This month, with soaring temperatures and pregnant skies, it felt like the rain was close, and on some days temperatures reached 36 degrees. Given the hot and dry weather the wildlife have been congregating around their permanent sources of water, with the wild elephants visiting the stockade water troughs as well as the waterhole beside the Baobab tree where the orphans have their noon milk bottles and frolicking sessions to cool down in the heat of the day.
It was a happy morning with the orphan elephants playing around the stockade compound after their milk and supplement feeding. Panda enjoyed a scratching session against a big rock, rubbing a large part of her body against it while Mbegu scratched against a smaller rock.
On the way to the browsing field, Tundani pulled at some green branches from the opposite side of the fence, cleverly avoiding touching the electric fence line while doing so. Ngilai went and stood on a rock as if doing a head-count of the orphan herd as they passed him. He came down from his perch as soon as he saw Nelion approaching the rock, worried that he would try and push him off.
The stockade dependent elephants settled to browse on the northern side of Msinga Hill.
Panda stayed lower than the rest, taking shelter under a tree from the scorching sun. She later followed her friends to the waterhole where she enjoyed a solo mud bath followed by a dust bath.
A wild elephant herd visited the baobab tree water hole as the orphans were leaving. The orphans chose to continue in the direction they were headed to continue with their browsing activities, so they did not interact with the wild herd.
The day began as usual with the milk dependent orphans downing their bottles and then joining the older orphans for lucerne feeding.
The orphans played on the red earth piles with great zest and were so playful. A disagreement broke out between Ndii and Panda over who should look after Tahri. It resulted in Ndii grabbing Panda’s tail and biting down on it. Panda yelled out, startling the orphans who started running around the stockade in a panic. Once the orphans had settled they made their way to the northern foot of Msinga Hill, where they continued to browse peacefully. Lentili stopped for a brief scratching session. Rorogoi got left behind, not realizing her friends moved on with their browsing activities; she went running and charging towards where they were.
A wild female elephant with her infant calf joined the orphans at the baobab watering hole today, she was not too happy at the orphans attempting to steal her calf to play with it. The orphans even tried to use Tahri as bait to lure the calf towards them, but as soon as the wild female elephant and her calf were done with drinking water and having a brief bath, they left the water hole, leaving the orphans socializing with the rest of the wild herd. A teenage wild elephant calf attempted to play with Rorogoi but Rorogoi shied away from her. Panda enjoyed a lengthy wrestling game with one of the younger wild elephant boys.
After the wild herd left, so did the orphans, Arruba was one of the last to leave and yelled at the sight of Ndoria behind her, thinking that she might try and bite her tail as she has a habit of doing so.
As soon as the orphans were done with their morning milk and supplement feed, Nguvu and Lentili lead them to the browsing field. After a few minutes of browsing, Tundani urged the orphans to move further north of Msinga hill, but the older girls decided to go in the opposite direction, and Tundani had no choice but to follow.
After their afternoon milk feed, the orphans made their way to the water hole where they had a quick bath and dusting session, some of the orphans enjoyed scratching on different trees near the water hole. The stars of today mud bath were Araba and Bada who played in the water like a couple of fish. Their happy trumpeting attracted Nelion, who is one of Bada’s best friends. Nelion plunged into the water hoping to overshadow Araba and turn the limelight towards Bada.
Their happy trumpeting attracted back a few of the orphans as spectators of that match. Nelion carried on playing next to his friend Bada, pushing Araba and Godoma to become mere spectators. The boys carried on enjoying their bath, Araba, not one to give up so easily, decided to bath at the edge of the mud bath at a safe distance from the boys. Panda came to join her but Araba decided she had had enough and opted for some dust bathing lessons from Ishaq-B. Lasayen chose to bath and relax at the edge of the water once all his friends had exited.
The orphans were very excited this morning, Ngilai, Godoma and Tahri downed their bottles quickly eager to join the older orphans for lucerne pellets.
