant to leave the safety of his stockade.

The orphans soon headed out to the browsing fields, pulling up trunkfuls of browse as they wandered along. Epiya and Baraka were showboating and Thamana was kneeling to browse while Kilulu and Juni played a sparring match at the foot of Msinga Hill.

In the afternoon, the orphans returned to the stockades for their milk feed. Afterwards, ex-orphans Ndotto and Godoma, with Lemeki in their wake, led the herd over to see Chapeyu. He greeted them but they could not persuade him to walk out of his stable.

Later in the day, ex-orphans Mbegu, Murit and Tagwa joined the herd while they browsed on the hill. Busara spent time catching up with adopted mother Mbegu while Baraka and Losoito stayed close to Godoma.

On a wonderful morning, the orphans emerged from their shared stockades and gathered around the feeding trough. Hildana tried to push Baraka away from the trough, but Lemeki rescued her and pushed the older bull away. Then Lemeki led Baraka, Dabida and Ashanti over to the pile of supplementary lucerne.

The orphans headed out from the stockades and settled to browse on delicious acacia branches on Msinga Hill. Tamiyoi, who is the oldest female in the herd, walked away from the others in the direction of the hill water trough where she found Ndotto, Tagwa, Mbegu, Ngilai and other ex-orphans.

Our herd spent the morning browsing in the direction of the baobab tree mud wallow. Kilulu and Itinyi played the pushing game while Sholumai, Sileita and Mushuru browsed over the open fields.

In the afternoon, the orphans had another milk feed and drank water from the baobab water trough. No one paddled in the muddy water as it was a cloudy day. Instead, they walked back to the lower slopes of the hill.

In the evening, ex-orphans Naipoki, Ngilai, Ndotto, Godoma, Murit and Tagwa drank from the water trough and spent the night under the tree in front of the stockades.

Ex-orphans Mbegu, Ndotto, Murit, Tagwa and Godoma came down Msinga Hill in the early morning to join the herd for breakfast. While the others were enjoying pellets, Baraka and Epiya were showboating next to them. Thamana and Ushindi played a light sparring game as they walked to the lucerne feeding area and Seri posed on the terraces.

Rokka led the herd out to the field, followed closely by Sholumai, Mushuru and Sileita who now know the browsing routes. The ex-orphans were with the current herd.

In the afternoon, the herd padded down the hill in groups for a milk feed. Tamiyoi, who is no longer milk-dependent, and the ex-orphans walked down after them. Busara was sneaking back to try and pinch a bonus bottle of milk from the truck after drinking her usual two bottles.

Many of the orphans cooled off in the mini mud wallow rather than the main water hole, Mbegu stood patiently on the side while Seri splashed in the mud and then clambered into the wallow. Kilulu, Busara and Rokka also stood on the edge for a time, waiting for the others to climb out before taking their place.

Losoito was being bossy today, pushing everyone around in the wallow. She knew that big sister Lemeki would protect her if anyone tried to push back. After rolling in the mud, Losoito climbed out to play and bond with Ashanti. When Epiya came over to join them, Ashanti walked away, leaving best friends Losoito and Epiya trunk hugging each other.

As the rest of the herd resumed browsing up the hill, big bull Ndotto enjoyed a solo mud wallow.

When a truck load of fresh lucerne arrived early in the morning, the orphans began rumbling and trumpeting in excitement, asking to be let out of their stockades. Akina, Losoito, Lemeki, and Baraka ran straight to the pile of delicious lucerne, avoiding the trough of pellets, and Baraka even skipped the morning milk feed. Minutes later the rest of the herd led by Dabida, Kilulu and Thamana also arrived at the lucerne, leaving only Rokka and ex-orphan Ndotto at the trough. Itinyi was showboating and sparring with Juni while Lemeki was hanging out with Dabida.

The dependent herd soon headed out from the stockades and settled to browse over Msinga Hill. New girl Serenget and also Chapeyu stayed behind in their stockades.

In the afternoon, the orphans ambled down to the mud wallow after their milk feed. Kilulu splashed and rolled around in the mini mud wallow while Tamiyoi squatted on the edge, massaging her bottoms. The two friends then caught up with the herd as they walked back out to browse. 

