December began on a cheerful note for our Nursery herd. We have rescued so many orphans over the past few weeks and months, so there is a curious and convivial air about the Nursery.
This morning, as the orphans were peacefully browsing in the forest, Kinyei and Naleku were enjoying a playful moment together, rolling around on one of the slopes, climbing on top of each other and rolling down the slope and then running back up. Their game continued for quite some time, which exhausted Naleku, as she was often being climbed on by Kinyei.
As Naleku grew more tired, she began to yell out in protest. This frightened Kinyei, who ran away. Naleku was struggling to get up on the slope and she began to really yell out. Kerrio, who was nearby browsing with Larro, Mukkoka and Olorien, was the first to run over and check on her nanny. Sadly for Naleku, Kerrio was not strong enough to help her out, but she was accompanied by Larro and Mukkoka, who both tried to help her up. Larro and Mukkoka didn’t manage to get her up, but fortunately the Keepers were just behind and saved the day.
The orphans were all in a great mood this morning as they were being let out of their stables and stockades. As they were still within the stockade compound, Roho, Rama, Kinyei and Naboishu engaged each other in some light wrestling matches. Rama and Roho were the first to size each other up and push each other around the stockade, but their game was abruptly ended by Naboishu, who came over and pushed Roho aside. Naboishu then wanted to challenge Roho, but Roho preferred to wrestle Rama and Kinyei, as they were smaller and more his match. As Naboishu kept being ignored by Roho, he got frustrated and then chased them all away.
As Naboishu was chasing them towards the forest, Rama was rumbling and trumpeting in protest. At the border of the forest, they came across a herd of impala that was relaxing with the babies lying down. As soon as the impala heard the commotion, they quickly got up and begun to run further into the forest. This frightened Rama and Naboishu, who both did a quick 180 and ran straight back to the stockade compound where they settled near Larro and Mukkoka.
As all this commotion was going on, Naleku was carrying out her normal routine of walking through the stockade compound, greeting all the new rescues and escorting little Kerrio the moment her stable door was opened. Some of the newer rescues are still staying within the stockade compound, as they continue to settle into their new life at the Nursery. After a short period, the whole Nursery herd was directed out to the forest, where they enjoyed a peaceful day of browsing.
Ziwadi continues to be the gentle auntie of the Nursery. Although she is not as attentive as the others, the younger and newer orphans always enjoy her company, as she is always gentle with them giving them trunk hugs and cuddles. Whenever the orphans are in the forest, younger orphans such as Kerrio, Latika, Mukutan, Taabu, Kamili, and Choka will all go looking for Ziwadi. This morning, she could be seen hugging little Kerrio with her trunk. Naleku was nearby, keeping an eye on them. Naleku trusts Ziwadi and doesn’t worry when Kerrio is spending time with her.
Around mid-morning, it began to rain and the day became quite chilly. As a result, the Keepers had to direct Kerrio and some of the other newer rescues back to the warmth of their stables and stockades. Kerrio, who loves spending time with the herd, was not very happy with being led back to her stable. As she is still growing stronger, she needs to keep warm in the colder weather. Once inside her stable with a Keeper, she seemed to calm down.
This afternoon, Maxwell had an unwanted visitor: A tortoise managed to sneak into his stockade and was hanging around in the long grass eating for most of the afternoon. Maxwell was most displeased and paced up and down throughout his stockade, kicking his back legs up and charging against his walls in protest. The tortoise seemed to realize that he was not very welcome and quickly scurried out of the stockade, leaving Maxwell in peace.
This evening, Rama was being so naughty and kept stealing Olorien’s greens. Each time Olorien separated her greens, Rama would come over, grab what he could, and pull it through to his stockade. Even after the Keepers took her greens back and told him off, Rama kept coming back and stealing more. This continued until he fell asleep.
Oldepe, one of the newer rescues in the Nursery Unit, has been longing to spend a full day with the Nursery herd. He is constantly pushing at his stockade gate to follow the herd out in the morning. Oldepe’s neighbour, Barnoti, is more settled in and has been joining the others out in the forest for quite some time. This adds insult to injury, because Barnoti is always so eager to start his day and head off to the forest. After Oldepe regains his strength and becomes used to the Nursery routine, he will join them too. In the meantime, Naleku is always there in the morning to greet him at his door.
