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Latika may have a short trunk, but she is a big girl with a big heart who loves taking care of little Wamata. Sileita used to be Wamata’s number one nanny but no longer – as she has been ousted by Latika. This morning, Latika walked out of her stockade and straight down the path to Wamata’s stable. She greeted her little girl, did a quick trunk check that she was fine, and ushered Wamata out to the forest, hugging her at regular intervals. Unsurprisingly, the two orphans spent most of the morning together.

Choka was in an independent mood again today. The big bull loves one particular kind of wild fruit and knows the locations of all the trees with this fruit. Today, he padded quietly away from the herd in search of his special treat, stuffing his mouth and then moving on to the next tree. It took some persuasion for Choka to return to the mud bath for a milk feed with the herd.

Later in the morning, none of the elephants was tempted even to paddle in the wallow, opting instead to browse on supplementary lucerne or drink from the water buckets. The forest still has many small pools of standing rainwater and so the orphans do lots of swimming beforehand. Shujaa, Mzinga, Nyambeni, Pardamat and Olomunyak had fun charging and chasing after warthog piglets, one of their favourite games!

Following a heavy downpour of rain in the night, Maxwell enjoyed an early morning mud bath. He lay down on the extremely wet ground and rolled onto his back with stout legs aloft before standing up, trundling around, and lying down. It was unusual to see him so full of energy in the morning.

The rainfall also made the elephants excited. After browsing for a time in the forest, older elephants like Mukutan, Choka, Loldaiga, Muwingu, Kitich, Mageno, Sileita, Latika and Mushuru became playful. Loldaiga and Muwingu clashed heads and small tusks in a strength contest. Mukutan and Choka played a pushing game nearby and then Mukutan tried to play mount Sileita who pushed him off and strolled away. Moments later, Mukutan challenged Kitich to a sparring game while Mageno play mounted Kitich. Then, a still boisterous Mukutan turned his attention to Muwingu and Mushuru. While Muwingu lay on the ground, Mukutan and Mushuru both clambered on top of her!

The younger orphans spent most of their time browsing while watching the antics of the big boys and girls. Nyambeni, Mzinga and Talek ambled around together while Kamili, who was in a playful mood, and Shujaa played the pushing game.

Later in the morning, the orphans visited the mud wallow for a milk feed as usual. They drank their milk and browsed peacefully on greens – tired out after hours of playing in the forest.

This morning out in the field, the orphans spent their time browsing rather than playing – except for Kitich. As the herd walked quietly around, twisting up clumps of green browse, Kitich was paddling in a small stream. He ran around in the flowing water, kicking great splashes in every direction while trumpeting happily. His antics distracted Choka from browsing and soon the two bulls were played a wrestling game in the water.

When the orphans returned to the forest after a morning milk feed at the mud bath, Sholumai, Loldaiga, Mageno and Weka sneaked away from the herd and settled deep in the bush where we found them browsing an hour later – in no hurry to return. Sholumai and Loldaiga in particular are becoming fond of venturing off on their own to explore the forest.

These days, we always send Pardamat and Talek down for their milk bottles in the last group, whether out in the field or at the mud wallow. This is because the two little elephants are becoming troublemakers during milk feeds – if either is allowed to come down in one of the first groups, they gulp down their milk and try to grab someone else’s bottle. They tend to target Wamata or Olomunayk (who are both smaller) but Pardamat has been known to dare to grab a bottle held by Nyambeni or Taroha! He is a tough little bull.

After the orphans settled in the forest this morning, Sileita, Muwingu, Kerrio, Shujaa, Mzinga and Nyambeni began playing in the mud. They slid around, knocking into each other, and then lay down for a roll around in the muddy puddles. Predictably, minutes after Kerrio and Sileita flopped onto the ground, Shujaa and Nyambeni climbed on top of their big sisters, resting forelegs on bellies and waving trunks in circles.

Amid the playing by older orphans, Pardamat and Taroha were pushing heads in a wrestling match. Sensing that the game was becoming serious, Muridjo walked over to separate them - but neither would give up and so we had to intervene before someone got hurt.

Later in the morning, none of the orphans were interested in even paddling in the mud wallow. They stood around calmly with only Mukutan and Choka played a wrestling game. On their way back to the forest, Mageno, Weka and Mushuru veered off the path, giving chase to a family of warthogs. The pigs nipped away from the excited elephants.  

