This seems to be a favourable time of year for our wild-living to pay us a visit, for just like at Ithumba where we have all of Yatta’s wild living herd visiting for the past two months, so our wild living orphans Mweya, Edie and Ndara have chosen to remain around the Voi stockade area. It was in January last year that Mweya and Edie came to visit too, before drifting further afield again, taking some of our older Voi orphans with them as nannies to their two adorable yet rather unruly newborns, Eco and Mwitu. They stayed away for the whole year, before returning last month, this time with Ndara and her baby boy Neptune as well. We haven’t seen Emily and the rest of the herd for a while now, and we believe Bada must have stayed behind with them too, as he didn’t return with the others.
After the morning feed the Voi orphans hung around the stockade compound feeding on pellets and engaging in different activities before heading out for the day. Mashariki led the orphans up the rocky side of Msinga Hill. The orphans maneuvered their way through the rocks, browsing on the nice new tufts of fresh grass as they went.
At noon the orphans visited the baobab tree waterhole where they had their milk feed before making their way to the mud bath. Ndotto, Mbegu and Arruba spent most of their time playing and wallowing while the rest of the orphan herd spent their time browsing around the mud bath. Later Ngilai, Embu and Mashariki came to take Ndotto, Mbegu and Arruba’s place in the mud bath, and the three exited the water to join the others who were still busy browsing.
The afternoon was spent browsing until the evening when Tamiyoi led the entire orphan herd back to the safety of the stockades for the night.
Early in the morning ex-orphans Mweya and Edie came to the stockades together with Ndara and her wild born calf Neptune. As a result there was a lot of excitement in the stockade compound as the dependent orphans enjoyed meeting all the ex-orphans once again. The wild born babies, ex-orphans and dependent orphans enjoyed interacting with one another as they played and bonded. Mwitu, Mweya’s calf, came to have a drink from the water trough before heading back to rejoin the ex-orphan herd, stopping to greet Tamiyoi on the way. Eco enjoyed playing a pushing game with Emoli and Pika Pika before Tahri came and interrupted their game.
All the orphans young and old headed out to the Park for the morning browsing activities. On the way the two groups parted ways and at noon the dependent orphan herd made their way to the baobab tree waterhole for their noon milk feed and a mud bath. Arruba tried to scare the buffalo Ivia away from the waterhole by charging at him, but he was completely unperturbed. Godoma then tried to do the same but also had no success. The orphans all enjoyed wallowing in the water as they rolled around splashing and playing before resuming with their browsing activities.
The orphans left the stockade compound as soon as they had finished their milk and supplement feeding. Mashariki led the orphan herd to the peak of Msinga Hill where they spent the morning browsing. At noon they walked down to the noon milk feeding area, near the baobab tree waterhole. Tundani, Ndoria and Ishaq-B remained on Msinga browsing as they were not interested in joining the others at the mud bath.
Ivia and Cheza the buffaloes joined the orphan elephants in the mud bath - Embu invited them in which was quite a surprise, while Ndotto and Mbegu engaged one another in a sparring session at the edge of the mud bath. Suswa was having fun rolling around and playing in the soil near the mud bath. Mbegu then engaged Embu in a strength testing session while Rorogoi, Godoma and Arruba enjoyed a soil dust bath where they were later joined by Mbegu, who dug at the ground to loosen the earth to toss the soil over herself. After the mud and dust bathing games were over the orphans returned to their browsing activities for the afternoon, after which they returned home for the night.
Early in the morning before the stockade-dependent orphans exited their night quarters, ex-orphans Mweya, Edie, Ndara and the rest of their group visited the stockade compound where the Keepers gave them Lucerne pellets to feed on as they waited for the young orphans to come out, have their milk and join them for the supplement food. Ndara and her calf Neptune enjoyed bonding with the dependent orphans before both groups left the stockade compound to head out to browse.
