Ziwadi browsing in the forest
This morning, when Ziwadi woke up she did not appear to be in the best of moods. As she made her way out to the forest with the other orphans she did not seem as eager to browse as other days and just chose to eat slowly and walk peacefully through the forest with the Nursery herd. Ziwadi is very much like Enkesha, in that they both enjoy browsing on their own and away from the chaos of the other orphans.
Kiko had great day today as he spent most of his morning out in the forest with the orphans. From 6am he followed the orphans as they made their way out to the forest and he stayed with them the whole morning. When it was time for the orphans to head down to the mud bath for their midday bottles of milk, the Keepers tried to usher Kiko back to the stockade compound, but he refused. Instead he chose to stay out in the forest with Luggard, browsing on all the fresh greens.
When it was time for the younger orphans to make their way back to the stockades, with Mukkoka and Dololo, Kiko emerged from the bushes and led Naleku, Ziwadi, and Roho back to their stables. As Mukkoka has been accompanying the younger orphans back to their stables, Tamiyoi has now taken the lead in being the orphan that can run home the fastest for her evening bottle of milk. She is always seen charging in way before the others.
Roho is very much protected by all the older girls in the Nursery herd. This morning, whilst the orphans were all waiting for their morning bottles of milk, Dololo pushed little Roho as he was trying to make his way to the front of the herd. As soon as Roho was pushed he cried out for help, and Tagwa, Maisha, Tamiyoi and Kiasa all came rushing over to his side. Tagwa was the first to get to him, and she quickly snuggled the young bull under her neck. Kiasa was the next to arrive and she began to hug Roho with her trunk, making sure that he was okay. Tamiyoi and Maisha arrived together and just had a quick look to see everything was okay.
As the orphans made their way back to the forest after their midday mud baths, Musiara and Kiombo began to charge up and down, chasing each other and barreling over all the small shrubs in their path. When it was time for the Keepers to have their lunch the warthogs, like always, were quick to appear from the bushes to pick up any little bits the Keepers might share with them. Musiara was still full of energy and charging around and began to chase the warthogs away, not letting them anywhere near the Keepers. Musiara could be heard trumpeting and rumbling after the warthogs.
This afternoon, as Kiko was heading out to join the orphans, he appeared uneasy as if he could sense something. The Keepers suddenly noticed three lions in the distance, and they quickly began to make noise and shout at them to chase them away. In the meantime, Kiko was already running back to his stockade where he was joined by his other Keepers making sure he was safe.
With all the heavy rains the orphans have not been able to enjoy any dust baths as everything has been wet and muddy. After several days of sunshine, however, everything has started to dry up. This morning, as the orphans made their way to the forest, the sun was already shining, and the Keepers could already feel that I would be a hot day. When the orphans made their way down to the mud bath area, Tagwa was the first to lead the orphans over to the dust mound. She could be seen lying down on top of the heaped soil and Maisha and Nabulu were quick to join her. Roho, behaving like Mukkoka and some of the other bulls, quickly rushed over and began to climb up on Tagwa’s stomach, sliding off and then climbing back up.
Whilst most of the Nursery herd was busy dust bathing for over half an hour, Enkesha as usual was off on her own little adventure, browsing near the mud bath area, and was not bothered at all by the others. Ziwadi was slowly making her way over to join Enkesha when she came across some guinea fowls. Poor little Ziwadi got such a fright that she immediately turned and ran back to the group. As she reached the orphans having a dust bath, she seemed to change her mind about browsing and chose to join them on the dusty mound instead.
Dololo has taken full responsibility of clearing the way and making sure that Roho, Naleku, Luggard, Ziwadi and Larro are safe when they head back to their stables before the others. This afternoon, as they were headed back, they came across a troop of baboons that refused to move. This aggravated Dololo who began to charge at the baboons, chasing them far away.