In the late afternoon, Kitich and Choka were wrestling again. Kitich is younger and less strong than Choka and usually plays with Mageno. He is learning skills from the older bull and growing in confidence - to the extent that he is prepared to test himself against Choka.

When it is milk time, we always send the babies down to the mud bath in small groups of three, four or five. This morning, Muridjo arrived in the first group for her milk. Following the recent rain, the path down to the wallow has become wet and slippery, making it hard for the orphans to run. Muridjo and her group finished their bottles of milk and we sent the second group of four orphans down.

Along the way, one of them slipped over in the mud and fell down with a loud scream. Hearing the trumpet, Muridjo ran towards the second group to find out who it was. The clever girl stopped at the bottom of the path and checked each orphan on their way past. She stopped each one, touched them with her trunk, and allowed them to carry on. Muwingu came past first, followed by Weka and then Mushuru and then Kerrio. Muridjo could see that Kerrio was limping — she was the one who had fallen over and so Muridjo checked her whole body. When Kerrio padded on slowly, Muridjo remained on the path until every single orphan had made it to the mud bath; she wanted to make sure that everyone was fine.

Shujaa is a playmaker whereas Sholumai rarely plays with anyone. In the afternoon, however, we spotted the young bull with the tiny tusks and the older female with the longest tusks in the herd playing the wrestling game! Although the game did not last for long, we smiled to see the playful side of this shy elephant.

Olomunyak loves Maxwell’s pellets. Every morning on his way out to the forest, as he passes the gates to Max’s enclosures, he casually pauses to check for stray pellets on the ground and quickly scoops them up with his trunk. Taroha accompanied him this morning and the two boys began fighting over the pellets, shoving each other indignantly – until naughty girl Weka took the matter in hand and ran over to separate them.

Mzinga is another opportunist who will never walk directly to the forest. Along the way, she likes to scoot in and out of her friends’ stables, checking for leftovers of pellets. The clever girl knows that Wamata and Nyambeni rarely finish their shares and thus makes a beeline for their rooms. If she is blocked by a Keeper, as happened today, she finds a way to dodge around the Keeper and get back to one of the two stables!

While we were rounding up our pellet pincher, Taroha, Olomunyak, Mushuru, Muridjo and Muwingu were gathering at Max’s gate to say good morning. The five elephants stayed at the big boy’s gate for some time, rubbing their trunks around his ears and horn and all over his belly, before wandering on to the forest. An hour or so later, Raha plodded up the path behind her Keeper. Without pausing to greet Max, the little rhino carried on to the forest in search of a patch of soft browse and a good spot for a nap. Her belly is becoming less bloated, which is a good sign, although she still has an unusual physique for a rhino.

In the afternoon, Loldaiga, Kitich, Sholumai and Shujaa enjoyed a lengthy mud bath in the forest. While Loldaiga was wallowing, Kitich and Shujaa were having lots of fun mounting their friend, taking it in turns to clamber on top of his large torso. Shujaa then engaged Sholumai in a muddy-puddle wrestling match.

This morning, the elephants were eager to get going. Each and every one of them stepped out of their stockades and jogged up the path towards the forest. Weka was in the lead, trumpeting in excitement, and Mzinga, Muridjo, Taroha and Mushuru brought up the rear. Out in the bush, the orphans ran off in different directions. Mukutan, Kitich, Sholumai and Sileita were driving away all the impalas and baboons so the orphans could have nature all to themselves. Eventually, the herd settled down to browse in the sunshine.

This morning, the babies were given their milk out in the forest. Today, there was drama! First, Mushuru fought hard to snatch Kitich’s bottle while he was drinking. When we whistled, she ignored us and so we had to push her away. Then, little boys Olomunyak and Pardamat had a confrontation. Pardamat is usually sent down in the last group at the mud bath to avoid squabbles over milk. Today, however, he somehow snuck into one of the first groups in the forest. After emptying his bottle, he grabbed Olomunyak’s but the younger boy stood his ground and saw off Pardamat. Everyone then calmed down - but not for long. Minutes later, cheeky Choka chased Sholumai away with her bottle in her mouth and gave best friend Mageno a shove for no reason at all.

Talek and Pardamat often squabble at night-time through their shared partition – but last night was worse than usual! They began by stretching trunks through the gaps and pinching each other’s pellets and the situation went downhill from there. Before long, the two small orphans were climbing on the wooden planks and head-butting each other, all the while trumpeting loudly. During the day in the forest, they are good friends but, after dark in their rooms, they most certainly are not! We think that Talek and Pardamat do not dare to misbehave in front of their older peers but behave differently in their absence.