On a wonderful sunny morning at the Voi stockades, the orphans gathered either at the pellet feeding trough or around the pile of lucerne. Losoito and Rokka had an early morning dust bath while Itinyi picked up every last pellet from the trough. Serenget and Chapeyu enjoyed grewia and lucerne in their stockades.

Sholumai, Mushuru and Sileita were the first to make their way out to the browsing fields. They led the herd to the slopes of Msinga Hill where they settled to browse on delicious acacia branches. Tamiyoi walked away from the herd to browse with Mbegu’s herd of ex-orphans – perhaps she was missing best friend Tagwa.

In the afternoon, the orphans visited the baobab tree mud wallow. Akina, Itinyi, and Thamana – our current Voi water babies – are often first to get into the wallow. In contrast, Rokka and Sileita do not like being pushed around in the water and so choose to wait until the others have finished before climbing into the mud for a wallow.

After the orphans spent time in front of the stockades in the early morning, Rokka led them out to the browsing fields around Msinga Hill. Ex-orphans Ndotto and Murit trailed along behind at a distance.

In the afternoon, the orphans padded down the hill for their usual milk feed. Akina and Busara kept returning to the truck in hope of an extra bottle. We pushed them away and eventually they got the message.

Lemeki and Tamiyoi were last to arrive at the mud wallow. They drank from the trough and joined many of the others in the mud. Lemeki and Ushindi played in the water, trunk hugging each other while pushing bodies. Kilulu sat on the edge, scratching her bottoms.

After cooling off, the herd slowly walked away to resume browsing. Seeing that Itinyi had been left behind in the wallow, Tamiyoi turned back and shepherded him out to join the others as they browsed on the hill.

It was another sunny morning and the orphans sprinted out of their stockades and down the path to the feeding area. Many scooped up pellets while Epiya posed and showed off her moves.

The orphans spent the morning browsing with ex-orphans Ndotto and Murit over the open grass fields, ambling in the direction of the baobab tree wallow. Good friends Seri and Hildana browsed side by side while Tamiyoi walked away again to the other side of the hill. Rokka tried to take the place of Losoito close to Lemeki when Losoito moved away for a moment to be with Mushuru.

In the afternoon, the orphans had another milk feed and ran on to the mini mud wallow. After wallowing in the water, Kenderi rolled around on the mound of dry soil, Mushuru and Juni dug into the ground with their tiny tusks, making small holes for dust bathing, and Sileita and Sholumai posed next to the wallow.

Ashanti was left alone in the water, happily rolling and splashing. Akina climbed in to join her while Baraka sat on the edge, scratching her bottoms. Thamana, Hildana, Itinyi, Ushindi, Kilulu and Tamiyoi followed Akina into the mud wallow.

After their session of mud and dust bathing, the herd ambled back to the bush to continue browsing.

The orphans spread out in front of the stockades in the early morning. Lemeki wandered over to the lucerne, swinging her head and trunk happily from side to side. Sandwiched between Tamiyoi and Ushindi, Baraka was leaning against Tamiyoi while trunk kissing Ushindi and Kilulu was posing by the boulder along the fence line. Also swaying her trunk from side to side, Ashanti walked over to Ndotto as he stood in the walkway, resting after a long night of browsing.

Kilulu, Ashanti, Epiya, Dabida, Seri and Hildana browsed on lucerne and then drank from the water trough. Losoito and Lemeki stood with trunks entwined and were soon joined by Rokka. Ndotto padded up the path to the stockades and rested his trunk on the terrace at the milk feeding area while Juni massaged her backside against the famous rock. At last, the orphans left the stockades and spread out to browse over Msinga Hill.

In the afternoon, the elephants gathered around the mud wallow. Busara and Kilulu played a sparring match, Akina splashed next to Itinyi and Losoito in the mud, and Juni and Mushuru rested their bottoms on the edge while waving trunks

In the early morning, ex-orphans Naipoki, Mbegu, Godoma and Tagwa arrived at the stockades. Losoito and Rokka rubbed faces and bodies on the mound of dust while the other elephants scooped up pellets and lucerne. Akina was left on her own, picking up every piece of lucerne, as Sholumai, Mushuru and Sileita, with Ushindi and Ashanti, browsed on the hill and the others crowded around the trough to drink.

