Arthi continued his Jekyll-and-Hyde routine at milk feeds this month. He charges down the path for his milk in first position, trumpeting loudly all the way despite being in the lead — behaving as if he had not been fed for three days, rather than just three hours! He always changes back into a calm, polite boy as soon as he finishes his milk.
Arthi has also been picking up tricks from Mzinga. Soon after the others settled to browse one morning, he snuck back to the stockades in search of leftover pellets and lucerne — a favourite tactic of Mzinga’s. When he saw a Keeper coming to get him, he ran away along the path between the stockades, ignoring his whistles, and jogged off along another passageway. It took two Keepers to catch naughty Arthi and bring his game of hide-and-seek to an end.
Pardamat has outsized aspirations to be the Nursery's dominant bull — but he has to wait his turn, and mind his manners! Taroha is the oldest, largest, and thus dominant bull. One morning in the forest, Taroha was browsing peacefully with little Kipekee when Pardamat pushed him from behind. Bolstered by the element of surprise, he managed to knock the older boy down. This was a big mistake. Taroha may be easygoing, but Pardamat had crossed a line. Trumpeting loudly, he chased Pardamat and tried to bite his tail. The young rascal ran for cover, trumpeting in alarm.
Our real bull-in-charge is a great favourite with the babies. One morning in the forest, Taroha lay relaxing on his side on the ground with Daba, Arthi, and Kipekee clustered around him. Although they did not quite manage to scramble atop him, they draped their trunks over his body and leant against him.
Olomunyak is friends with everyone, elephant or otherwise. He has a real soft spot for Maxwell, our blind black rhino. One morning on his way out to the forest, Olomunyak stopped at Maxwell's gate, where the enormous rhino was waiting for a visitor on the other side. Olomunyak rumbled a greeting, touched Max with his trunk, and began pushing the gate with his head. Max stood still, enjoying the game. When Kipekee walked over to join them, Olomunyak pushed her away — he was not willing to share his rhino friendship.
Tytan, our young black rhino, is growing up and perhaps starting to respect Max, as he should. One morning, he marched past Max's enclosure without pausing to defecate. Could the battle of the middens be coming to an end?
Tytan and Notty continue to be inseparable. One Keeper describes them as bonded like twins. The little rhino and the little zebra do not seem to see each other as different at all. In the mornings, they enjoy scampering-through-the-bushes games — Tytan lumbers after Notty, who runs away but slows her pace to make the game fun. The zebra runs a short distance, the rhino catches up, the zebra nips away. As they grow up, they will of course part ways as Tytan establishes his territory in the park and Notty joins a family of zebras. But for now, this unlikely pair are best buddies.
Mzinga continues to march to the beat of her own drum. One afternoon, she drifted off into the bush on her own, ignored all calls, and had to be persuaded to rejoin the others when it was time to head home for the night. Our little girl is growing up.
Despite her increasing independence, Mzinga has always looked out for waifs and strays — and that has not changed. One day, when the herd moved on and shy Alia was left behind, Mzinga chose to stay back with her. The two girls browsed side by side until Mzinga encouraged the newbie to rejoin the herd. On other days when Alia has been missing from the group, Mzinga has gone to search for her to make sure all is well.
Alia continues to settle in. She is physically stronger than she was, but remains a shy girl who prefers to follow at a comfortable distance rather than be in the midst of the herd. While she is becoming more comfortable with the Keepers, she does not enjoy strange human beings. As time passes, we know she will start to branch out a bit, but she also seems to be reserved by nature.
Nyambeni is besotted with little Kipekee, but she also knows when she must give her up. One morning, it was funny to watch how she would not allow Mzinga, Talek, or Wamata anywhere near 'her' baby and chased each of them away in turn. However, when Muridjo walked over, Nyambeni allowed her access to Kipekee without question. A pecking order is a pecking order, and Nyambeni knows her place is below that of Muridjo, the mini matriarch.
Kipekee's reign as favourite is no longer uncontested, as Daba has also captured the hearts of the big girls. Rather than begrudge this dethroning, Kipekee has embraced it. The two babies are becoming friends, spending lots of time together as a result of all the older girls hovering around them. One morning, Daba and Kipekee led the herd out from the stockades together, the two little ones pushing each other back and forth — first one was the leader, then the other — while Talek, Muridjo, Mzinga, and Nyambeni ambled contentedly along behind them.
Little Daba is such a favourite. He has a kind face, a cheerful personality, and likes everyone. He is becoming stronger and has made lots of friends in the herd, browsing one morning with old friend Alia, then with dominant bull Taroha, and finally with new bestie Wamata. As Daba and Wamata sleep in neighbouring stables, we always expected them to become good friends — and so it has proved to be.
In fact, Wamata is a big girl nowadays! The spoilt baby has disappeared and been replaced with a caring big sister. She was the youngest in the herd for a long time and had lots of adjusting to do when Kipekee arrived — at first, she was jealous of the younger girl and sometimes pushed her when the older females were not looking. But no longer. She sleeps in the stable between Kipekee and Daba, and now dotes on them both.
Talek continues to have impeccable manners and an unflappable personality. Our caring, easygoing girl rarely retaliates when one of the others behaves badly. At the mud bath one afternoon, naughty Kipekee gave her a shove from behind. Talek hardly reacted — she regained her balance, put her head down, and continued browsing on supplementary greens. We told off the baby with warning whistles.
The month ended with a night of mighty storms, and the rain continued into the morning. All the orphans were reluctant to leave their stockades — except for Kipekee, who hurried out of her stable to celebrate the showers. Although she does not like downpours after dark, she enjoys rain during the day. Escorted by Muridjo, Nyambeni, and Talek, she found water baby Taroha lazing in some flowing water. Without a second of hesitation, Kipekee paddled in to join him. Our little baby has become confident enough to swim with the dominant bull without any nannies!