In the early morning in the woods, Nyambeni played beautifully with Pardamat – the two orphans, who rarely play together, enjoyed a lengthy wrestling match without annoying each other. It was a wonderful scene to watch. Feeling left out and wondering why the young bull was playing with her best friend, Mzinga intervened, pushing Pardamat away gently and taking his place with Nyambeni. 

The warthogs living around the stockades are well-known to Maxwell and often share his breakfast in the mornings. Today, two warthogs were making friends with Raha. As the little rhino lay napping on warm rocks in the sunshine, the pigs lay down and napped next to her.

Later in the morning, Muwingu, Mushuru, Muridjo, Kitich, Mageno and Latika had a lengthy mud bath, rolling around in the water and rubbing their faces on the edge. When Mageno started splashing mud on the crowd, some people started shouting and Weka reacted by trumpeting a warning. We ran over quickly to calm her down – she does not like noisy human beings!

Wamata has adapted so well to her life with the Nursery herd in the last few months and has an army of nannies. She is beloved by Latika, Sileita, Muwingu and Weka, although Latika and Sileita are probably her favourites. This morning, she was walking to the forest with Nyambeni, Mzinga, Taroha and Olomunyak. Either accidentally or on purpose, Olomunyak or Taroha gave her a small shove and we heard Wamata screaming for help. Sileita and Weka immediately charged over, ready to discipline someone, but found only a team of concerned-and-innocent-looking elephants around the little girl! Unable to identify the culprit, the big girls shepherded Wamata — who is definitely at risk of becoming a spoiled baby — out to the forest, walking one on either side.

Later in the morning, Weka sprinted down the path to the mud bath, trumpeting loudly and attracting the attention of the visitors. After gulping down her milk, she began walking along the rope cordon. Sensing potential for mischief (despite her apparent calm) because of the way Weka had behaved on arrival, we stuck closely. Two Keepers walked with her along the line, giving her no space to misbehave. Challenging our efforts, she attempted (unsuccessfully) to tap a guest with her trunk and we ushered her away. Weka spent the rest of the visit submerged in the mud pool.

In the afternoon, as the herd was browsing in the green forest, Taroha played with several baboons. He trundled towards them, and they nipped into the nearest tree for a minute before climbing down to the ground, and he trundled towards them again – and so the game continued.

Mageno, a calm but playful bull, went exploring today. As the herd settled down to browse in the forest this morning, he wandered away in search of a tree with delicious fruit. Mzinga and Nyambeni, who have been best friends almost since the day they were rescued, ambled along behind the older bull. Finding the tree with the tasty treat, Mageno pushed the trunk to dislodge some fruit. To his great surprise, baboons sitting on the branches began jumping around in the tree. The three elephants got such a fright that they ran back to the herd, trumpeting as they charged through the bush.

In the afternoon, the orphans visited the mud bath for another milk feed. Today, no one went swimming, choosing instead to browse on supplementary greens or drink from the water buckets. After returning to the forest, Kitich, Muridjo and Taroha hung out in a rocky area together. The little boy lay on the ground while his big brother and sister stood around him. First Muridjo and then Kitich were trunk hugging the younger bull while he waved his trunk happily. Not far away, Latika was looking after Wamata, standing so close that the two elephants were leaning into each other, and draping her trunk along her back.

When Olomunyak and Taroha padded out of their rooms this morning, rather than heading up the path to the forest, they headed down the path to Raha’s room. While the little rhino stood in her stable, the two boys waited outside, pushing and shoving each other to be closer to the door. Hearing the commotion, Sileita, Mushuru and Kerrio strode down, picked up the boys and pushed them away from Raha’s door. Sileita took charge of Taroha while Mushuru and Kerrio sandwiched Olomunyak.

Out in the forest, the big boys were massaging their faces and bottoms against the soothing damp ground. Loldaiga rubbed the underside of his trunk and sides of his face against the earth. Mukutan imitated his friend and, not far away, Choka was also kneeling to rub his face and then body against the soft leafy ground. The big bull rolled onto his back with legs waving in the air. Scratching session over, Mukutan and Choka stood close, pushing heads playfully, while Loldaiga continued his face massage.

The herd walked back to the forest in the afternoon from the mud wallow. Weka wandered off on her own to browse while Nyambeni was on Wamata nanny-duty. She trailed along behind the smaller girl, draping her trunk over her head in between twisting up mouthfuls of soft browse.