This morning, Sattao and Musiara were in a very playful mood. The two could be seen chasing each other around the forest and then wrestling one another, seeing who the stronger bull was. Their game continued for so long that even Dololo wanted to join in on the fun. As soon as Dololo ran towards them to join in, the playful boys seemed to be a bit confused as to why he was running towards them and immediately ended their game. The three bulls then went their separate ways and resumed browsing.
After the orphans finished their 9am bottles of milk, Dololo seemed eager for a wrestling match once again and he began with asking Musiara. At first Musiara seemed hesitant but after a couple of minutes he decided to accept and the two began their wrestling match. They spent a good while pushing each other around the forest before heading off and joining the rest of the orphans in their browsing activities.
Today, Maisha spent most of her time with little Naleku and Roho. The three could be seen happily browsing together whilst in the field and ran in together when it was time for their milk. Maisha even watched over them when it was time for their naps. Even though all the older girls take turns looking after the younger the orphans, Kiasa appeared to be a little jealous that the little babies were not with her today. Throughout the morning, she could be seen following the trio and trying to get their attention, but they were too happy following Maisha around that they didn’t take much notice. Eventually Kiasa gave up and moved away to continued browsing with the rest of the Nursery herd.
Musiara and Luggard are still the best of friends. This afternoon after the orphans settled back in the forest after their midday bottles of milk, Musiara ran over to Luggard and began strength testing match with him. The two could be seen pushing each other around the forest, having the best time. Dololo once again tried to join in but Musiara appeared to want some alone time with his old friend and did not pay much attention to Dololo. This seemed to bore Dololo who then decided to run off and find some fun elsewhere.
Little Roho has become quite the playful young bull and he has stated to copy some of the habits of the older bulls such as Musiara, Sattao, Maktao and Dololo. These older boys are always fond of wrestling each other and climbing on each other as well as on the backs of the other orphans in the Nursery herd. Today, little Roho was trying to wrestle Maisha whilst they were out in the forest. He could be seen running towards her and testing his strength each time he would push against her. Maisha being one of the older and caring girls of the Nursery herd, understood all too well that this was an important part of the little bull’s growth and she could be seen gently challenging him in this strength testing match.
As their games continued, Maisha could be seen lying down and gently playing with the bull. Each time she would lie down, Roho would try and climb onto her back. Maisha has become Roho’s playmate, as he is always choosing her when he gets into his playful moods.
Kiombo seemed to be in a bad mood this morning and did not want any of the other bulls such as Musiara, Maktao, Mukkoka, Dololo, and Sattao to browse near him. Every time they tried to browse near him he would charge at them and chase them away. However, from 10am onwards he seemed to have cheered up a bit and was in a much better mood with his friends. He could be seen happily browsing near the other bulls that were trying to stay near him earlier on.
The last few days Ziwadi has not been sneaking off on her own but has rather been following the Nursery herd out in the forest. Recently she has also been experiencing less seizures, which seems to have helped her in many ways. Ziwadi and Larro are still learning how to use their trunks, especially when it comes to drinking water. They are often seen going down on their knees and drinking water through their mouths. As the orphans grow older, they learn how to use their trunks more and more.
Kiko very much has a mind of his own, and this morning he decided to be stubborn and not listen to his Keeper that were trying to usher him to the stockade neighbouring Maxwell’s. When the Keepers tried to call him in their direction, he just walked off and headed straight to the parking area where he began to eat some greens. He was also having fun following the guards around and seeing what they are up to. He remained in the parking for several minutes before he headed off to the forest.
When he got to the forest, he slightly frightened Nabulu, Kiombo, Sattao, and Dololo who were all busy browsing. As they got a fright, they all began to charge around excitedly and Dololo even tried to chase Kiko back to the stockade compound. Although reluctant, Kiko eventually decided to walk back to his stockade with his Keepers.
Maxwell is still getting better and each day shows little improvements. Most days he has been enjoying a long mud bath in the afternoon.