Naleku continues to be an exceptional nanny. She is always caring for the younger orphans and newer rescues, and is always amongst the first to check on any newer arrivals. Every morning, Naleku has continued her routine of checking on all the newer rescues and then waiting for her little angel Kerrio before wandering off.
Following closely behind Naleku is Kindani, who also takes her nanny responsibilities very seriously. She is constantly looking after her friends Kinyei and Bondeni, but also some of the newer rescues, such as Latika and Kamili. Because Latika and Kamili arrived around the same time, they have become close friends, and are very protective over one another. They have quickly figured out which orphans to spend time with, such as Ziwadi, Naleku and Kindani.
There was so much action this morning as the orphans were getting up. Mukkoka and Larro were so excited that they began to charge around the stockade compound, kicking and pushing all the water troughs, spilling water everywhere. Every time the Keepers tried to stop them, they would get even more excited and charge around even faster. By the time the orphans were led out to the forest, the stockade compound was a mess, with toppled water troughs and milk buckets.
As the Keepers were getting the orphans ready to run down for their 9am bottles of milk, they realized that Ziwadi had snuck off with Barnoti and Choka. As they were tracking their footprints, Choka emerged from the nearby bushes. Not too far from where he appeared, the Keepers found Ziwadi and Barnoti peacefully browsing. They were given their milk bottles before being ushered back to the herd.
They were not the only ones who seemed to be on their own mission. Taabu, Kamili, Roho, and Suguroi spent the day browsing together, away from the rest of the herd. Kinyei was in a bad mood and kept bugging Choka, Latika, Mukutan, and Taabu, so the Keepers ushered her away and she spent most of the day on her own.
This evening we received a new rescue from Laikipia.
The new rescue from Laikipia is doing better, but is still too weak to head out with the other orphans, so he remains within his stockade. In the morning, Naleku, Kinyei and Kindani continued their normal routine of checking on him before heading off with the rest of the Nursery herd. These interactions are always important in helping the new rescues settle down and get used to the members of the Nursery herd before they let out of their stockades.
It was another beautiful, sunny day. As a result, some of the orphans enjoyed a long mud bath after their midday bottles of milk. Naleku, Mukutan, Kindani, and Choka were some of the orphans in the centre of the mud bath, rolling and splashing around. Kerrio was on the edge of the mud bath peacefully splashing some mud around.
Amusingly, Taabu and Kinyei were standing watch over the mud bath area, as some of the resident warthogs were trying to approach to cool off. Every time the warthogs would approach, Taabu would hold up his head and flare out his ears, rumbling at the warthogs and chasing them off. He and Kinyei spent the entire time just chasing the warthogs off and then running back to the mud bath. Finally, when the Keepers ushered the orphans back to the forest, the warthogs could enjoy a mud bath.
It was a big day for Oldepe, as it was his first time joining the rest of the Nursery herd. As the Keepers were letting everyone out, Oldepe became quite agitated, as perhaps he thought he was going to be left behind again. As soon as he saw the Keepers approaching his stockade door, he got all excited and came running out. After all the orphans excitedly greeted him, they made their way to the forest.
He was so well behaved in the forest, spending time with Roho, Naleku, Kinyei, Olorien and Barnoti. Unfortunately, Mukkoka, Naboishu, Larro, and Kindani were not being very welcoming, as they kept trying to bully him. The Keepers wondered if they were perhaps trying to assert their dominance as the older orphans of the Nursery herd. Nevertheless, they made sure the unwelcoming bunch stayed away from Oldepe.
After the orphans’ midday mud bath, they were all lead back to the forest. In the forest, Barnoti and Oldepe were enjoying a dust bath together. Rama kept bothering Oldepe, trying to climb on his back and wrestle him. Oldepe is so new that he didn’t enjoy this interaction and ran away in fright. The Keepers had to search for him throughout the afternoon. As it approached 5pm, Oldepe reappeared and was ushered into his stockade for the evening.
Oldepe once again joined the rest of the Nursery herd. Much like the day before, he enjoyed spending time with Naleku, Bondeni, Kinyei, Kerrio and Kindani. Kindani did try to bully him now and again, but not as badly as the day before. He stood up for himself a bit better today, and the Keepers were quick to intervene and chase her off back to Larro, Naboishu and Mukkoka, who were also kept away.