Current and former orphans headed out together to the browsing fields. They spread out all over the hill. Hildana and Kenderi climbed up to the top, walking carefully over the rocky areas.

In the afternoon, the orphans, with ex-orphan Ndotto in tow, enjoyed a mud wallow and a dust bath. Juni and Kenderi plunged into the water while Thamana squatted along the edge.

As the orphans wandered back to the bush, a family of wild elephants wandered in to take their place at the wallow. Tamiyoi turned back to greet the wild elephants. They welcomed her and she stayed with them for a time before rejoining her own herd later in the afternoon on the hill.

Ex-orphans Ndotto and Murit arrived before dawn today. As the sun rose, we found Ndotto taking a nap on the mound of red soil and Murit standing by the feeding trough. The orphans emerged from their stockades to join them, except for Serenget and Chapeyu. Many gathered around the pile of lucerne. Ashanti was using her foot to lift the grass off the ground and Lemeki was feeding next to Murit. Sholumai, Mushuru and Sileita again opted to browse a short distance away on the hill rather than on the extra lucerne.

Rokka led the herd out to the browsing fields. Some climbed over rocks on their way up to the top of the hill while others, such as Juni and Busara, remained on the lower slopes.

In the afternoon, the orphans visited the mud wallow as usual. Rokka, Thamana, Losoito, Itinyi, Kenderi, Kilulu, Epiya and Hildana climbed into the water which was soon full of wallowing elephants. They splashed and climbed all over each other. When naughty Hildana tried his mounting tricks on Thamana, who was happily rolling in the water, he stood up abruptly and knocked Hildana down.

Standing outside the mud hole, Ushindi was waiting for Rokka to come out so she could take her space. She tried to persuade her out with gentle trunk touches but Rokka was having too much fun and so Ushindi was left standing on the edge.

The dependent orphans then walked off to resume browsing on their way back to the safety of the stockades for the night.

It was a cool and cloudy morning and the orphans padded slowly down the path for a milk feed, pellets and lucerne. Losoito and Baraka were squabbling for a spot at the trough, taking it in turns to push each other away. On the terraces, Epiya was pushing Sileita as they waited for pellets. Ex-orphans Ndotto and Murit mingled with the herd around the lucerne.

Sholumai and Mushuru led the herd out from the stockades to Msinga Hill with Ndotto and Murit following along behind. As the orphans ambled along in a line, ex-orphans Mbegu, Ngilai, Tagwa and Godoma emerged from the bush and joined the herd.

In the afternoon, the orphans headed down to the mud wallow but most of them did not get wet because of the cloudy weather. Mushuru took centre stage, splashing in the middle of the mud wallow while the rest stood around, drinking from the trough or rubbing their backsides against trees. When Juni decided to paddle along the edge, many of the others followed her into the wallow.

After cooling off, Epiya, Akina and Losoito covered every part of their bodies with red dust and then caught up with the herd as they walked back out to the bush. As everyone was walking away, Tamiyoi arrived at the wallow – she had been browsing again with Mbegu’s herd.

Ex-orphans Mbegu, Ndotto, Murit, Ngilai, Godoma and Tagwa ambled up the path for breakfast soon after dawn. Mbegu was bonding with Epiya in the lucerne area, trunk hugging and kissing the younger elephant. When Busara saw this, she felt jealous as she likes to be Mbegu’s favourite. Trumpeting, she did her (unsuccessful) best to push Epiya away – feisty Epiya is not easily intimidated especially by little Busara who is usually calm.

When the dependent herd headed out to the northern side of Msinga Hill, Mbegu and the other ex-orphans remained at the stockades. They ate every piece of lucerne grass before leaving along the orphan trails.

In the afternoon, some waterbuck were grazing near the truck filled with bottles of milk for the elephants. As usual, we sent the orphans down in groups of three or four for their bottles. Everyone except Epiya ignored the waterbuck, padding past them peacefully. As she was running down to the feeding area, Epiya veered off in their direction and chased them, trumpeting loudly. Her friend Ushindi responded and ran after Epiya to help.