Suswa was not interested in joining the orphans’ games so she made her way to the browsing field followed closely by Ndotto. Their friends were surprised to see them so far ahead but caught up with them in no time. The morning browsing was very peaceful; some orphans sought shelter under the trees in between browsing and Kihari took this opportunity to enjoy a scratching session. At the baobab water hole the orphans were joined by a wild elephant herd. Arruba, Naipoki and Embu had the opportunity to interact with a wild elephant calf that was peacefully drinking water. Embu made an attempt to steal the little calf, but failed as the little calf was protected by its very tough sisters.
The wild elephant herd left the orphan elephants at the water hole and moved on to their browsing activities.
As soon as the orphans were done with their milk and supplement feed today, games dominated the early part of the morning.
Ndotto, thinking that the pick-up truck parked round the back of the stockade area might still have a few milk bottles, tried to sneak one, but he did not find any. Ndotto was further embarrassed when Embu sat on his stomach as he rolled on the ground, preventing him from showing off his moves on the red soil piles. Ishaq-B, who has had her eye on taking over Mbegu’s herd, sought out Ndotto to show him how to climb the stockade terrace in a safe way. Before she could, Ndii noticed what was going on, and convinced Ndotto to have a pushing game. Kenia ignored all these happening and carried on scratching her bottom on one of the rocks in the stockade compound.
On their way to the browsing field, Murit decided to engage Lasayen in a friendly pushing game but was instead given a bit of a hard head butt, signaling Murit to leave Lasayen to carry on enjoying his scratching session.
It was a cold and cloudy start with the milk dependent orphans emptying their milk bottles and joining Kenia’s herd for lucerne.
There were no games in the stockade this morning and the orphans quickly made their way to the browsing field. Ndoria and Suswa decided to remain at the foot of Msinga Hill whilst their friends carried on uphill to browse. Later that afternoon, the orphans made their way down the hill to the water hole. Murit and Ndotto started a pushing game to settle an unknown score but it quickly escalated to more than a friendly fight. Lasayen had to intervene to put a stop to it and sent the boys off in different directions. The orphans had a brief drink at the baobab water hole but everyone gave bathing a miss due to the cloudy weather.
Later in the evening, Nelion and Mashariki found themselves left behind by their friends as they were heading back to the stockades, and they had to pick up a face pace in order to catch up with them.
It was a cheerful morning, as the orphans began to playfully charge around the stockade compound once they had finished their morning bottles of milk and had some Lucerne. Ndii and Ndotto enjoyed a strength testing wrestling game.
Ndii has become quite integrated into Mbegu’s herd, while Ishaq-B seems to be trying to gain control over the herd as she would like to be able to lead them. Ishaq-B watched Ndii and Ndotto’s game for a while before interrupting them by grabbing hold of Ndotto, who went up a rock to tackle his new opponent, Ishaq-B, in their play fighting game. Mudanda was busy enjoying a scratching session against a rock close to the stockade water trough while Naipoki was busy drinking water.
In the afternoon, whilst the orphans were having their midday milk bottle, we had was some light rainfall on the northern side of Msinga Hill, which meant the weather was quite chilly and as such the orphans avoided the mud bath.
It was a fairly cloudy morning as the orphans exited their night quarters for their milk and Lucerne. The orphans did not play around the stockade compound and followed Naipoki and Lentili to the southern side of Msinga Hill for the mornings browsing activities.
The orphans browsed their way to the northern side of Msinga Hill, which is one of their normal feeding spots. Kihari was mistakenly left behind and had to run to catch up with her friends. The orphans didn’t visit the water hole that afternoon due to it being a cloudy day.
A wild elephant herd visited the baobab tree water hole at 4:20pm, for a drink of water but didn’t meet up with the orphans who were browsing further away.
In the late afternoon, Ngilai engaged Mbegu, who was lying on the ground, in a strength testing game. As Mbegu didn’t get up from the ground, Ngilai quickly tired of the game and left Mbegu to continue with her dust bathing activities.
It was an exciting evening for us as Mbirikani, who had gone wild with Ajali over a year ago, came to the stockades at 6:45pm, where she had a drink from the water trough before rumbling a greeting to the stockade dependent orphans. She remained at the stockade compound the entire night, enjoying some browse with her old friends.