It was another night of pinching! Latika – who has become adept at pinching pellets which do not belong to her – was again stretching her trunk into her neighbours’ rooms. Her trunk may be short but it is nevertheless an effective tool. First up was Mushuru’s food. Latika stuck her trunk through the gaps in their shared partition whenever Mushuru turned her back and scooped up another mouthful of pellets. When Mushuru tried to return the favour, Latika not only blocked her trunk but also knocked her head against their shared wall. Second up was Sholumai’s stash. But Latika encountered a hurdle here – as the clever girl had pushed her pile of pellets into the centre of her stockade, far beyond the reach of the pickpellet’s trunk!

In the morning, the orphans wandered out of their rooms and stood quietly in preparation for heading out to the forest. They walked up the path in a long line, looking forward to filling their bellies with green browse. Except for Choka and Pardamat. The two bulls were playing hide and seek, darting from one door to the next in search of leftover food. When we whistled to them, they pretended to follow the others but then about turned at the corner and quietly padded back to the stockades, nipping along the back path rather than walking to the main area. Eventually, we succeeded in corralling the two mischievous elephants and shepherding them to the forest.

In the early morning, the orphans walked out of their rooms, greeted their friends, and headed out to the forest led by Muwingu and Weka. The two girls strode up the walkway with the rest of the herd in their wake and, rather than browsing, immediately began playing in the bush. They ran in circles with ears flared and pushed heads and clinked tiny tusks. Their energy infected the others and soon many orphans were running and playing. Sileita and Mzinga, however, resisted the temptation to join the games and remained with Wamata, standing protectively one on either side.

Mukutan is continuing to assert himself and to push against constraints. After finishing his bottles at the mud bath this morning, he trailed behind one Keeper and then another, asking for more milk. When they held up empty bottles in a clear signal, Mukutan walked to the rope cordon and tried to duck underneath in a defiant challenge to his carers. As the Keepers approached, the bull kicked out with his back legs before reluctantly doing as he was told. It’s a sign that he is growing up and getting ready for the next stage in his reintegration journey.

Returning to the forest, the orphans again became playful. For no reason that we could see, they began running through the bushes trumpeting loudly. Initially, we wondered if perhaps one had sighted a lion or if one had been upset by some impalas. But nothing seemed amiss and so we concluded that they were just feeling exuberant.

On a misty morning, the orphans stood in huddles in the forest, as if waiting for the day to warm up. Sileita, Kitich and friends stood in one clearing, leaning into each other and standing around babies Wamata, Olomunyak and Talek. Mukutan was one of the first to become boisterous. First, he play-mounted Sileita with trunk waving in circles and then he challenged Choka to a contest of strength. The two bulls played several rounds of the pushing game in a good-humoured way. With neither prepared to back down, eventually they agreed on a draw. Latika played leaning and twisting games with Muridjo and then chased away some warthogs peacefully grazing next to the herd of elephants.

After browsing for a time in the forest, the orphans visited the mud bath for a milk feed. In contrast to everyone else, Shujaa opted to drink from the water bucket before accepting his bottle from a Keeper. Talek drank every drop carefully next to her Keeper while Mushuru and Muwingu twisted their trunks around the bottles and moved away from their Keepers. Weka tried, unsuccessfully, to pinch an extra bottle from the wheelbarrow. When we whistled, the herd ambled obediently back to the bush where they knew that lush browse and muddy puddles awaited them. All in all, it was not an eventful day.

With our truck in position, translocation training began this morning for three of the oldest bulls in the Nursery herd – Mukutan, Choka and Loldaiga. After the rest of the herd had headed out to the bush, we led the three friends to the area outside the truck which has one open side and three partitioned areas inside. Three Keepers reassured the orphans while three others stood in the truck with tempting bottles of milk held aloft. We did not expect them to walk in obediently on the first day and so, after trying to persuade them, the Keepers walked out and gave them their bottles. The orphans drank their milk, twirled around and ran off to the forest to join the herd. All their daytime feeds will continue to take place in or around the truck and they will gradually become used to the new routine. Training typically takes several weeks.

Out in the forest, the herd settled down to browse and play as usual. Soon, Muwingu and Loldaiga were enjoying a sparring match while Shujaa and Kamili played their pushing game nearby, lifting their trunks and pushing heads together. Mushuru and Sileita were looking after Wamata this morning, standing on either side of her as she pulled up clumps of grass.