It was an exciting morning for Naboishu, Mukkoka, and Larro, as they began their training to enter the translocation lorry. At three and four years old, they are ready to begin their reintegration process. When it was time for the orphans to have their 9am bottles of milk, the Keepers directed this trio back to the stockade compound, where the lorry was parked. Tempted with milk bottles, Larro and Mukkoka walked straight onto the lorry. Naboishu, however, ran back into the forest before even finishing his milk bottle. They had another training around the midday milk feeding. This time, they all walked into their compartments without any hesitation and happily finished their milk bottles. They did the same during their 3 o’clock milk feeds.
Suguroi seems to also be adopting Kindani’s bully ways. She is constantly bothering Choka and Mukutan. This afternoon, she tried to get close to Kerrio, but Naleku was not having any of it. Suguroi then turned her attention back to Choka and Mukutan, pushing Mukutan so hard that he fell over and yelled out. Naleku immediately came running over and shoved Suguroi away from them, driving her far away from the little guys.
This morning, Oldepe was making new friends, spending time with Kamili, Choka, and Barnoti. Kamili was happily led her little group to where she wanted to browse. Larro was also being much nicer to Oldepe today, keeping him company whilst in the forest before going back to the rest of the Nursery herd.
Mukkoka, Naboishu and Larro continued their translocation training. Again, they all entered the lorry without any fuss. They are all so comfortable with the truck that the Keepers anticipate their journey to Tsavo will be a seamless one.
Ziwadi has had a wonderful afternoon with Kerrio and Choka. Kerrio and Choka kept approaching Ziwadi for trunk hugs, and it was so special for the Keepers to watch as Ziwadi happily hugged them before continuing to browse. Kerrio and Choka spent most of the afternoon browsing near her.
Suguroi loves to wander further into the forest, and she seems to have the same confidence as Naleku in leading the Nursery herd further afield. This afternoon, as Ziwadi remained closer to the stockade compound with Kerrio and Choka, Suguroi led some of the herd deeper into the forest. She was followed by Larro, Mukkoka, Roho, and Naboishu.
A lot of the orphans seem to be adopting a naughty habit of wandering off on their own. This evening, it was Mukkoka and Mukutan who wandered off and then came back to the stockade compound in a different direction to the other orphans. Once all the orphans were safely back in their stockades and stables, they all settled for the evening.
Sagateisa, who was rescued at the end of November, has finally gained enough strength to have her first day out with the Nursery herd. As it was a little bit chilly when the orphans were being let out, the Keepers left her in the warmth of her stockade for a bit longer. Around 9 o’clock, the morning had warmed up nicely and the Keepers went back to the stockade compound to get Sagateisa. They chose to bring Ziwadi, Kinyei, Olorien, Naleku, Kindani and Taabu back with them, so they could accompany her out.
At first, Sagateisa was very shy about coming out of her stockade, so some of the Keepers went in with Kinyei to usher her out. As she arrived in the forest, she chose to stay close to Naleku and the younger orphans. Naleku was happy to keep her company during the day. As she is still gaining her confidence, the Keepers chose to keep Sagateisa in the forest during the midday mud bath.
We have named the new rescue who arrived on the 5th of December Tingai.
Oldepe is now completely settled within the Nursery herd. He is making great progress and has lots of friends. He seems to be closest to Barnoti, Choka, and Olorien. Today, he was even spending time with Sagateisa, who is also becoming more settled. Although it is only her second day out in the forest, Sagateisa is doing well and she seems to be getting along well with the whole Nursery herd. Today, she insisted on joining the rest of the Nursery at the mud bath for her midday bottle of milk.
Mukkoka, Naboishu and Larro have gotten so used to their training routine now that the Keepers don’t have to spend any time walking them over to the translocation lorry, because they automatically head that way. After today’s mid-morning training, Mukkoka went over to greet Maxwell, who was at the top of his stockade. Max was enjoying a nap in the sun when he smelled the orphans. He walked over to his gate to greet Mukkoka. Max and Mukkoka have always enjoyed each other’s company, and Mukkoka always gives him trunk hugs.
This afternoon, Naleku enjoyed a peaceful mud bath with Kerrio in the forest, but it was not long before the rest of the herd joined them. After their mud bath they browsed for a bit before going home for the evening.
Sagateisa was in such a good mood this morning. As she was leaving the stockade compound, she joined Taabu, Choka and Kamili, who were all browsing on some of the bushes near Maxwell’s stockade. They spent most of their day together; browsing peacefully amongst each other and occasionally playing some short games of hide and seek. Oldepe even joined them in the morning whilst they were browsing, and Barnoti was always nearby.