After wallowing in the water hole, the herd returned to Msinga Hill where they were joined later in the afternoon by Ndotto and Murit.

The orphans remained inside their stockades in the early morning while the Keepers mixed the milk and filled up the feeding trough. Akina stood staring by her fence as a Keeper pushed a wheelbarrow full of lucerne past her and an impatient Lemeki tried to open the gate with her trunk.

When we opened the gates, cheeky Losoito blocked Mushuru from walking out first for her milk feed. Sholumai was not putting up with that behaviour and so she squeezed herself out, leaving both behind.

The herd lined up at the feeding trough for pellets. Ashanti still struggles to scoop up pellets with her short trunk and was kneeling again this morning so she could eat them with ease.

The orphans spent the morning browsing over the hill. In the afternoon, they returned to the stockades for their milk feed before going back to the hill to browse.

Soon after dawn, the milk-dependent orphans ran out of their shared stockades and down the path for their bottles. They emptied the bottles and walked on to the trough. There, Hildana took advantage of Lemeki not being close to Losoito by pushing her away from the trough. She took several steps back and went to stand next to Lemeki where she could feed in peace.

Ex-orphans Ndotto and Murit soon arrived at the stockades with Mbegu, Ngilai, Godoma and Tagwa padding up the path not long after. Current and former orphans clustered around the mound of lucerne and then Tamiyoi led the herd out to browse on the southern side of Msinga Hill.

In the afternoon, we shepherded the herd back to the stockades for another milk feed and mud bath. Akina lay on the mound of red soil while Epiya, Sholumai, Mushuru and Sileita chose the loose soil on the terrace embankment for their dust bath.

Later in the day, Thamana invited Hildana for a sparring match while lying on the ground. Feeling left out, Kilulu got there first - he began playing with Thamana and prevented Hildana from joining the game.

On a wonderful morning at the Voi stockades, Losoito was having a dust bath, rolling and playing on the dry red earth. Kenderi and Ashanti soon joined her and the three friends rubbed bodies while spraying clouds of dust.

Ex-orphans Murit and Ndotto were browsing on lucerne with the rest of the herd. Murit and Hildana were standing together with trunks entwined.

The herd headed out to the browsing fields, leaving Serenget and Chapeyu behind to continue enjoying pellets and lucerne in their stables. The orphans settled to browse on the lower slopes of the hill before padding down to the wallow in the afternoon.

Rokka led the first group down to the line of Keepers waiting with bottles next to the truck. Cheeky Busara tried to pinch an extra bottle again today, but we intercepted her and pushed her on to the wallow.

After wallowing in the mud, the herd ambled back to the hill. When Ndotto and Murit wandered off in a different direction, Tamiyoi went with them – but returned to her own herd later in the afternoon.

On a cool and cloudy day, the orphans enjoyed their morning treats of lucerne grass and pellets outside the stockades. They were in quiet moods and no one was playing pushing games.

The herd headed out to browse on the northern side of Msinga Hill with ex-orphans Ndotto and Murit trailing along in their wake. Along the way, Ndotto stopped off to pose and showboat next to several boulders.

In the afternoon, the orphans had fun in and around the mud wallow. Seri, Losoito, Thamana and Lemeki rolled together in the pool. After a very quick dip in the mud, Ashanti and Busara lay down for a dust bath on the mound of soil. Akina was scratching her belly against the edge while Thamana was stretching and splashing in the wallow.

Later in the day, the orphans resumed browsing on tasty shrubs, wandering deep into the woods. Itinyi took a break from browsing to clamber on top of a boulder, possibly to impress Epiya. As Itinyi stood tall, Epiya looked at him for a minute and then walked away to Sileita. 

The dependent orphans waited in their stockades while the Keepers mixed the milk at dawn. When she saw lucerne being carried past, Lemeki tried to open the door with her trunk. We opened the gates one by one and the elephants sprinted down to the feeding area. Kenderi, Juni, Rokka and Sileita browsed on pellets on the terraces while the others lined up at the feeding trough.