Later in the afternoon, the herd returned to the stockades for the night. Today, Taroha and Olomunyak were squabbling in their neighbouring rooms, pushing against the partition as they tried to pinch each other’s pellets.

Training continued today. The herd headed out to the forest while Mukutan, Choka and Loldaiga were cajoled towards the translocation truck. Amid lots of trumpeting, they drank their milk – Mukutan stood on the ramp but the other two remained outside – and then ran off to join the herd. The three bulls already understand that milk feeds now happen at the truck and head in this direction every three hours. They may not like the truck but they love bottles of milk! In the afternoon, mischievous Weka tried to follow them and we had to take her back to the forest.

Little Raha wore her blue blanket this morning as it was an overcast day. She trundled out to the bush, browsing on soft grass and then paddling in rainwater pools on her favourite rocky area. The small rhino is friendly towards all the Keepers but sometimes chases away strange human beings if they approach.

Not far away, the orphans were also paddling in the many puddles. Sileita and Shujaa splashed in a large pool of rainwater, kicking water with their forelegs and hosing themselves with thick mud. Mushuru walked down a flowing stream as Kitich squatted on the edge of another puddle and Talek walked in and out of many, drinking as she paddled. Unsurprisingly, none of the orphans went in the mud bath later in the day as they had already cooled off in the forest.

This morning, it was Mushuru’s turn to hunt for leftover pellets. When the herd ambled up the path, she hung a left to drink water and look for cubes in other orphans’ rooms. Unable to find his big sister among the herd, Pardamat then ran back to the stockades from the forest, rumbling as he ran. She heard him calling, scooped him up and wandered back to the forest with the little boy. Later in the morning, Pardamat again sneaked away, this time from the first group of younger elephants, to join Mushuru in the second group sent down to the mud bath for a milk feed.

In the afternoon, the herd browsed in small groups in the sunshine. They wandered deep into the forest today, twisting up clumps of grass and pulling down branches from shrubs and trees. Sileita was staying close to Olomunyak while Weka was allowed a turn of little Wamata! Nanny Weka trunk touched Wamata regularly as they browsed next to Mageno. Bouts of browsing were broken up by playing – some pushed heads while draping trunks while others scratched themselves against trees.

In the evening, as usual, we gathered the herd in groups of three or four and sent them back to the safety of the stockades for the night. The younger ones headed back first with Sholumai, Kamili and Muwingu padding down in the last group.

This morning, best friends Nyambeni and Mzinga were browsing together, occasionally leaning into each other and entwining trunks as they wandered in the forest. Kamili – who is interacting with the herd more and more frequently – was playing with Latika. The two big girls lay on their bellies on a patch of dry ground, massaging their bodies while playing a lying-down-and-pushing game. When Kamili stood up and walked away to browse, Mzinga took her place. Latika and Mzinga tumbled around together on the ground.

Wamata is growing in confidence. The orphans had their morning milk feed in the forest this morning. Rather than hanging back with the older girls, she insisted on being put in one of the first groups and then padded through the bushes happily with Olomunyak and Talek. Despite having the shortest legs, Wamata reached the line of Keepers waiting with bottles of milk first, after thundering along with ears flared and trunk aloft.

Later in the morning, Choka and Kitich had yet another wrestling match. As they clashed heads noisily in an open area, Wamata and Olomunyak began playing a hiding-and-chasing game in an area with many trees. The two small elephants were kind of hiding from each other behind trees – one would go behind a tree and the other would toddle towards them. We smiled to see them playing together. Pardamat made a half-hearted attempt to interrupt the sweet game but was chased away by two determined small friends. He ran off trumpeting and, minutes later, Olomunyak and Wamata ran for cover with Kerrio and Sileita, just in case!

Translocation training of Mukutan, Choka and Loldaiga is going very well. After a tricky few days, the three bulls now walk into the truck obediently for their milk feeds. Today, Mukutan had a clever new trick. Just before the time of a milk feed, he snuck away from the herd and back to the stockades. Finding no Keepers near the truck, he managed to gulp several bottles of milk and chomp some sugar cane before we apprehended the naughty bull!

The forest is green with an abundance of browse. In the afternoon, Raha ambled through a field of long grass that was almost as high as her belly. She wandered along, squeaking occasionally, until she reached the rocky outcrop near the stockades whereupon she lay down for a nap on the warm rocks. She remains underweight for her age and reluctant to eat any but the softest of greens, but she does have a healthy appetite.