Once out in the browsing fields the two groups parted ways, with the ex-orphan herd heading to their own browsing grounds further afield and the stockade-dependent orphans browsing at the foot of Msinga Hill. They spent the morning feeding there. Lasayen as usual browsed next to his friend Murit. Both of these young bulls seem to be growing more dignified with age. They don’t play nearly as much as Ndotto and Ngilai do and are very quiet most of the time!
At noon the orphan herd made their way to the baobab tree waterhole for their milk bottles and a mud bath. Tundani invited Ishaq-B for a sparring session in the water while the rest of the group enjoyed swimming and splashing around. Godoma enjoyed some quiet time outside the waterhole after which she joined her friends for the afternoon browsing session and Lasayen enjoyed a private dust bath.
The orphans left the stockade compound this morning as soon as they had downed their morning milk bottles. After they left, at about 9:30 in the morning, ex-orphan Laikipia came to the stockades where he was lucky enough to be given some Lucerne pellets which he enjoyed. He remained at the stockades for about 30 minutes before leaving and heading back out to the Park. He did not meet up with the stockade dependent herd as he went in a different direction than that taken by his younger friends.
The weather was rather cold and chilly today and as such the orphan herd was not interested in wallowing following their noon milk feed. Instead of mud bathing the orphans chose to resume with their browsing activities, leaving Mashariki, Mudanda and Arruba having a drink from the water trough. When they were done they caught up with their friends who had settled to browse nearby.
Once the noon milk feed was over, Ishaq-B led the orphan herd to the baobab tree water trough where they had a drink of clean water before heading to the waterhole. Godoma had fun playing at the edge of the mud bath where she displayed different playing styles before Ivia came and interrupted her fun by engaging her in a sparring game. Godoma accepted Ivia, the playful buffaloes’, invitation to play and chased him around the mud wallow. While the two had fun playing Ngilai enjoyed rolling around having a soil dust bath beside the mud bath.
While wallowing, Ishaq-B stretched her trunk towards the Keepers’ camera in an effort to grab it while Mbegu continued to swim and wallow in the water where she was joined by Pika Pika and Godoma, who submerged their bodies in the water. Arruba was busy dust bathing at the soil piles where she was joined by Suswa who had been browsing nearby.
In the evening while the group were making their way back to the stockades for the night, Ndotto invited Mbegu for a wrestling game which the two enjoyed playing as they made their way home.
The stockade dependent orphans exited their stockade this morning for their milk and supplement Lucerne pellet feeding. Ngilai, Suswa and Mudanda enjoyed picking on the remains of the pellets while Godoma fed on green vegetation in one corner of the stockade compound. Tagwa and Tamiyoi led the way out to the Park for the day and the group settled to browse at the foot of Msinga Hill a few kilometers away from the stockade.
Mashariki and Tundani stayed at the head of the line of orphans as they maneuvered their way
around Msinga Hill in search of fresh vegetation to feed on. Suswa and Arruba kept each other company at the foot of the hill as they browsed together sharing whatever greens they could find.
The orphans made their way to the baobab tree waterhole at noon for their milk feed and a bath. Sagala, Pika Pika, Mbegu, Godoma and Arruba all had a lovely time playing in the mud bath while Suswa and Ndoria enjoyed scratching on the edge. Arruba showed how excited she was to be in the mud bath by running from end to the other while trumpeting loudly. She then went to splash around in the water trough together with Pika Pika. The afternoon was spent browsing until it was time to return to the stockades for the night.
Early in the morning before the Voi orphan group had exited their stockades, a group of ex-orphans led by Mweya came to the compound and quickly settled to feed on Lucerne pellets. Mweya tried to push Ndara and Neptune away from the pellets as she apparently did not want to share. To keep the peace the Keepers gave Ndara and Neptune their own pellets to enjoy. Edie enjoyed feeding on pellets with her babies Ella and Eco while Mwitu spent some time with her nanny Nguvu.