The morning started off as normal with the orphans leaving the stockades once they were done with their morning milk and supplement feeding.
Shortly after arriving on the northern side of Msinga Hill, the stockade dependent orphans came across Mbirikani who had visited the stockades the night before. Mbirikani came through to briefly greet them, but Kenia didn’t seem too comfortable with her arrival. Mbegu, Godoma and Ndotto took turns touching and greeting Mbirikani, a new friend in the herd that they were getting to know as she had already left the Voi stockades by the time they arrived from the Nairobi Nursery. Mbirikani spent the whole morning browsing with the stockade dependent orphans and followed them to the baobab tree water hole.
After their midday milk feed, the orphans drank some water from the baobab tree water hole but did not wallow as it was too cold.
Ndii and Ndotto were all playful with each other as they began a wrestling match. Ndotto later came over to the Keepers to celebrate his victory over Ndii by mischievously lying down and rolling around before rejoining his friends for the afternoons browsing activities.
It was a wonderful beginning to the day with the orphans enjoying their bottles of milk and some Lucerne pellets before making their way out for their morning browsing activities.
The orphans once again came across Mbirikani on the northern side of Msinga Hill, but they were kept away by Kenia, who seems to be restricting her entry into the herd. Mbirikani would sometimes sneak her way into the herd and would interact with the stockade dependent orphans, all the while remaining cautious of Kenia.
The orphans visited the baobab tree water hole in the afternoon after their midday bottles of milk but didn’t take a bath due to it being a cloudy afternoon. While at the water hole, Bada kept hitting Ndoria’s bottom with a wet trunk, forcing her to run away from him. Bada then moved on and rubbed himself against the baobab tree as if nothing had happened.
The orphans made their way to the western side of Msinga Hill for their afternoon browsing activities. At around 3.26pm, Ajali, who went wild together with Mbirikani, arrived but was a little shy in joining the stockade dependent orphan elephants. Ajali and Mbirikani left in the direction of the Mzima Springs-Mombasa water pipeline.
At around midnight, Mbirikani returned to the stockade compound, without Ajali. She remained there the entire night, enjoying some browsing time with her old friends.
This morning the stockade dependent orphans were greeted by Mbirikani when they exited their night quarters. After some hesitation, Mbegu began to interact with Mbirikani, and watched her climb one of the stockade terraces where she engaged Ndotto in a wrestling match, after which they enjoyed a scratching session.
Most of the orphans browsed in single file with Mbirikani, but Kenia remained at a distance. After their midday milk feed, the orphans visited the baobab tree water hole and enjoyed a brief bath. After his bath, Murit enjoyed a scratching session against one of the trees close to the water hole. Mbirikani tried to approach Murit who moved away when he saw her coming as he is still not 100% comfortable with her.
Ndotto engaged Murit in a play fight while standing with his bottom against a tree. Mudanda came and pushed the two away so that she could enjoy a scratching session against the tree.
Today, the stockade Keepers in conjunction with the Sobo de-snaring team were called from the Kenya Wildlife Service Unit at Ziwani to come and rescue a baby kudu, which was airlifted to Kaluku. They also received a call from the Lualeni Sanctuary to come and collect an orphan baby buffalo which they had rescued. The orphan buffalo was take to the Voi stockades and has been called Mwanda.
It was a happy morning as the orphans played around the stockade compound after their milk and supplement feeding. Ngilai enjoyed playing on the red earth piles, rolling around and trumpeting loudly, which brought Suswa running over to interrupt his fun and games. Ngilai managed to keep his playing position, which resulted in Suswa leaving him in peace to continue playing.
Kenia stayed close to her adopted baby Araba while the rest of the orphans were playing. Ndii leant against a large rock and enjoyed scratching the entire side of her body against it. Panda did the same against another rock while simultaneously preventing Mbirikani from joining her.