The orphans soon walked out and settled to browse on the slopes of Msinga Hill. Lemeki and Tamiyoi remained at the bottom with Baraka, Losoito, Dabida, Busara, Sholumai, Mushuru and Sileita, while Thamana and Hildana wandered up to the top.

After the afternoon milk feed, the orphans plunged into the mud wallow. Losoito and Lemeki rolled around in the wallow, trumpeting while playing and splashing water in every direction. Stout Losoito was lying on big sister Lemeki and then sliding into the mud. Today, Thamana was last to get out of the wallow, enjoying a solitary swim before catching up with the herd as they ambled out to the bush.

Ex-orphans Mbegu, Godoma, Tagwa, Ngilai, Murit and Ndotto joined our herd in the early morning for pellets and lucerne. After filling her belly, Losoito lay down in a dip in the ground with soft loose soil for a dust bath. She lay there happily and only stood up when Juni placed a foot on her head. Meanwhile, on the terraces, Kilulu was climbing onto Thamana’s back. He enjoyed his stay there, twirling his trunk, and Thamana just stood still. Afterwards, Kilulu lay down for elephant yoga stretches with Seri watching on in great curiosity.

Leaving the ex-orphans behind, the dependent herd wandered away from the stockades. They browsed for the morning on Msinga Hill and visited the baobab tree water hole in the afternoon. Epiya and Juni paddled in the muddy water, slapping water onto their bodies, while Sileita and Mushuru rubbed their faces against the edge.

The wind was blowing this morning when the elephants emerged from their stockades. The milk-dependent orphans emptied their bottles and joined their friends at the feeding trough. Ex-orphans Ndotto and Murit stayed for a short time before disappearing into the bush.

We opened the gate of Chapeyu’s stable and again encouraged him to come out. When several orphans walked in, to our surprise, he walked out with them. Many gathered around the bull, touching him with their trunks and chasing him as they wanted to get to know him. They chased him for a time and then everyone calmed down and the herd stood quietly with Chapeyu. 

As usual, the herd returned to the stockades later in the afternoon. The others walked calmly into their enclosures and we coaxed Chapeyu into his stockade. After his big day out, he browsed on pellets and calmed down.

Chapeyu stayed in his stockade today. After his day out, his injured leg was fine but we decided that it would be best to let him rest before introducing him to the herd again. He seemed to agree with this decision and showed no inclination to leave his stockade.

In the morning, the dependent orphans had a peaceful browsing session in the field with ex-orphans Ndotto and Murit browsing next to them. Thamana and Itinyi had a wrestling match, pushing heads and clinking tusks in a contest of strength. Not far away, Tamiyoi, Juni and Busara stood under the shade of a large acacia tree while Rokka and Lemeki played in an erosion trench.

In the afternoon, Ndotto and Murit wandered off in one direction and the herd headed down to the baobab tree mud bath. Many paddled and wallowed in the muddy water today. A small herd of wild elephants joined them around the water hole. The two groups spent a short time together before walking away in different directions.

In the morning, the herd spread out in the area in front of the stockades. As the others stood close at the feeding trough, Dabida and Seri opted to spend time on their own away from any feisty bulls. Dabida enjoyed a solitary dust bath on the mound of soil and Seri browsed on range cubes at the end of the lower terrace.

Recent rescue Serenget is looking strong and healthy. Although she is still in her stockade, she is well and her spear wound is healing.  

Sileita and Mushuru led the herd out to the browsing grounds this morning. We were pleased to see the new girls leading the herd despite being two of the youngest elephants. The orphans browsed on the western side of Mzinga Hill.

In the afternoon, they returned to the stockades for milk feeding and mud bathing. Today, several elders from the Kishushe community visited the stockades (under our outreach programme).

Ex-orphans Mbegu, Tagwa, Ngilai, Godoma, Murit and Ndotto arrived at the stockades in the early morning. As she padded down the path, Baraka had to choose between greeting Godoma and drinking her milk. She opted for the milk, gulping down her two bottles and going straight over to her big sister. Baraka trunk hugged Godoma and stood close to her.

The elephants gathered around the pile of lucerne, leaving only Ndotto, Murit and Losoito at the range cubes feeding trough. Noticing the absence of Losoito, Mbegu came back to check that she was fine with the older bulls and to shepherd her over to the herd.