Mashariki led the way out this morning as the orphans set off to begin the days browsing activities. The ex-orphan group followed while also keeping their distance from the youngsters.
After the noon milk feed the dependent orphans made their way down to the baobab tree waterhole where they had fun wallowing, splashing and rolling around in the muddy water. Ishaq-B came out of the water and played at the edge of the waterhole, showing off for the camera, before going back into the mud bath to splash water with her trunk. Ndoria was having a lovely time playing at the edge of the wallow with Diria and Nzuki the zebras coming to join the elephants as they left the wallow for the afternoon browsing session.
The Voi dependent orphans exited their stockades this morning and had their morning milk feed before settling to enjoy the Lucerne pellets put out for them by the Keepers. Mashariki was busy trying to suck up every last drop of milk that had been spilled in the milk feeding area while the rest of the group was busy feeding on pellets.
Sagala walked around the compound shaking her head from side to side while Ngilai picked up every last pellet before joining the rest of the orphan herd who were already heading out for the day.
The orphans settled to browse along Msinga Hill for the morning with Mashariki leading them downhill to the noon milk feeding area. Araba busied herself browsing as she waited for the milk van to arrive. Once the milk dependent group had finished their milk the orphan herd made their way to the waterhole with Godoma, Pika Pika and Mbegu walking straight into the water. Godoma was busy swirling her trunk around in the water while Mbegu and Arruba swam and wallowed. Suswa stood at the edge of the mud wallow splashing herself while Ivia and Cheza the buffaloes had a drink at the water trough before joining the rest of the orphans who had finished wallowing, and were returning to their browsing activities.
Tundani left his stockade this morning and after the milk feed he walked straight over to the electric fence that surrounds the compound, so that he could reach over with his trunk and eat some of the green leaves on the other side. The rest of the herd had fun playing on the soil piles. Ndotto, Arruba and Sagala lay down dust bathing with Ndotto trying to climb all over Sagala. Tahri teamed up with Ndii and the two climbed to the top of the soil pile where they rolled around spreading the soil everywhere. Ngilai then invited Tagwa to play a sparring game while Kenia relaxed at the dust bath with Arruba, Ndotto and Ishaq-B, before Ndotto and Arruba got up to play a strength testing game.
In the evening we came across Edie leading the group of ex-orphans made up of Mweya, Ndara, their wild born babies and their nannies together with Nguvu and two wild bulls, both of which were trying to get close to Mweya, who is evidently in season. Mweya was rather unsettled around the wild bulls and ran off leaving her baby Mwitu with Edie who was enjoying feeding on Lucerne pellets as she nursed her baby Eco. The ex-orphans spent the evening at the stockade compound. Ndara and her baby Neptune kept their distance from the rest of the group as they enjoyed feeding on their own pile of pellets.
Godoma and Emoli rushed out of their stockades this morning as they raced to get the milk feeding area for their morning milk bottles. They were followed a few minutes later by Pika Pika who seemed to be in no hurry at all today, and she sauntered over to the feeding area where she downed her bottles before making her way to the supplement feeding area with the rest of the orphan herd.
The Voi dependent orphans hung around the stockade compound for a while playing, bonding and feeding. Tundani once again kept himself busy plucking green leaves from the bushes on the other side of the electric fence.
Tagwa and Tamiyoi led the group out to the Park and they settled to browse at the foot of Msinga Hill. The day was spent browsing, stopping by the same baobab tree for the noon milk feed and mud wallow, before returning to the safety of the stockades for the night.
Mudanda, Pika Pika, Emoli and Ishaq-B were enjoying feeing on pellets this morning together with the rest of the orphan herd. Ishaq-B then played around the stockade terrace wall before joining her friends at the soil pile. Arruba lay on top of the soil and Pika Pika came over and tried to climb on her. Ndotto tried to engage Araba in a sparring game but she wasn’t interested so Ndotto went in search of his favourite playmate Arruba, who was still lying in the soil pile. Arruba accepted Ndotto’s invitation and the two enjoyed playing a wrestling game before following the rest of their friends who were leaving the stockade compound for the Park and the days browsing activities.