In the afternoon, everyone ran down to the mud bath to have their 3 o’clock bottles of milk. They were joined by Mukkoka, who was being his usual gentle self. He peacefully drank his milk near them before walking over to the mud bath.
Oldepe has adopted a naughty habit of playing hide and seek with his Keepers, especially when it is nearing the time for them to head home for the evening. As he wandered off around 4:30 the day before, the Keepers immediately started to search for him. As soon as he saw the Keepers, he would run off and hide in the thick bush. The Keepers quickly caught onto his game and then decided to stop their search and wait for him by the stockade compound. Just as they predicted, Oldepe appeared from the forest withing a few minutes, ready to return to his stockade for the evening.
Although his new game is quite funny, he does cause the Keepers and the rest of the orphans quite a bit of stress, as they all wonder where he has gone and when he will come back! As soon as he was back, orphans like Larro, Mukkoka, Kindani, Kinyei, Naboishu all calmed down and settled for the evening. This morning, he seemed quite tired after his adventurous night.
Today was another big day for the Nursery herd, as Tingai had his first day out in the forest with the Nursery herd. The Keepers decided to let him out at 9 o’clock when the orphans were getting ready to have their bottles of milk. He was happily greeted by Roho, Larro, Kinyei, and - rather surprisingly - Kindani. They could all be seen rumbling and raising their trunks, greeting him. Kindani has always been the mini-matriarch of her little group, so it is always difficult to know how she might react when the new rescues join the herd. Today she was friendly and welcoming.
Tingai was so comfortable amongst the herd that he walked in the middle of them and followed the herd down to the mud bath for their midday bottles of milk. He was not worried at all about the visitors or any of the orphans. Mukkoka continues to be hot and cold with the new rescues — in fact, he has become unpredictable, just like Naboishu. Whilst down at the mud bath, Mukkoka kept trying to bully Tingai, much like he did with Oldepe. The Keepers had to step in and chase him off to the naughty corner.
In the afternoon, Tingai spent time with Kinyei, Kindani, and Suguroi and then they all made their way back to the stockade compound together.
Oldepe, Kamili, and Choka have become the best of friends as they are spending most of their days together. Despite Oldepe being older, he enjoys the company of these younger two, as both Kamili and Choka are both very friendly and calm orphans. They do not stir up any trouble. Perhaps, Kamili and Choka also enjoy the attention from an older orphan, as they play the role of bigger brother or uncle, much like how the older girls, such as Kinyei and Naleku play the role of nanny to the orphans.
Roho, Larro, Mukkoka, and Naboishu have also remained close friends. They have been joined by Rama, who likes to wrestle the boys on occasion, when he is now spending time with his friend, Ziwadi.
Naleku, however, has new friends with all her new responsibilities as nanny. She is so busy with the younger orphans that she is not spending as much time with her old friends such as Roho. Naleku now spends most of her days with little Kerrio, who she completely dotes upon. In some ways she has already taken over Larro’s role as matriarch of the Nursery, since Larro has begun her training to graduate.
Mukkoka continues to be temperamental with the younger orphans. As of late, he has spent more time in the naughty corner with Naboishu than with the rest of the herd. The Keepers have a hard time keeping him away from the herd when he is being naughty — especially when he is trying to bully orphans such as Barnoti and Oldepe, who he seems to dislike more than the others. Whenever Barnoti and Oldepe try to come close to him, Mukkoka begins shoving them and bothering them until the Keepers chase him away.
Despite his new temper, he remains gentle with orphans such as Ziwadi and Naleku, and he still enjoys spending time with them throughout the day. However, when Mukkoka and Naboishu are wrestling in the forest, they push each other all over the place and charge after one another so much that the younger orphans tend to move away.
Esoit continues to be a gentle and caring little bull. Despite their antics, he has remained close with Mukkoka and Naboishu, as he is always so easy going.
All the orphans seemed to be in a good mood this morning. Many of the orphans were chasing each other around the stockade compound, except for the new rescues, Sagateisa and Tingai, who are still too new, too shy, and still gaining their strength. Kamili, Mukutan, and Latika all seem to be the slower bunch in the Nursery. They enjoy keeping their own pace, much like Ziwadi. Esoit and Bondeni, on the other hand, like to get their day started quickly. They will play with their friends and then dash off to the forest.