Once out in the browsing fields, Ishaq-B and Lentili sought shelter from the scorching sun under a small tree. At the water hole Murit abandoned his scratching position against the baobab tree when he saw Mbirikani coming to join him. Araba and Nguvu had a lovely time playing with one another in the water hole. Panda worked hard at preventing Nelion from bothering Tahri who was busy having fun in the water; Ndii stuck close to Tahri preventing anyone from getting near her.
The afternoons browsing activities took place close to the water hole.
It was a wonderful beginning to the day with all the orphans enjoying a scratching session against different rocks around the stockade compound following the milk and supplement feeding. Godoma scratched against a small rock which she kept to herself, while Ishaq-B leant against a big rock close to the stockade water hole and relaxed there with her eyes closed, showing her content. Rorogoi got tired of waiting for her to finish and pushed her out of the way which resulted in her going and taking Mudanda’s scratching position. Ndotto engaged Murit in a pushing game before the orphans left for the fields.
The orphans browsed their way from the northern side of Msinga Hill to the water hole for their midday feed. The weather was fairly cold and some of the orphans were reluctant to take a bath. Kihari was the first to enter the water and went into the middle where she was soon joined by Araba. Kenia came in to make sure that Kihari would not take her adopted baby Araba. Ndoria and Ndotto also had a quick wallow with Ndotto kneeling down in the water. The mud bathing session ended with Panda sitting at the edge of the water trough scratching her bottom.
The afternoons browsing session took place on the eastern foot of Msinga Hill.
It was another great morning with the orphans leaving the stockade compound after their milk and supplement feeding. The orphans browsed in single file along the lower side of Msinga Hill, and visited the baobab tree water hole that afternoon.
There was a cold breeze at the water hole and Lentili was the first to plunge into the water swiftly followed by the rest of the orphans, all of whom enjoyed a quick bathing session. Mashariki pushed Bada into the water after assuring him that it was not too cold. Mbegu was having fun at the red earth piles, scooping soil up with her trunk and tossing it over her body as well as leaving a small clump on top of her head. Arruba and Lentili enjoyed a scratching session side by side against the big baobab tree.
Mwanda, the new orphan baby buffalo, continues to improve and is feeding well.
It was a cool morning with the orphans forming almost a perfect straight line whilst they enjoyed their Lucerne grass pellets. It was then time for the usual fun and games around the stockade compound, which didn’t last long today as they were eager to head out to browse.
Ndotto engaged Murit in a friendly play fight with Murit climbing onto the stockade terrace where he would have the advantage of being taller than his opponent. Godoma and Bada enjoyed a scratching session against a rock before the entire orphan herd followed Tundani, Embu and Lentili out to browse.
At noon the orphans had their milk bottle close to the water hole. Bada, Tundani, and Rorogoi joined a teenage elephant bull that was browsing nearby for a quick feeding session before rejoining their friends. Panda, Mashariki and Tundani stayed out of the water as Ndoria was already in there and she can be unpredictable and a bit of a trouble maker.
A big wild elephant herd was relaxing near to the water hole having already had a drink of water and a wallow before the orphans had arrived. They were resting under a tree but left when Naipoki tried to steal one of the herd’s calves to play with it.
The orphans had some playful moments following their morning bottle and supplements. Ndii rolled around showcasing her playing skills by kneeling down in front of one of the stockade terraces. Naipoki ousted Bada from his scratching position on a small rock so that she could take it over for herself. Nelion and Panda played a strength testing game which caught Ishaq-B’s attention and she came over to take on the victor, Panda, who seemed disinterested in playing with her and instead went to rejoin the other orphans who were heading out to browse.
At the mud bath, Kihari and Naipoki had a wonderful time playing at the edge of the water, the two were lying on the ground when Ishaq-B came and tried to get between them, but was prevented from doing so as they didn’t want to let her join in their fun and games.
At 6:45pm, a female elephant calf with a serious front leg injury was rescued by the Tsavo Veterinary Unit from Kulalu Ranch after she could not keep up with her herd and was brought to the Voi stockades where she was treated by the Veterinary Unit. Mbegu’s herd came to greet and reassure the new comer by rumbling quietly to her and touching her gently with their trunks.