The Voi dependent orphans exited their stockades this morning for the milk feed. Godoma, Emoli, Pika Pika and Tamiyoi were the first to line up for their milk bottles which they downed in a matter of seconds. When the milk feed was over the milk -dependent orphans joined their older friends at the Lucerne pellet feeding area.
Godoma and Ndii were having fun at the terrace wall where Godoma was sat at its base while Ndii was above her. Ndii them came down and embraced Godoma before walking away. Ishaq-B had fun rolling around on the soil pile alongside Tahri with Ndii who came over to join in. Godoma also came to join them but by the time she got there the group were ready to leave for the Park with Tagwa, Tamiyoi and Mashariki, who had already started to walk out ahead. Sagala, who was busy digging at the soil at the soil pile, was the last to leave and ran off trumpeting to catch up with everyone.
Once the orphans reached the grasslands Lasayen settled happily to browse with Murit quietly. The two bulls don’t feel the need to jostle and play as much as their age mates Ndotto and Ngilai who are always messing around. In the Nursery Ndotto and Lasayen were very close and always playing but these days Lasayen seems very much more dignified and the Keepers note how he never wrestles and tussles as much as the other bulls. For this reason Mbegu likes to browse with him too sometimes. The orphan herd spent the day browsing in the bush following Kenia who was their leader today.
Before the Voi dependent orphans exited their stockades for their morning milk bottles, ex-orphan Laikipia came to the stockade and settled to enjoy the Lucerne pellets, where he was then joined by the orphan herd. Laikipia hung around the stockade compound bonding with his younger friends before leaving for the Park, heading back out in the same direction that he had come.
The orphans enjoyed playing with Ndotto and Arruba engaged in their daily morning sparring session, before Arruba moved to enjoy a soil dusting where Pika Pika enjoyed trying to climb on her back again.
Sagala, Tagwa, Tamiyoi and Mashariki led the way out to the bush heading up the rocky side of Msinga Hill. The orphans spent the morning browsing before making their way to the baobab tree waterhole for their afternoon milk bottles, after which they immediately returned to their browsing activities.
The orphans exited their stockades and headed straight to their milk bottles before congregating around the Lucerne pellet feeding area. Ishaq-B lined up alongside Murit and Ndoria to feed on pellets while Ndotto enjoyed an early morning dust bath at the soil pile, where he was joined by Suswa, who quickly invited him for a sparring session. When their game was over Suswa decided to team up with Arruba to play on the soil pile too.
Tagwa and Tamiyoi set off to the browsing fields, followed closely by Sagala and Mashariki while the rest of the orphan herd followed a short distance behind them, browsing as they walked. Ndotto invited Ishaq-B for a sparring session and the two stopped to play before rushing to catch up with their friends who had moved further afield. The orphans spent the morning browsing at the foot of Msinga Hill alongside the orphan zebras and buffalos Diria, Nzuki, Ivia and Cheza.
At noon the orphan elephants downed their morning milk bottles before heading to the baobab tree waterhole where they had a drink from the water trough and wallowed in the mud bath, before settling in the long grass near the waterhole to browse for the afternoon.
Arruba enjoyed an early morning dust bath as she rolled around on the stockade soil pile where she was joined by Suswa who took her place, before heading off to catch up with her friends who were heading out to the Park for the day. They left Suswa behind as she was taking her time dust bathing. Suswa did not seem at all bothered and enjoyed her dust bath to the full, before heading off to join up with her friends, smelling their scent and following in their footsteps.
The orphans walked around Msinga Hill browsing slowly before making their way to the baobab tree waterhole for their noon milk bottles, after which they headed to the mud bath. Tamiyoi was busy scratching against the edge of the mud bath while Mbegu and Godoma were playing in the water, splashing and rolling around getting very muddy.
