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Malima was initially quite a naughty young bully girl who was forced to go up into the older group so that she could be disciplined by the older members. This method seemed to work and the big girls really brought her back down to size, so that she had a better character and nature around the others. This is why socialising with the other elephants is so important for our young orphans! Malima is now a much more gentle and calm loving girl who is much more protective of the younger babies. Today we watched as she went running to Mukkoka who was yelling after being pushed by naughty Emoli. As Mukkoka struggled to get to his feet after being pushed over by Emoli, Malima came running out of the bushes and went to rescue Mukkoka before Tagwa and Tamiyoi arrived. When Mukkoka got to his feet, Malima didn’t want to leave his side and she attached herself to his side all day long. She especially shows interest in caring for Mukkoka and Dololo.

In the early morning today as the orphans came out of their stockades, they decided to turn the extension of Maxwell’s stockade into their own personal playground. Enkesha, Malima, Emoli and Musiara took advantage of the open side remaining to enter and mess around. The four orphans had lots of fun playing with Maxwell who was also excited about the game. The game would have carried on were it not for the warthogs who decided to enter Maxwell’s main stockade and start sharing his food. As Maxwell was running up and down the side of his stockade chasing the elephants, the warthogs were busy fighting over his lucerne pellets. Their noise kept distracting him and in the end Max abandoned his game and decided to deal with the noisy warthogs. 

Usually Tamiyoi is a very quiet girl during the public visiting time. If she is not standing in one of the corners in the shade, she is quietly browsing on the greens put out for the orphans during the mud bath visit. Today instead however, she had a lengthy pushing game with Emoli. One of the warthogs who usually visits the mud bath went into the crowd and gave them a fright as he lost which way he was going. He made a loud grunt which scared the visitors and the elephant babies too, who ran towards their Keepers for safety! 

Mapia is sometimes a naughty little boy and today he was misbehaving with Luggard. Luggard is such a soft boy who always carefully selects who to play with if he is in that mood. Today Mapia kept on trying to force Luggard into a game that he wasn’t interested in. Mapia ended up pushing Luggard very hard. Jotto is generally a polite and gentle bull and he doesn’t like it when the others bully one another. He wasn’t pleased with Mapia’s behaviour and he jumped in, charging over to Mapia and pushing him away from the herd. 

Mapia was still in a naughty mood later when the orphans returned to the mud bath at 3pm. For no reason at all he came out of the mud bath where he had been playing, and decided to knock little Larro over who was quietly feeding on an acacia branch. Tagwa, Tamiyoi and Malima got out of the mud and Tamiyoi and Malima helped the little one up while Tagwa drove Mapia away from the group.

We now seem to have two naughty little bully boys in the Nursery who keep bullying the younger ones. Emoli and Mapia have been particularly nasty towards the new arrival Larro recently. This morning just as she was browsing and minding her own business, Emoli went over and pushed her so hard she tripped and fell over. Tagwa came running over to save the little girl and Emoli, knowing full well that he had been very naughty, ran away. He did not get far however before Ambo managed to instill some discipline as he poked him in the back with his tusks and drove him into the thicket away from the group. Mapia also keeps bothering little Larro. While at the mud bath later in the day he turned and pushed Larro so that she fell over again. Malima, Tamiyoi, Kiasa and the Keepers ran over to help the little girl, for while Emoli and Mapia are being very naughty, there are some that are concerned with her wellbeing as well and are always trying to look out for her. Kiasa has been at the forefront trying to keep Larro company as much as she can. In the evening, and today was another example, Enkesha her neighbor is always pulling her greens over to their partition and trying to share them with Larro as well. 