At 6am this morning, whilst the orphans where still in their stables, a wild elephant cow and her calf came to drink water from the stockade water trough. The mother and her calf did not stay for long before heading to the southern side of Msinga Hill to rejoin their herd that was browsing there.
Once the orphans were out of their night quarters, Naipoki enjoyed a scratching session on one of the rocks. On the way to the field, Tundani proved to be an expert at harvesting greens from under the electric fence by kneeling down, stretching his trunk and grabbing the greens without touching the electric fence wire. Naipoki who was curious about what Tundani was doing walked up to him to closely watch his methods so that she could do the same at another time.
Murit remained at the stockade in order to keep the newly rescued orphan elephant company. Lots of green grewia branches were brought for them to feed on while the new arrival waited for the Team from Nairobi, where she would be taken so as to undergo further treatment on her leg at the Nairobi Nursery. Mbegu’s herd seemed to be aware that Murit stayed behind so they chose to browse at Malaika house above the office, and had their midday feed at the stockade water hole.
Meanwhile at the other water hole, Kenia pushed Mbirikani off her scratching tree as she was wanted it to herself.
The plane arrived at the Voi Airstrip at 2:20pm and the calf was loaded and flown to Nairobi.
The orphans played in the stockade compound after their milk and supplement feeding this morning. Ngilai and Murit engaged one another head on in a tough head-butting encounter that lasted for a considerable amount of time. Ngilai has always been fond of these pushing games, ever since he was little. Later he had no other option however than to sneak away from Murit, who was winning, and he went and stood in the middle of the cold water in the stockade water hole. Murit didn't want to step into that cold water so abandoned his game with Ngilai, and instead went to play with Lasayen who was sitting on the ground.
The orphan elephants later went to browse on the northern foot of Msinga Hill.
There was a big herd of both elephant and buffalo sited moving to drink water from the orphan elephant baobab tree water hole. The orphan elephants didn’t interact with those wild herds as it was still morning and they did not feel like drinking water yet. Later when it was hotter the orphans visited the baobab tree water hole and after having their milk bottles they took a very brief bath. Panda wanted to go into the main water hole for a bath like her friend Ndii usually does, but eventually she decided against it and instead just splashed water from the water trough.
Another wonderful morning is here with the stockade dependant orphan elephant teaming up in groups of friends, enjoying playing around after the milk feeding.
Lasayen was running here and there, happily charging around. Kihari went to secure herself a scratching spot on one of the trees in the stockade compound, while at the same time eating some branches from the tree and feasting on them. When Kihari left, Ngilai and Murit took over the scratching spot, with Ngilai attempting to reach the green branches too, but sadly he was still too small and could not reach as far.
On the way towards the bush, Ishaq-B took on Ndotto for a play fighting game, in her usual routine of trying to woo Mbegu's herd members.
Mbirikani sat on one of the rocks, as Arruba sat on one of the stockade terraces, both in the effort of sorting out their itchy bottoms before following their friends out to the bush.
The orphans had a wonderful time browsing and later visited the water hole that afternoon. Panda had an amazing game of sliding down the slippery walls into the water. Lentili went and sat in a small shallow hole to soil bath, instead of competing with her friends who were all dusting on the red earth piles.
The rest of the day was spent browsing on the western slopes of Msinga Hill.
It was a wonderful morning with the orphan elephants concentrating on their milk and Lucerne pellet feeding before moving ahead with their playing session.
Murit and Ngilai are best friends and engaged one another in a friendly match.
The elephants browsed in single file, arriving at the milk feeding area close to the baobab tree water hole that afternoon. There was a wild elephant herd that was already drinking water there when the orphans arrived. Kenia, Rorogoi and Nelion led their friends to join the wild elephant herd, but the environment later turned slightly hostile when a fight erupted among other elephant families approaching to drink at the same time. Embu got tired of the hostile environment and took the lead, taking the orphans away from the water hole so that they could continue browsing.