The orphans soon headed out and settled to browse on the slopes of Msinga Hill. Ndotto and Murit stayed with them - but the four other ex-orphans wandered away.

In the afternoon, the herd came back to the stockades. Today, a group of Taita community elders visited to spend time with the elephants and learn about conservation. Lemeki was at her most friendly, greeting several visitors with her outstretched trunk.

We prepared the milk as usual at dawn while ex-orphans Ndotto and Murit stood under the tree at the entrance. When we opened the gates, the orphans sprinted down the path. Losoito often trumpets in excitement along the way. This morning, Sholumai was not happy with the noise, stopped for a moment to confront her, but then decided that milk was more important. The orphans gulped down their milk and walked on slowly to the feeding trough.

Ndotto and Murit left the stockades first this morning. They wandered out to the hill with our herd ambling along in their wake and settled to browse on the eastern slopes. Epiya lay down on her back, inviting her friends to play, but no one accepted the invitation and she was left rolling around on her own. Nearby, Rokka and Baraka engaged in a brief sparring match.

In the afternoon, most of the herd stood around the mud wallow while Lemeki, Losoito and Juni submerged their bodies in the water. Twirling their trunks, they splashed and played for a long time and had to catch up with their friends as they headed back out to browse.

The orphaned elephants enjoyed their morning milk feed and supplementary range cubes and lucerne. After filling their bellies, many had dust baths or played on the mound of red soil. Led by Sileita, Mushuru and Rokka, the herd then headed out for their daily browsing adventures.

Today, ex-orphans Ndotto, Murit, Mbegu, Ngilai, Godoma, and Tagwa arrived at the stockades an hour after the dependent orphans had left. They drank from the trough and browsed on lucerne for two hours before returning to the bush. Murit and Ndotto are daily visitors and the other four visit us regularly. The landscape is drying out and green browse has become scarce. In contrast, Naipoki, Lasayen and Emoli have not been seen for some time now.

After the afternoon mud bath, Losoito found a dip in the ground that was perfect for a dust bath. She lay down in the dip. Ashanti then lay on top of Losoito, gently pushing her out of the hole and taking it for herself. Not far away, Rokka and Sileita were standing with heads touching and trunks draping down – the two girls have become good friends.

Ex-orphans Mbegu, Tagwa, Godoma, Ndotto and Murit visited again today but without Ngilai. We think that Mbegu, Tagwa and Godoma like to visit regularly to check on Rokka, Busara, Baraka and the other babies. Some orphans played wrestling games while others bonded on the terraces or massaged their backsides against boulders.

When leaving for the field at the beginning of the browsing day, Mbegu, Godoma and Tagwa went in one direction while Ndotto and Murit stayed with the dependent herd. Once at the hill, Losoito lay on the ground and invited Kilulu to play. Kilulu carried on browsing – these are dry times and it was too early for her to play.

After a wonderful afternoon mud bath, the elephants covered themselves in dry soil. Baraka found a perfect soil bathing hole and lay down. Epiya and Tamiyoi stood guard around her in case one of the older Voi kids tried to push her out. Mushuru lay relaxing on the pile of dry soil. When it was time to leave, Sileita woke up her best friend with a nudge from her back leg. Mushuru clambered to her feet and the two girls walked along at the end of the line.

The orphans emerged from their shared stockades in the early morning to eat, bond and play together. Soon, they set out for the browsing fields, spreading out over the slopes of Msinga Hill and browsing towards the baobab tree mud hole.

In the afternoon, the herd had another milk feed and gathered around the mud wallow. The weather was cloudy and a cold wind was blowing. Most of the herd stood around in groups with only one or two paddling in the water. Itinyi, Thamana and Lemeki dipped their toes in the mud while Juni and Kenderi rubbed faces and backsides against the edge. Thamana and Epiya had a wrestling contest while Tamiyoi took Rokka for a scratching mission on one of the peacock trees.

When we whistled, the orphans ambled out to the bush, browsing some more before returning to the safety of the stockades for the night. Four or five elephants sleep in each stockade. All have covered areas and piles of pellets and lucerne for snacking during the night.

