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It is known that when a lion is full or satisfied that no matter how close their prey come, they show no interest. In the afternoon the orphan elephants were all enjoying their browse when they heard a warthog piglet shouting and screaming. The piglet came running down the path towards where the elephants were browsing and there was a lion chasing it from behind! But the lion didn't seem to be putting that much effort it and rather was teasing the piglet and pretending to chase it. The mother warthog was running behind the lion trying to save the little one - the drama came to an end however when courageous Kamok, who doesn't like the lions, left the group and stepped out of the bushes to scare away the lion. The lion ran away and disappeared into the thicket and the little piglet was reunited with its mother. Today it was such a hot day since early morning and come 3pm and time for the private visit, Malima finished her milk and led Ambo, Jotto and Mbegu into the mud pool. Later sweet little Godoma joined them too and together with Mbegu the two submerged themselves in the mud from head to tail. Mbegu allowed the little ones to climb on her back and slide down into the mud. This group later left the mud to go and dust themselves with loose soil to dry off. Ndotto and Lasayen then decided to go into the mud and they enjoyed new games of their own - kicking a football to one another and doing headstands in the mud as well. Finally they abandoned the football and started the game that Ndotto loves best, a pushing and climbing game.

After arriving into the forest this morning and after a little while, Godoma dodged the keepers and sneaked back to the stockades. When she got there she went straight into Dupotto's pen to spend some time communicating with Kelelari in his stockade. She spent a good while interacting with him and whenever she heard anyone approaching, she his herself in the back of the pen in the corner. After that person had disappeared she would come out to speak with Kelelari again. When she was finally caught running to hide in the corner again she was taken back out to the forest but the keepers. Ukame normally spends most of her time with Malima but today she was led out to the forest by the grumpy girl Esampu and Wanjala too. These three slowly became separated from the rest of the herd as they browsed. Because the herd was altogether in the same thicket it was thought they were among them too but the keepers realised they had been browsing separately when they came to rejoin the herd from another direction. After the 9am feed this morning, Mbegu, Roi, Oltaiyoni, Tamiyoi and Ndotto went back to the stockades to escort Karisa out for the first time today! When he gate was opened it was Roi who went in first but when Karisa saw her coming in he raised his ears high to charge at her! Roi responded by blocking him from coming out and then Ndotto tried to get in too; it was only when a keeper went in too to lead him out that he looked very jovial and happy to be a part of the group escorting him out to the forest. He went on wanting to get to know everyone and came across Kuishi, Tamiyoi and Malima - he was very interested in them and especially Malima, but she kept running away from him! Generally he has a wonderful day out in the forest and gave no problems to the keepers - he is much better behaved outside of his stockade than within!

Kelelari seems to enjoy his life in the stockade - every morning when his neighbour Dupotto goes out to the forest he doesn't seem to mind and watches them all walk away while he munches on his greens. He seems to be okay with this style of life for the moment! Although one day we will of course want him to join the others out in the forest and socialising altogether. He has put on a lot of weight since being with us and his condition is looking really good, his injuries healing well. It's so funny how a big girl Like Ukame has become attached to a little girl like Malima. To this day she follows Malima wherever she goes. Today, just before the 3pm milk feeding time, Malima led a group of elephants down to the mud bath area. She and her friend Ukame were interested in a mud wallow as it was a very hot day by that time and it seems that was why they intentionally came down to the mud wallow. A short distance behind them some others had sneaked away and were following behind them. Ambo, Oltaiyoni, Tagwa, Pare, Lasayen, Ndotto and Malkia all came down after them, but they had different intentions as they were after their milk bottles! Malkia arrived and found no one waiting with a bottle of milk which is the norm and began screaming for her bottle. Oltaiyoni and the others just wondered what was going on, and as the keepers tried to convince them to follow them back out they tried to dodge them and wouldn’t pay attention to their call at all. As all this went on with the others, Ukame and her little friend just went on enjoying the mud bath! After they had finished Malima led Ukame out again and back out to the forest, upon which the others decided to follow behind them as well until it was the real feeding time at 3pm and they would come back down again with the others. Rapa has really fallen in love with this squeaky toy which he enjoys playing with all the time, even in his stockade, but Maramoja doesn’t like it at all, and it is almost as if Rapa knows this! He deliberately plays with it when Maramoja is around, especially in the afternoon when they are in their stockades.