All the big girls love Wamata and want to be her nanny. In the forest and at the mud bath, she is almost always with at least one if not two or three nannies who are only too happy to pull down branches of trees beyond her reach. In the afternoon, we saw a most unusual sight – Wamata browsing in the bush by herself! Minutes later, Mushuru and Kerrio strolled over to check on her.

Having behaved quite well in recent days, Pardamat was really misbehaving today. In the morning at the mud bath, he demanded an extra bottle from the Keepers as soon as he had finished his milk. (We send him down in the last group so he is not able to pester the others.) We offered an empty bottle to lure him away from the wheelbarrow. Thereafter, Pardamat and Taroha played a pushing game while trunk hugging each other. The next misdemeanour was on his way back to the bush. As he marched along the path, he knocked over little Wamata and immediately ran for cover – knowing that several nannies would be lining up to discipline him!

In the afternoon, the sun was shining as the herd gathered around the wallow after another milk feed. While Talek and Kamili drank from water buckets, water babies Kerrio and Shujaa paddled in the mud wallow. After lying on her side in the mud, Kerrio climbed out for a dust bath, hosing herself with trunkfuls of dry soil. Mageno relaxed on his belly next to her, enjoying a mud massage – he was soon joined by Muridjo who rubbed herself against him as well as the mud. Meanwhile, Shujaa wallowed with Nyambeni – as there was not enough water for the two friends to properly submerge their bodies, they sat on their bottoms in the sludge and played.

On their way out to the forest, Mzinga and Taroha stopped at Maxwell’s gate to greet him. They stretched their trunks through his gate to massage the back of his ears, much to the large rhino’s delight. When the elephants moved on up the path, Maxwell lumbered around his stockade in circles before settling down to graze on pellets. Moments later, several warthogs and three baboons joined him for breakfast and one little piglet was scratching herself against his belly.

The orphans had their morning milk feed in the forest today. Something happened to upset Shujaa, who is possibly the most placid bull in the herd. After drinking his milk, he stood quietly picking up tasty leaves in the shade of the trees. Then, out of the blue, our easy-going chap gave Mageno a large shove, knocking him off his feet. Mageno trumpeted, Loldaiga ran towards his friend and helped him to his feet, and Shujaa ran off in the opposite direction.

In the afternoon, the elephants enjoyed dust bathing and sparring games. Latika, Sileita, Kitich and Muwingu frolicked in a large area of dry soil, rubbing faces and bodies in between trunk hugging each other. Afterwards, Latika and Muwingu played several rounds of the pushing game. In a nearby clearing, Shujaa and Kamili were playing together again. After some gentle sparring, they lay down next to each other in a ditch.

Raha was wearing her new yellow-and-orange blanket this morning. She was in no hurry to head out, standing obstinately outside her stable suckling her Keeper’s trouser leg. Her patient carer eventually persuaded the little rhino to walk out to the woods.

Muridjo is one of the most playful girls in the herd. Returning to the forest later in the morning, she spotted a family of warthogs grazing quite close to the elephants. Trumpeting loudly, she gave chase (just for fun as the warthogs pose no threat at all). Mzinga and Weka were hot on her tail. The three girls chased the poor pigs all the way to the mud bath and through the bushes and back towards the stockades. By this time, Kerrio and several others had joined the game and were also running around and trumpeting. It took us some time to calm down a very excited herd – we had to call each orphan by his or her name in turn.

The herd spent most of the afternoon browsing with only a few in playful moods. Sileita, Sholumai and Muwingu browsed close to Olomunyak, Talek and Wamata while Kitich and Mageno enjoyed yet another sparring match. After a strength contest with his friend, Kitich could not resist play mounting Kerrio when he came across her relaxing on her bottoms in a large patch of mud.

Emerging from their stockades in the early morning, Olomunyak and Taroha often play together. They rub along reasonably peacefully in their neighbouring stockades, rather squabbling in the nights or pinching each other’s food. In the mornings, a greeting is often followed by a trunk touch and a head push. This morning, the two young boys were sparring in the forest, while Sileita kept an eye on them from a distance. As usual, she was fussing over Wamata, the youngest orphan in the herd. When Wamata was first rescued, Olomunyak was a bit jealous as her arrival had ousted him from his position as youngest spoilt baby, but he’s adjusted to the changing family dynamic.