The orphans left the waterhole to resume their browsing activities and enjoyed feeding on the long green grass near the waterhole area. Kenia and Pika Pika enjoyed a dust bath with Pika Pika lying at Kenia’s feet for a nap before getting up to join the rest of the group for the browsing activities.
The ex-orphans Mweya, Edie and their herd arrived at the stockade compound early this morning accompanied by a wild bull that has been pursuing Mweya for the last week. Mbirikani enjoyed scratching her neck against the biggest rock in the stockade compound while Ndara and her baby Neptune waited patiently at the feeding trough to be given some Lucerne pellets as did Edie, Eco, Mwitu and Naipoki. While they waited Naipoki put her trunk on her head and leant it against Mwitu’s back while Ndara nursed Neptune.
The wild bull was in a charging around confusing and scaring the orphans who were unsure of what was going on. He eventually calmed down and left the compound allowing Ndotto and Arruba to enjoy their morning sparring session.
The morning was spent browsing before heading to the baobab tree waterhole for the noon milk bottle and a mud bath. Arruba walked straight into the water and ran from one end to the other while Ndotto invited Godoma for a strength testing game. Suswa, Rorogoi and Mudanda were the last to enter the water and splashed and rolled around in the mud bath while the rest of their friends exited and started the afternoons browsing activities nearby. In the evening the orphans made their way back home with Ngilai, Ndotto, Sagala and Murit munching on green vegetation as they headed home.
The stockade dependent orphans were all in an excited and happy mood this morning as they left the stockade compound for the Park. While still in the compound Ndotto engaged Rorogoi in a sparring game, until Arruba came over to interrupt their fun, which saw Ndotto taking on Arruba while Rorogoi walked away trumpeting loudly.
The sparring session between Ndotto and Arruba went on for a while and just when it seemed like it might come to an end, Arruba would win over Ndotto and he would turn around and start the wrestling match all over again, sometimes taking up different positions while standing and kneeling on the rocks. Rorogoi tried to engage Ishaq-B in a strength testing game but Ishaq-B wasn’t interested and headed off to join her friends who were making their way out to the Park to being the days browsing activities.
In the afternoon the orphan elephants enjoyed playing with some fresh red earth that had been brought to the baobab tree waterhole for them to play with. Godoma and Mbegu took centre stage at the soil piles, staying there and playing the longest before joining the rest of the herd who had resumed browsing for the afternoon. The orphans spent the afternoon browsing before returning to the safety of the stockades for the night.
The ex-orphans Edie, Ella, Eco, Mweya, Mwitu, Mbirikani, Kihari, Naipoki and a wild elephant bull arrived at the stockade compound at 6:20am and had a drink of water from the water trough before making their way to the Lucerne pellet feeding area for some supplement food. Ndara and Neptune came to join the ex-orphan and stockade dependent group at the compound at 7am, just as Edie and Mweya’s herds were about to head back out to the Park. Baby Neptune had a lot of fun playing at the edge of one of the stockade terraces before following Ndara who was heading out to catch up with Mweya and Edie. Seven year old bull Nguvu was missing from the group of ex-orphans and the Keepers suspect that he may have been chased away from them by the big wild elephant bull that has been pursuing Mweya for a few weeks now in an effort to mate with her.
The dependent orphans had a relatively quiet day which was spent browsing in the Park before enjoying some fun and games at the baobab tree waterhole.
The ex-orphans Ndara, Mweya, Edie and their herd arrived at the stockade compound at 7am, soon after the stockade dependent orphan elephants had finished their milk bottles and were making their way to the Lucerne pellet feeding area. The ex-orphan herd had a drink of water from the stockade water trough, after which they spent time socializing with their younger friends before heading out for the day, and later the two groups parted ways.
The dependent orphan elephants had a lovely morning browsing around Msinga hill and at noon they visited the baobab tree waterhole for their noon milk feed. The orphan herd had a lot of fun playing mud bathing games before enjoying a dust bath. Once all the fun and games were over the orphans returned to their browsing activities until it was time to return to the safety of the stockades for the night.