Today Ukame missed going out with Malima to the forest and instead she had Karisa as her little companion for the day. The whole group had been browsing altogether since morning, except for these two who decided to browse separately from the others. Karisa is willing to make friends with anyone who invites him on a walk and he is always looking for the invitation. As the first group prepared to go down to the mud bath for their milk feed it was discovered that Ukame and Karisa were not with the rest of the group. A search for them began but they were nowhere in the close vicinity and the feeding time had to begin. Some keepers stayed to look for them and the others went down for the feeding. Ukame and Karisa ended up missing the entire milk feeding session and were eventually found busy browsing deep in the bushes. When Ukame saw the keepers approaching she seemed to come to her senses and she ran out of the thicket to see them, with Karisa running behind her. They both seem to have regained their memory and started looking for their beloved milk from the keepers, but seeing as it was so close to the next feeding time they just rejoined the rest of the orphans and had their milk bottles a bit later.

Out in the bush in the early morning, Murit had a wonderful time playing with Luggard who he has been showing very strong attachment to recently and it seems the two are becoming great friends. During the public visiting today the first group of orphans were led out by Mbegu soon after finishing their bottle feeds to the mud bath, where they all cooled down their hot bodies in the midday sun. Little Malima, Jotto, Tamiyoi, Ambo, Esampu and Kuishi were all busy bumping and sliding against each other as they spun around in the mud pool. Off to the side Rapa was busy pushing Lasayen and when Lasayen tried to get out of the mud wallow he held onto his hind leg and tried to pull him back in! Lasayen was holding onto the bank of the wallow but Rapa eventually managed to pull him back in and he landed on his hind deep in the mud. Rapa’s naughty antics captured the attention of the visiting public who thought it very funny to watch such a mischievous little elephant!

When the orphans were on their way out to the forest in the morning, Kuishi, Tamiyoi, Malima and Esampu sneaked back to the stockade area under the leadership of Tamiyoi, who led them to feed on the lucerne beside Maxwell’s gate. Kuishi started rumbling and yelling when she saw the keepers cleaning out the stockades. When she saw one of them pushing a wheelbarrow containing dirty hay, she went ran after him and started pushing him, believing the wheelbarrow contained milk bottles instead and that it was mil feeding time! It was only just after 7 o’clock though, so she really was just over excited. When she realised it was not milk, she yelled in protest, a reaction that caused Tamiyoi and the others to come over to her to see what was wrong. Then the keepers led them all back into the forest to stop causing trouble in the stockade area and browse with the others as they should be.

Out in the forest this morning we watched as young Karisa enjoyed a playful pushing game with Tusuja, proving that he really is becoming truly settled into the nursery family and daily routine. Karisa is a lovely gentle boy who loves his human family, despite what humans did to his mother, and he really loves his milk bottle feeds! During public visiting this morning the first group were having their milk bottles and it was quite interesting to see tiny Tamiyoi bullying little Malima and Kuishi who were trying to approach the keeper bottle feeding Tamiyoi. She ran over very fast to encounter them before they reached her keeper. Nowadays Tamiyoi is looking pretty strong and healthy and is showing this off to all the others in the nursery so they know not to mess with her or her milk bottles! Due to the frequent presence of lions around the forest area, Kiko has been spending his days within the stockade area compound so as to avoid encountering them, equipped with greens and milk all day long. His vents his frustration at not being allowed to go out and join the other orphans on his keepers, sometimes kicking at them as he does not realize the danger posed to him out there!

It was a Happy Christmas as all the orphans and their human family woke up to begin their nice day out in the forest. They all looked happy and healthy as they walked out to the bush in a playful mood, scampering around and bashing bushes down as they trumpeted with Oltaiyoni, Mbegu, Roi and Naseku leading them out. It was lovely to watch them all playing around and sweet little Luggard too. Charging and bashing bushes down on his three good legs, though always standing close to Murit, Tamiyoi, Jotto and Malima since they are the most friendly to him out of everyone. Their happy moment took a turn however when Ukame lost her balance and fell over with a shout – whilst she tried to stand back up the entire herd had to turn around to see what was wrong with her, and by the time they reached her she was back on her feet.. and they all happily walked off into the forest to browse.

Out in the forest early this morning, it was unusual to witness all of the orphans browsing close to their keepers, even the older ones like Naseku, Kauro, Tusuja, Maramoja, Karisa and Ukame were all browsing close instead of walking off further. Tusuja, Kauro, Naseku and Maramoja were sometimes witnessed trying to nudge the little ones like Ambo, Jotto, Tamiyoi, Tagwa, Murit, Malima and Malkia away… so that they could be the closest to the keepers! This suggests they are still missing the leadership of Oltaiyoni who used to lead them off further into the forest, unlike Mbegu who likes to stay close to the little ones. This will all balance out when the older ones are moved down too and Mbegu will most likely become the new leader, or matriarch, of the nursery herd, and guide the babies around. Today is the last day for Kauro, Tusuja and Naseku to have their final rehearsal for the lorry. Kauro and Naseku are happily taking their milk inside unlike Tusuja who is still refusing, so he will be a difficult one to load tomorrow morning when they are due to depart for Ithumba! We will have to see.