This morning, Talek was browsing on her own but staying close to the Keepers. This friendly little girl often greets one of the Keepers in between mouthfuls of greens. Sometimes, she does her own thing and sometimes she plays with the other elephants. Today, Talek tiptoed around a very large puddle by herself and then extended her trunk in greeting to a Keeper.

In the afternoon, the herd wandered deep into the woods despite the abundance of browse near the stockades. Choka, Sholumai and friends feasted on a patch of flowering grass that was tall enough to reach their bellies.

Many members of the herd stuck close in the forest this morning, maybe because it was a cool day. They remained in huddles for hours rather than spreading out like they normally do. Mageno enjoyed a lengthy face rub, kneeling on his front legs while shaking his head from side to side, while Kamili, Muridjo and Talek massaged their backsides against tree stumps. Swinging her trunk happily, Mzinga squatted on her bottoms as best friends Kerrio and Nyambeni climbed on top of her and leant against her torso. Nyambeni then spent time with Shujaa. The two orphans are age mates and good friends although Shujaa is taller than Nyambeni and has sprouted tiny tusks.

Returning to the mud bath later in the morning, the orphans drank their bottles quietly and gathered around the wallow. In contrast to many days, no one tried to pinch an extra bottle today and no one gave a friend a push. It was indeed a peaceful morning!

In the afternoon, Pardamat went walkabout with the big boys and girls. He ambled along behind tail-slapping Mushuru and longest-tusks Sholumai. Behind him came Mageno, Choka and Loldaiga. The five older orphans and one young one walked far into the forest – we found them in a clearing two hours later and shepherded them back to the stockades for their early evening milk feed.

The elephants set out to the forest soon after dawn, ambling up the path in a long line and settling down to browse in small groups. When it was time for the next milk feed, Mukutan, Choka and Loldaiga headed back to the truck with several Keepers. They have become used to walking up the ramp into the vehicle for their milk feeds. 

Later in the morning, we gathered the herd in groups and sent them down to the mud bath. Olomunyak led Talek and Taroha down the path, jogging along in the lead with ears flat against his head. The three orphans ran straight to three Keepers holding bottles, drank their milk and walked on obediently. Nyambeni, Mzinga and Wamata were in the next group. Nyambeni led them down the path to three Keepers ready with more bottles. Nyambeni (and several others) have learned to hold their own bottles. Today, she allowed her Keeper to hold the bottle high for a minute and then clasped her trunk it and moved away from him. Sileita, Latika and Shujaa were in the third group with Kamili and Pardamat bringing up the rear. The younger orphans remained around the wallow for a time before heading back to the forest so that the older orphans could take their place.

The forest is still full of browse and there is no need for the herd to wander far in search of greens. Today, Sholumai, Muwingu, Mukutan, Choka, Mageno and Pardamat walked further afield to explore the forest, returning in good time for the next milk feed, but the others remained close to the stockades. Muridjo was on nanny duty, browsing close to Talek and Wamata and touching both regularly with her trunk. Latika, Kerrio and Kamili browsed for a time before massaging their faces and sides against gnarly tree stumps. Sileita lay on her side while Nyambeni, Mzinga and Shujaa took it in turns to rest their forelegs on her bulk.

In the afternoon, Talek was staying close to two Keepers. She padded over to greet them with trunk held high, enjoying the attention, and then browsed next to them. She followed the two men when they walked on. After more browsing, Talek nudged the Keepers to walk in a particular direction – she was leading them over to Sileita and Wamata. Kerrio and Olomunyak also choose to stay with us sometimes. Kerrio is older now with small tusks but still likes to be with her carers. An affectionate boy, Olomunyak often touches us with his trunk and pads along behind.

Later in the day, when the orphans were all back in their stockades, Loldaiga and Kerrio were playing the pinching game. Loldaiga stretched his trunk through the gaps first to scoop up a trunkful of pellets – moments later, we saw Kerrio’s trunk wiggling through a gap to return the favour!

Raha is an obstinate little girl! Sometimes she likes to walk all over the forest feeding on vegetation and sometimes she likes to sleep. She tends to be easy-going on hot days and not so easy on cold days. When the sun is shining, Raha will often allow her Keeper to lead her wherever he wants to go but, when it is overcast and cool, she often insists on taking him in her own direction, generally to a warm place where she can sleep. Raha and Maxwell feed more at night-time and sleep more during the day. Today, Raha walked quite far in the forest before lying down for a nap.