On a sunny morning, the ex-orphans arrived for breakfast while the dependent orphans were still in their stockades and before they had had their morning milk feed. Mbegu, Tagwa, Ngilai, Godoma, Ndotto and Murit drank from the trough and scooped up pellets. They are looking well even though browse can be scarce during dry times.

Murit and Ndotto followed the stockade dependent orphans out from the stockades on their daily browsing adventures. The two bulls went off in a different direction but joined up with the herd again in the afternoon.

After clambering out of the mud bath, Tamiyoi squatted on her bottoms on the ground, waving her trunk in an invitation to the others to play. No one was in the mood - but she kept on twirling anyway.

While Murit stood tall under the baobab tree, confident Itinyi approached him and began rubbing his neck on Murit’s bottoms. Unbothered, the large bull stood still and calm.

Meanwhile, Losoito was playing in her own special puddle. When Itinyi walked over to play with her, Losoito stood up and moved away as soon as the bull rested his leg on her back. She was taking no chances of being mounted.

Ndotto and Murit wandered away towards the north, our herd headed off in the direction of the stockades, and a herd of wild elephants took their place at the wallow.

On a cloudy day, the orphans enjoyed their morning milk feed in groups of four or five. Ashanti hung around the Keepers for a while in hope of a bonus milk bottle but reluctantly moved on to join her friends when no bottle was forthcoming. As our herd lined up at the feeding trough and around the pile of lucerne, Mbegu’s herd of ex-orphans arrived for breakfast.

Sileita and Rokka led the orphans out to Msinga Hill where they settled to browse. Mbegu’s herd stayed at the stockades, scooping up every cube they could find. The orphans had a peaceful browsing session, visiting the baobab water hole in the afternoon as usual and returning to the stockades in the early evening.

A new rescue arrived at the stockades in the afternoon. The female calf was found in the Aruba area with a severe injury suspected to be a bullet wound. She was found alone. A KWS and SWT team treated her, rescued her and brought her to the Voi stockades. The injured little girl was settled into a stable next to Serenget who rumbled in a reassuring way. She has been named Samaa.

While we were preparing the milk feed this morning, Sileita, Mushuru, Sholumai, Rokka, Busara and Losoito were standing around the gates of their stockades. They were rumbling to the new rescue, little Samaa, welcoming her to her new family. We opened the gates and the elephants ran out and down the path with the new girl standing watching from inside her stable.

Our herd joined ex-orphans Mbegu, Tagwa, Ngilai, Godoma, Ndotto and Murit in the feeding area. After browsing on lucerne, Losoito spent time with gentle Ndotto. The younger female and older male stood quietly next each other until Kenderi walked over to trunk hug Losoito and check that all was well. Nearby, Godoma knew that Losoito would be safe with Ndotto and so continued to massage herself against a boulder near the entrance.

On a cool afternoon, the herd spent time as usual at the mud wallow but did not go swimming. Mischievous Kilulu splashed himself with mud and then approached the Keeper who had the camera, flaring his ears and showing off. The herd was already walking away and so he had to run to catch up with them.

Ex-orphans Mbegu, Godoma and Tagwa were early callers at the stockades this morning – but big boys Ndotto, Murit and Ngilai did not put in an appearance. As always, Baraka was very happy to see Godoma. She stood close to her big sister and hid her face behind her ear - as if she was a tiny baby. The ex-orphans, however, did not stay long today. They browsed on lucerne and then headed back to the bush. Baraka may want to be with Godoma but she is milk dependent and too young to live a wild life.

Rokka, Sileita and Mushuru led the herd out to the field. Newbies Sileita and Mushuru, although still very young, are showing signs of becoming matriarchs. In contrast, Sholumai is choosing to spend time with Voi kids like Kilulu, Kenderi, Itinyi, Thamana and Epiya.

The orphaned elephants browsed in single file during the morning. In the afternoon, they visited the mud bath but did not get wet, instead opting for dust baths or tree massages. Losoito rolled around in an incline in the ground until she saw Hildana approaching. Wary of the older bull, Losoito stood up and moved over to big sister Lemeki.