Out in the forest, Oldepe was in his naughty mood again. He kept trying to dash off and hide from his Keepers. The Keepers have gotten so used to keeping an eye on them that they immediately pick up when he is trying to sneak off and quickly stop him. This morning, he only enjoyed a short game of hide and seeks before being ushered back to the herd.
Bondeni continues to be the star of the midday milk feed as he is always showing off to all the Nursery’s visitors. Whenever he gets the opportunity, he will try to sneak off under the rope to then charge around the mud bath area, keeping his Keepers on their toes. The Keepers often usher him to the back, with Naboishu and Mukkoka, where they can keep a closer eye on him.
Rama and Tingai appear to have a growing friendship. Tingai has been following Rama around in the forest and has become his little shadow. Rama, who is always so welcoming to new arrivals, happily spends all day with him in the forest. The Keepers always enjoy seeing these new friendships develop.
This afternoon, as the orphans were making their way back to the forest after their 3 o’clock bottles of milk, Mukutan, Tingai and Sagataisa took their own path past Maxwell’s big stockade. As they were making such a noise, they quickly caught Max’s attention and he came running over to the gate to smell what was going on. Max became agitated, as he couldn’t quite figure out who was there. He began to kick up his back legs and huff about as his frustration grew. Eventually, one of the Keepers came over to usher the three away, which made Max calm down.
As is often the case with our new rescues, Barnoti has become one of the biggest milk fans of the Nursery herd. He and Suguroi are quite greedy and have both learned the different milk feeding times, so they are always amongst the first to be ready to run down. They often try to sneak down in the first groups. With Barnoti being older, he is held back to run with other greedy characters, such as Naboishu. Suguroi will run down with orphans such as Esoit and Bondeni.
Latika, Mukutan and Kamili, all seem to be of similar temperaments, and as a result, they have grown quite close. Latika and Kamili arrived within days of each other, so they bonded in the earlier days when they were both in the stockade compound. As soon as Mukutan arrived, these girls seemed to take a liking to him. They often checked up on him, and when he was let out with the herd for the first time, they were sure to keep him company.
It was a cold morning. The Keepers decided to keep Kerrio, Latika, Kamili and some of the newer rescues in the warmth of their stockades and stables. Fortunately, it did not take too long for the morning to warm up, and after an hour, two of the Keepers came to fetch them. As they were making their way out to the forest, they came across Naleku who was on her way back to the stockade compound. Often when the Keepers keep Kerrio back, Naleku will come back to look for her, because she loves spending time with the little girl and doesn’t like being in the forest without her.
Bondeni was full of energy this morning charging around the forest and pushing bushes out of his way as he ran around. He was having such a great time that Esoit decided to join him and the two had such a great time running around, trumpeting and rumbling in excitement. They continued their game until it was time for them to run down for their midday bottles of milk.
When it was time for the orphans to run down for their midday bottles of milk, Naleku, Kerrio, Kinyei, Kindani and Ziwadi all ran down together. Kinyei and Kindani have always been so comfortable around Naleku and Ziwadi, and they enjoy heading down for their milk together. They have also taken on the responsibility of looking after some of the younger orphans — Kinyei more so than Kindani — but they do help Naleku with her nanny responsibilities.
It was another very cold morning and there were sporadic showers throughout the evening and into the morning. As a result, the Keepers chose to keep even more of the younger orphans in their warm bedrooms. Kerrio, Latika, Kamili, Taabu, Mukutan, Choka, Sagateisa and Tingai all stayed back, waiting for the morning to warm up. The rest of the Nursery herd was led out to the forest by Larro.
Some of the orphans quite enjoy the rain. As soon as they got to the forest Naleku, Olorien, Kinyei, Kindani, Bondeni, Esoit and Roho all rolled around on the muddy ground. Roho and Bondeni started their play mounting games with some of the other orphans. Roho kept trying to climb on Naleku’s back, while Bondeni kept trying to climb on Kinyei. As the rain started to ease off, the bigger orphans started joining them such as Naboishu, Larro, Mukkoka, Barnoti and Oldepe. Olorien was not keen on the bigger orphans and their mounting games, so she was sure to keep her distance, near Kindani and Esoit.
Unlike other days, Rama decided to roll around in the mud today. He was so shy that he stayed right on the edge of all the excitement and was peacefully rolling around on his own, covering his whole body with mud. As soon as Rama noticed Roho and Naboishu getting up, he quickly stepped aside, as he didn’t want to be a target of their rowdy games.