It was a quiet morning with the milk dependent orphan elephants running out of their stockades for their morning milk bottles which they downed in a matter of seconds, after which they made their way to the Lucerne pellet feeding area. The orphan herd then headed out to the Park with Pika Pika stopping at the soil pile to enjoy a dust bath before catching up with the rest of the group.
The morning was spent browsing as the herd made their way to the baobab tree waterhole for the noon milk feed and a drink of water. As it was a cloudy and cold day none of the orphans entered the water, choosing instead to play nearby.
Godoma and Tagwa enjoyed playing together until Ndotto came and interrupted their fun by engaging Godoma in a sparring session with Ngilai coming in to play with Tagwa. The afternoon browsing session took place to the south of the waterhole until it was time to return to the safety of the stockades in the evening.
Godoma led the orphans out of their stockades this morning for their morning milk feed, followed by the Lucerne pellet supplement feeding. Mudanda was being a bit of a bully towards Pika Pika as they fed on the supplements but Ndii and Ishaq-B both came to her assistance and chased Mudanda away from the feeding area.
Suswa, Tamiyoi and Tagwa had fun at the soil pile where they enjoyed a morning dust bath. The three were joined there by Sagala, Ndotto, Arruba and Rorogoi while Tundani was busy feeding on acacia leaves at the electric fence line.
Godoma and Sagala took the lead of the orphan herd out to the browsing fields today and the two were closely followed by Tagwa, Tamiyoi, Mbegu, Godoma, Lasayen and Murit. The morning was spent browsing towards the northern side of Msinga Hill before the orphans made their way to the baobab tree waterhole at noon where they had their milk feed.
After the visit to the waterhole the orphans resumed with their browsing activities around the baobab tree area, to the south of the wallow. In the evening Mashariki took charge of the herd and led them back to the safety of the stockades for the night.
It was a happy beginning to the day with Edie, Mweya and their ex-orphan herd visiting the stockade compound early in the morning, with Ndara and Neptune bringing up the rear of the group. The ex-orphans made their way to the water trough where they quenched their thirst before settling to enjoy the Lucerne pellets that had been put out for them. They left the compound before the stockade dependent orphan elephants exited their stockades.
The dependent orphans later came out of their stockades and downed their milk bottles before enjoying the supplement food and playing around the compound, after which they headed out for the day.
At noon they visited the baobab tree waterhole as usual, arriving in groups of 5 for their milk bottles before heading to the mud bath. Ishaq-B led the group in dust bathing games as she slid from the top of the soil mound to the bottom. The afternoon was spent browsing to the west of the waterhole.
It was a wonderful beginning to the day with the orphan elephants exiting their stockades amid a light rain shower for their morning milk bottles and Lucerne pellets. They then lay on the ground trying to draw some warmth from it before heading out to the Park for the day.
Upon arriving at the browsing grounds, Ngilai stopped browsing for a while to engage Ivia the buffalo in a sparring game.
At noon the orphan herd visited the baobab tree waterhole where they finished their milk bottles before enjoying some fun and games in the mud bath. Godoma dug at the banks of the waterhole to enjoy a personal dust bath while her friends enjoyed playing with the loose soil that they found at the red earth pile. The afternoon was spent browsing peacefully until it was time to return to the stockades for the night.
The orphan elephants came running out of their stockades and made a bee-line for their morning milk bottles. When they finished guzzling those down they settled down to enjoy the Lucerne pellets that had been put out for them. Ishaq-B went to stand on top of the soil mound where she picked up soil with her trunk and tossed it in the air and all over herself, and Tagwa, who was lying further down the pile. Pika Pika, who has a soft spot for Ishaq-B, tried to climb down the stockade terrace to go and join her friend.