Recently it has seemed like Malima is trying to prove to the other older girls that she can also be a leader. Sometimes, like today, she will try and lead her own group off to the side from the others. This morning she had her own group of seven babies who decided to go off and browse for about two hours on their own. The orphans always all wake up in a different mood every day; sometimes they want to play, sometimes they just want to browse, and sometimes they want to walk off and explore. At was at this point in the day that Malima tried to keep Dololo, Larro, Luggard, Sattao, Maisha and Musiara under her watch. She can be very good at protecting the younger ones if she wants to. Musiara is a quiet outgoing little boy though and sometimes he likes to accompany those walking out further into the forest. While he was with Malima today he didn’t see Tagwa or Sagala and he started running all over the place looking for them. Malima grew concerned as he frantically ran around, so she left the rest of the group to help him. Within no time, it was only Luggard and Larro left behind in the spot the group of seven had been browsing, as all the others left after Malima too. By the time they caught up with the older ones, it was almost time for the 9am milk feed.

Malima and Ambo woke up this morning in a very excitable mood. They were up before everyone else and started playing with the buckets outside of their rooms which hold their milk bottles. When the two were let out they ran from one gate to another waking up all of their friends who were still sleeping inside. They were even trumpeting as they charged around the compound! Maxwell got caught up in their excitable mood as well, as they went over to his gate to wake him up as well. He came over to his gate and engaged them in a game of head butting and pushing his gate as the duo responded from the other side. He became very playful as well and started running up and down his stockade. Eventually Malima and Ambo decided to leave Maxwell to catch up with the other orphans who had already started to make their way out to the forest. Out in the forest Mapia joined them, but with the intention of engaging Ambo in a wrestling game. Malima went ahead to link up with the rest of the herd and left the boys to their game. 

Jotto was doing what he loves to do when he has time, and as the rest of the orphans walked deeper into the forest he decided to stay back and keep Luggard and Larro company. Musiara, Enkesha and later Emoli and Maisha had a lengthy mud bath. When Emoli and Maisha joined the scene turned very chaotic with mud sprayed in all directions! As all the others were busy browsing or having a mud bath, Mukkoka went behind the soil piles and fell asleep. As the group left to go back out to the forest poor Mukkoka was left behind and the Keepers had to turn back to get him.

The sky was clear today and there was no sign of any rain ahead. The sun had just started to rise and displace the morning cold as the orphans began their morning routine of leaving their stockades and walking out towards the dew covered bushes in the forest. They followed under the leadership of the current Nairobi matriarch Tagwa and moved slowly amongst the bushes, browsing as they walked. Musiara and Luggard trailed behind, as Malima and Maisha were at the front alongside Kuishi and Sagala who were apparently more interested in playing than browsing. The Keepers walked on either side of the orphans, making them feel secure and protected. Maktao with his funny antics was putting his trunk into one of the Keepers’ pockets, pulling out his handkerchief. The Keeper pleaded with him to give him his handkerchief back, but Maktao was in a mischievous mood and threw the handkerchief into the top of a nearby bush!

As the days pass, Kiasa’s size and body strength are also growing, and so is her streak of naughtiness. She has passed her age-mates in size and her playmates are not keen to play with her as she has a rather cheeky character. These days she has found new playmates who are slightly older than her, being primarily Malima and Emoli. Today during the 9am milk feed, Malima had a very hard time trying to defend her milk bottles from Kiasa who was determined to have more than her share. Despite her bigger size and being able to stand her own, Malima was having trouble with the sassy little girl from Tsavo. As the feeding went on, our attentions turned to Dololo who was really enjoying his milk bottle. He was drinking it in style and even raising his front feet. When the bottle was finished he continued to suckle on it to make sure there were no drops left. As the Keeper removed the teat from his mouth he complained and yelled bitterly, as though to say he was not done yet!

Maxwell woke up earlier than usual today and he was seen running up and down his large stockade. At times he was seen charging, and knocking his horn against the posts of his stockade. We thought that most likely a wild rhino had come close to his room, which is his territory, and he was acting to defend it from any intruders! A little later Ambo, Jotto, Malima and Mapia were trying to steal some pellets from Maxwell’s room from between the bars of his gate. Maxwell was having none of it today, and upon sensing some uninvited guests enjoying his food he rushed at the gate and tried to keep the elephants away. As the elephants dared to venture closer, Maxwell turned the other way and sprayed the unsuspecting elephants with urine to mark his territory, and the poor babies rushed backwards with fright, before rushing out to the forest to join their friends who had already begun walking out.