The showers continued throughout the day. Maxwell was thoroughly enjoying the showers, charging around his stockade, splashing up the mud and rolling around. As the orphans were coming back in the evening, Max was covered head to toe in a thick layer of mud. He happily ate his fresh greens before heading off to bed.
It was another cold morning. Once again, Kerrio and some of the orphans were kept within their stables and stockades until the morning warmed up a bit more. Naleku was not happy about this. Even out in the forest, she could be seen snaking through the orphans with her trunk held high, looking for her little girl. As soon as she noticed that Kerrio was not among the herd, she went sprinting back to the stockade compound to get her. Naleku was trumpeting and rumbling so loudly that Kerrio heard her and responded by trumpeting loudly. Naleku stood patiently by her stable door, until the Keepers let Kerrio out, swaddled in her cosy blanket. She and Naleku happily trotted off back to the forest.
Lately, Kinyei seems to be adopting Kindani’s bully ways. She has been quite rough with Taabu, Kamili, Choka and Mukutan. She is constantly trying to head butt them when they walk by her and as a result they are all keeping far away from her. The Keepers have had to increase the naughty corner more and more with so many orphans in the Nursery now, but they are hoping that as all the orphans get used to each other that the older orphans will stop bullying the younger, newer orphans.
Nowadays, Roho is one of the older members of the Nursery herd. He has come a long way since his arrival, growing in both strength and confidence. Despite this, he can still be the annoying sibling he used to be, especially with Naleku. We are often reminded of this during milk feeds. As soon as the orphans have finished their bottles and are settling down, he starts to chase some of them so he can climb on their backs, which is a game he thoroughly enjoys. He will often chase after Naleku, Kindani, Olorien, Kinyei, Taabu, Esoit and Suguroi. As he is much bigger than most of these babies, the Keepers have to stop him. Some of the orphans, such as Naleku, will stand up for themselves and shove back at him.
Ziwadi continues to do well and has not had a seizure for quite some time. She appears more stable and composed, but we will always continue to monitor her condition. These days, she is happy to spend more time with the Nursery herd and doesn’t wander off on her own as often. She is still close to Rama, but he has been enjoying spending time with some of the other bulls, such as Barnoti and Oldepe. Rama is not as shy as he used to be when he first arrived, and it is great to see him happily socializing and forming friendships. He is also so confident around Mukkoka, Roho and Naboishu, who are some of the biggest bulls in the herd. He has even been seen enjoying challenging Mukkoka and Roho to strength testing matches.
Finally, this morning was slightly warmer, which made all the orphans happy and playful. Esoit, Taabu, Kinyei, Olorien, Bondeni and Naleku were all hyper as they came out of their stables and stockades. They started running all over the stockade compound, bumping into each other and rumbling and trumpeting in excitement. Esoit and Olorien enjoyed a short wrestling match against one another, but their game was abruptly ended when Esoit tried to climb on Olorien’s back. Olorien has never enjoyed mounting games, so she had zero tolerance and angrily rumbled at Esoit, which sent him running off leaving her alone.
Kinyei continues to enjoy her wrestling matches with Roho and Bondeni. She prefers to challenge them instead of the other girls in the Nursery herd. This afternoon, soon after the orphans settled in the forest to browse after their midday milk feed and mud bath, Kinyei decided to have a dust bath. She was happily rolling around when Bondeni and Roho joined her. It wasn’t long before they all started to roll around, wrestling each other and trying to climb on each other’s backs. They had fun for quite some time before getting up and joining the rest of the herd browsing.
Christmas morning began on a playful note. Esoit, Olorien, Bondeni, Kinyei and Kindani had the best time chasing a herd of impala they found grazing in the forest. The game turned south when some hidden impala suddenly sprung into the air, giving Esoit and Bondeni a big fright. Both bulls did a 180 and ran back to the rest of the herd, rumbling in protest. This sent Kinyei, Kindani and Olorien running back as well.
As the orphans got back to the forest after their midday bottles of milk, Naboishu snuck off with Roho, Barnoti, Suguroi, Mukutan, Taabu, and Latika and led them deep into the forest. Naboishu has been quite calm as of late enjoying more peaceful moments with the Nursery orphans as opposed to always causing mischief, Perhaps that is why he managed to coerce them all on a jaunt. Mukutan eventually revealed their location, as it was nearing the 3 o’clock milk feed and he was eagerly bellowing for his bottle.