The morning started well with the milk dependant orphana, led by Ngilai, running to down their morning milk bottles as fast as possible, before proceeding to have their Lucerne supplements. Ndotto was in a very playful mood today and engaged Tundani in a wrestling match, then Naipoki, and was finally taken up by Kihari. Kihari engaged him while in a sitting down position to add some excitement to their game, as Ndotto was happy to be playing on an even playing field while Kihari was almost the same size as him while in a sitting position!
Ndotto crowned himself the celebrity of the day by riding on Kihari's back, something she never would have allowed if she did not want him too.
The orphans then browsed their way to the northern side of Msinga Hill, visiting the baobab tree water hole that afternoon. The orphans were a little reluctant to join the wild elephant herd who were at the water hole when they arrived, fearing they might be aggressive, but Ndotto decided to join them and was supported by Naipoki. A teenage wild elephant bull went to calmly push Embu away from the baobab tree to take her scratching position. The orphans ended up having a wonderful interaction with the wild elephant herd for twenty minutes before they parted ways.
Later in the evening, Kihari and Mbegu led their friends to play in the erosion trenches amid light rain, before heading back to the stockades that evening.
A teenage wild elephant bull came to drink water from the stockade water trough at 6pm, and later went to rejoin his herd that were browsing on Msinga Hill.
When playing in the morning, Murit engaged Lasayen in a tough wrestling match but his friend Ngilai became jealous and followed them all around the compound, trying to join in as well. As they were busy playing, a wild elephant herd arrived to drink water from the stockade water trough. Lentili went forward to invite one of the wild bull friends for a play fight, and the teenage bull was later taken on by Tundani for the same game. Ishaq -B also went to greet and touch trunks with one of the big elephant cows in the wild herd. The wild elephant herd then left the stockade towards the bush, leaving the stockade dependant orphans waiting for some Lucerne grass pellets.
Later the orphan elephants visited the baobab tree water hole and took a brief bath after having their milk bottles, and went on with their afternoon browsing close to that water hole.
The morning started well with the milk dependant orphan, led by Ngilai, running to down their morning milk bottles as fast as possible, before proceeding to have their Lucerne supplements. Ndotto was in a very playful mood today and engaged Tundani in a wrestling match, then Naipoki, and was finally taken up by Kihari. Kihari engaged him while in a sitting down position to add some excitement to their game, as Ndotto was happy to be playing on an even playing field while Kihari was almost the same size as him while in a sitting position!
Ndotto crowned himself the celebrity of the day by riding on Kihari's back, something she never would have allowed if she did not want him too.
The orphans then browsed their way to the northern side of Msinga Hill, visiting the baobab tree water hole that afternoon. The orphans were a little reluctant to join the wild elephant herd who were at the water hole when they arrived, fearing they might be aggressive, but Ndotto decided to join them and was supported by Naipoki. A teenage wild elephant bull went to calmly push Embu away from the baobab tree to take her scratching position. The orphans ended up having a wonderful interaction with the wild elephant herd for twenty minutes before they parted ways.
Later in the evening, Kihari and Mbegu led their friends to play in the erosion trenches amid light rain, before heading back to the stockades that evening.
A teenage wild elephant bull came to drink water from the stockade water trough at 6pm, and later went to rejoin his herd that were browsing on Msinga Hill.
The morning was good with the orphans teaming up to play after their milk and pellet feeding.
Kenia went and stood guard over her adopted baby Araba to avoid any possible interference from the other playful babies. Tundani approached Mashariki for a play fighting game but Mashariki ignored his request and walked away from him. Arruba was rolling on the ground and pulled Naipoki’s tail with her trunk in a bid to try and get her to join her, before joining their friends on the journey out to the Park to browse.
The orphans marched across the grassy field under the leadership of Mbegu and Godoma. They browsed their way across the plains, arriving at the water hole for their noon milk feed.
The weather was still fairly cloudy and the orphans only drank water with their trunks and sprayed some on themselves. Mbirikani scratched on one of the trees while Lentili and Kihari both settled to scratch on the big baobab tree. Rorogoi tried to catch some drops of water from Suswa’s mouth, thinking that the water might be very sweet. The orphans browsed close to the water hole for the rest of the day.