This morning in the green forest, the orphaned elephants browsed peacefully for a long time before they began to play. Kerrio plucked up clumps of grass while keeping an eye on Olomunyak and Wamata as Taroha grazed contentedly with several older orphans. After filling their bellies, some massaged their rumps against trees while others played pushing games or rolled on a patch of dry soil. Good friends Weka, Mzinga and Talek played a pile-on-top-of-each-other game.

Translocation training is ongoing. The boys have become accustomed to the truck. Mukutan sneaked back a few days ago and today it was Choka’s turn to wait until the Keepers’ backs were turned and then pad quietly back to the stockades. In the afternoon, as the herd was browsing, Choka walked back in search of extra pellets and sugar cane followed by a small friend – Pardamat! To our great surprise, Pardamat strode into the truck behind Choka without even pausing on the ramp. The cheeky bull snatched a trunkful of pellets and ran back to the forest!

On an overcast afternoon, the orphans wandered in a forest that is still full of puddles of rainwater. Muridjo paddled in a particularly large puddle, drinking the water as she tiptoed along. Not far away, Shujaa, Muwingu and Mushuru were paddling in their own puddles. Taroha was playing with a tiny waterfall. Wedging his stout body between some rocks, he stood in the downstream while splashing water from the pool in every direction. Afterwards, he rested his belly on a large boulder with trunk waving. Meanwhile, Olomunyak kept his head down and concentrated on filling his tummy – he was not running any risk of getting his feet wet!

This morning, we gathered our older trainees mid-morning to take them back to the truck for a milk feed. Meanwhile, the rest of the herd visited the mud bath for their milk feed. The younger ones are sent down first and then the older ones take their place. Many of the older elephants, including Kitich, Mukutan, Muwingu, Sholumai and Mushuru, like to hold their own bottles, pulling away from their Keepers and walking away with bottles clasped in trunks and heads held high.

In the afternoon, the sun was shining and many orphans had wonderful wallows in mud pools in the forest. Nyambeni and Talek played in one pool, rolling around together and then resting on their haunches, while Kerrio lay contentedly in another, waving her trunk in circles. After playing with Talek, Nyambeni paddled and splashed in another puddle with Weka. That day, we sent a herd of mud-encrusted elephants back to the stockades for the night!

In the morning, the herd were keen to head out to the forest, strolling up the path with only a few whistles from the Keepers. They spread out as usual to browse amid the long grass. Kitich and Mageno wandered around together in an open area while Kamili, Muridjo and Choka pulled branches down from trees. Today, Sileita spent time looking after Olomunyak, trunk hugging the little boy often, and then played with little sister Mzinga. The two girls hosed themselves with dry soil and played a rubbing-and-pushing game.

Mageno had a narrow escape in the afternoon. This gentle bull loves playing pushing games with other bulls and also chasing after warthogs and impalas. Returning to the forest from the mud bath on a hot afternoon, the herd gathered in the shade of a cluster of trees. They stood quietly, flapping their ears rhythmically to keep cool. Spotting some irresistible pigs running past, Mageno gave chase – and ran into two lionesses lying in the grass, possibly getting ready to hunt the warthogs. He got such a fright. He trumpeted and trumpeted as he stepped back with ears flared and trunk lifted. Several Keepers were nearby and so there was no cause for the big bull to be frightened. We chased away the lionesses and ushered a jumpy Mageno back to the herd.

Our mini matriarchs look remarkably similar nowadays. Sileita is older but Kerrio has grown in size recently and the two look alike. Both are wonderfully caring but also playful elephants. Neither has mastered the trick of holding their own bottle — Sileita jogs down the path for her bottles whereas Kerrio always walks slowly.

We are thinking of changing Weka’s name from the naughty girl to the noisy girl! On most days, she trumpets loudly on her way to the mud bath, as if we would ever forget her or not have her bottles ready and waiting! She is a changeable girl, well-behaved on some days and very mischievous on others. Weka is never rough to the Keepers but does not like noisy strangers and will run at human beings who are talking loudly at the mud bath. Still a young girl on the inside, Weka will become a matriarch in her own good time.

The last day of the year was another day of sunshine. Our herd spent most of the morning exploring the forest, browsing on fresh greens and hanging out with their Keepers. Good friends Latika, Kitich and Sileita wandered around together while lovely Mzinga greeted Keeper Simon and accepted a tasty titbit from him. Nyambeni was enjoying her turn of looking after Wamata while Olomunyak and Taroha played a gentle version of the pushing game and Pardamat, once again, chose to hang out with the big boys and girls.