Bondeni continues to be Larro’s favourite in the Nursery. Bondeni loves to climb on the others backs, which sometimes annoys the other orphans and causes them to retaliate. When they do, Larro always steps in and tells them off. This morning, he kept trying to climb on Naleku and Olorien, so both of chased him away. Immediately, Larro came over and pushed the girls, protecting Bondeni.
Bondeni loves being the star of the mud bath when all our supporters are visiting. The Keepers constantly have to watch over him, as they know it is only a matter of time before he embarks on some attention-seeking mischief. Recently, he has been charging at our guests and trying to head butt them, so the Keepers have been shepherding him to the naughty corner. Today, he kept hiding behind Larro and causing such a scene that the Keepers eventually left him by her side.
Recently, Kamili has started to also take on the responsibilities of nanny to some of the younger orphans. She has been trying to take care of Kinyei, Taabu, Esoit, Mukutan and Olorien. She often sneaks her little group further afield in the forest. However, because she is still getting the hang of things, confusion often ensues. When she leads them back for their milk feeds, she often leads them down to the mud bath, as opposed to the feeding point in the forest. Once, she even led everyone back to the stockade compound. Although the Keepers are happy that she is growing in confidence, they hope she starts to understand the feeding routine!
Kamili and Kinyei have grown very close. This afternoon, as the orphans settled back in the forest to browse, Kamili and Kinyei snuck off with Olorien and Esoit. One of the Keepers kept any eye on them as they were heading further and further afield, and he ushered them back when it was time to head home for the evening.
Esoit was in a playful mood this morning, but he was feeling far more energetic than his peers and no one else wanted to play. He kept chasing after Mukutan and Taabu, as he wanted to climb on their backs. The Keepers kept telling him off, but after a couple minutes, he would then start again. Naleku noticed his bevahiour and was very unimpressed.
As Esoit was charging around the mud bath, he didn’t realise that he was about to run straight past Kerrio. Naleku immediately shoved Esoit away and chased after him. The Keepers had to step in to diffuse the situation, but it was a good lesson for Esoit in not pushing the limits. After this, he was very calm and went to browse near Taabu. Naleku continues to demonstrate that she will be a fantastic matriarch and mother one day.
It was a beautiful, sunny day. By midday, the temperatures were skyrocketing, and all the orphans were hot. As soon as they downed their milk, they ran over to the mud bath. Larro and Roho even took a small break between their first and second milk bottle to throw some mud behind their ears and cool off.
Because all the orphans wanted to wallow, there was not enough space for everyone in the mud bath. Naboishu seemed to realize this very quickly, because he stood guard over the mud bath and was only allowing Mukkoka to join him. He kept chasing off Roho, Rama, Larro, Barnoti, and Olorien. Naboishu continued this for quite some time, until Mukkoka noticed that he wasn’t letting anyone else in and chased him away. As soon as Naboishu was out, Larro, Olorien, Suguroi, Barnoti and Bondeni all ran into the water. Mukkoka then got out, keeping his friend Naboishu out of trouble.
It was another scorching day. Once again, the orphans enjoyed a long mud wallow after their midday bottles of milk. Ziwadi continues to be apprehensive of the mud bath, but she does occasionally join in. Although she didn’t get into the mud pool today, she managed to cover herself in mud with the help of her Keepers, who were spraying her with the hose and throwing mud on her back. She did try to roll around a couple of times, only to stand up almost immediately, worrying that one of the other orphans would bother her.
Kamili took full advantage of the Keepers helping Ziwadi and positioned herself directly behind her friend, so she could also get splashed. By the time the orphans headed back to the forest, they were both covered in mud.
Rama and Barnoti continue to have a growing friendship. The two bulls are very gentle and friendly with one another, and as a result, they have been spending quite a bit of time together. They often run down for their milk bottles side by side.
Latika, Mukutan, and Choka spent most of their day together. This is a sign that they have all settled in well, because they are now confident enough to form their own friendships. Latika seems to be the little leader of their group. When they are down at the mud bath, they are always so well behaved and do not chase after the other Nursery members — unlike our mischevious orphans Bondeni, Esoit, Olorien, Kinyei, Taabu, Naleku, and Kindani.
After a long mud wallow, Bondeni and Naboishu got out of the water and decided that they wanted to scratch themselves along the rope. The only hitch was that they were covered in mud, and because they were right near our visitors, they were spraying mud on everyone! The Keepers kept trying to usher them away, but neither of them wanted to listen. It was a comical, if not a bit messy, end to the year.