It was another wonderful beginning to the day as the milk dependant orphans gulped down their milk bottles before joining their senior friends in Kenia’s herd around the Lucerne pellet feeding area. It was play-time as usual, with Murit choosing to be a big intruder into Lasayen’s games this morning. Lasayen was lying on a pile of red earth to draw some warmth from the red soil as the weather was somehow cold after last night’s down pour that recorded 52mm of water! Murit followed him there and was pushing him with his fore head, forcing him to get up and go for an alternative rubbing game on one of the rocks in the stockade compound. Murit persisted and followed Lasayen to the rock, until Lasayen eventually gave up playing there and left, giving up his scratching post to Murit.
Some of the games were quite rough today, with Panda coming over and driving Ishaq-B away from her wrestling game with Nelion, to take on Nelion herself. Panda went mischievously to sit on the terrace close by instead, and engage Nelion head on while in a sitting down position.
The games continued on the stockade terrace with Embu, Nguvu, Tahri and Panda teaming up to play. The orphans later browsed in single file, and milk fed on the northern foot of Msinga Hill, not visiting the water hole this day as it was cold.
It was a perfect beginning to the day, with thick cloud cover as the orphans walked out to the bush with the first light of day to browse. They spread out to browse, grabbing as much vegetation as they could, before visiting the baobab tree water hole to have their milk bottles at noon. Rorogoi pulled her delicious milk bottle away from the Keeper holding it, and held it herself to gulp down the milk. The elephant babies then quenched their thirst with water from the trough, but were reluctant to take a bath in the cloudy weather. Only Ndoria and Bada took a partial mud bath. Nelion and Mudanda took up position to rub against the baobab tree. Murit enjoyed scratching on another tree so that he didn’t have any disputes with his friends over space, and enjoyed that scratching session to himself. Rorogoi was the last one left around the mud bath area, and scratched her neck on the big baobab tree before joining her friends who were already browsing some distance away.
Later in the afternoon, Ngilai ended the day by lying in a shallow erosion trench, picking up some warm soil and spraying it on himself. He was posed as if enjoying a siesta with no worries in the world!
It was a wonderful morning as the stockade dependant orphans played briefly in the stockade after their milk and the supplement feeding.
Mbirikani, who usually spends the day with the dependent orphans but spends the night outside the stockade compound, joined the orphans to walk out to the browsing grounds. The orphans browsed their way from the southern side of Msinga Hill, arriving on the northern side of the hill a few minutes to noon. Ndotto and Godoma teamed up, lying and rolling in a cool erosion trench, formed by many years of rain running down the hillside. Murit and Ngilai decided to stand and watch the other two playing.
The orphans later visited the baobab tree water hole after milk feeding close by.
After a brief bath, Nelion put his trunk in his mouth as if he was biting down on it. He left it there for a long time. Kihari came to inquire what he was doing, but soon walked away when she couldn’t figure it out. Murit got out of the water and lay on the ground, happily rolling around. Embu became impatient with Ndotto who was taking too long scratching against the tree and decided to push him away so she could take over.
The orphans browsed peacefully for the rest of the day.
The orphan baby buffalo Mwanda is doing very well. Ol-tukai has become jealous of any stranger trying to come close to his best friend Tawi the eland however, and has threatened to attack Mwanda on a few occasions. The Keepers are always watching his behaviour and intentions closely however, and manage to keep Ol-tukai away from the new arrival Mwanda if necessary.
The orphan elephants had a peaceful browsing session along the western and northern sides of Msinga Hill. While standing and waiting for his turn for milk feeding in the afternoon, Lasayen bit his trunk in anticipation of his impending milk bottle.
After a brief mud bathing session, Ishaq-B engaged Nelion head on in a play fight. Arruba took her soil bathing moment on the edge of the mud pool. Tahri rubbed herself on Kenia to avoid the hassle of waiting in a long queue to scratch against the trees in the area. Araba, Kenia’s adopted baby, was busy scratching up on one of the trees at that moment in time. Panda split from the others in the afternoon, and browsed all alone after the mud bath session was over.