Once the stockade activities were over the orphan herd walked out to the Park for the day. The group browsed their way to the baobab tree waterhole arriving there in time for their noon milk bottles. Once the milk feed was over the group headed to the mud bath where they had a quick wallow before coming out to resume their browsing activities, at which point Ngilai engaged Ivia in a sparring game
The morning began as usual with the stockade-dependent orphan elephants sticking to their usual early morning routine beginning with their milk and supplement feeding after which they engaged in socializing games around the stockade compound.
The orphan herd left the stockades for the Park under the leadership of Sagala, Tagwa and Tamiyoi, who led the herd towards the grassy flat lands away from Msinga Hill for the morning browsing session.
The orphan elephants visited the baobab tree water hole after the noon milk feed but as it was a chilly day only Mashariki entered the mud bath, while the rest of the group avoided the water. Embu spent some time drinking at the water trough after which she rejoined her friends who were preparing to leave the waterhole for the afternoon browsing session.
Mashariki was busy wallowing and playing in the water and got left behind by the rest of the group but was unperturbed, and soon rejoined the rest of the herd. In the afternoon the weather improved and it became quite warm which resulted in the orphans seeking refuge from the sun under an acacia tree.
On their way out to the browsing fields, Ndotto decided to have a good scratch against a tree. Eventually the orphans settled to browse on Msinga Hill. Suswa, Murit and Godoma chose to browse at the foot of the hill, while Mashariki led the rest of the herd further uphill, maneuvering their way around the hill as they browsed on acacia shrubs.
When it was time for the noon milk feed the orphans made their way to the baobab tree waterhole feeding area for their milk bottles. Tamiyoi, Tagwa, Godoma and Emoli were the first to arrive and down their share before moving towards the waterhole where they were joined by the rest of the orphan herd. Diria and Nzuki the zebras joined the orphan elephants at the water trough where they all had their fill of water. The two zebras then rejoined their Keepers while Ngilai invited Ivia the buffalo for a sparring session in the mud bath, but Ivia wasn’t interested today and walked off. Ndoria enjoyed wallowing on her own in the mud bath after Godoma exited, but it wasn’t long before Pika Pika and Ishaq-B joined her and when they were all done wallowing they rejoined the rest of the group for the afternoon browsing session.
The Voi dependent orphans had their morning milk bottles as soon as they exited their stockades and enjoyed the Lucerne pellet supplements, after which they relaxed around the stockade compound for a while. A short while later the ex-orphans led by Mweya arrived together with two wild bulls and made their way straight to the water trough for a drink. This made us wonder if the orphans had chosen to stay relaxing around the stockade compound, just to meet up with the ex-orphans. They socialized and bonded for a while, with the dependent orphans keeping well away of the grown wild bulls.
Ndara later led the ex-orphans back out to the Park, leaving the stockade dependent orphans behind as they decided to take a different direction for the mornings browsing activities.
In the afternoon Diria and Nzuki walked down to the water trough together with the orphan elephants and then stood at the side of the waterhole to watch the elephants as the bathed. Kenia splashed around in the water for a spell before heading over to the soil piles where she enjoyed a dust bath. When the waterhole games were over the orphans resumed their browsing activities for the rest of the afternoon.
It was a beautiful beginning to the day with the dependent orphan elephants quickly downing their morning milk bottles before settling to enjoy the Lucerne pellet supplements that had been put out for them. Kenia was the first to join the milk dependent babies at the pellet feeding area and once all the feeding was over the orphan herd made their way out to the Park for the day.
Today the noon milk feed was brought to the orphans who were browsing to the north of the stockades, as they didn’t seem in any hurry to go to the baobab tree waterhole today. After the milk feed Sagala took the lead of the herd so that they could browse further afield, but she set such a fast pace that the rest couldn’t keep up and she ended up heading off on her own. Tahri and Arruba tried to stay between Sagala and the rest of the group but ended up falling back and keeping pace with the majority. Eventually Sagala had to turn around and come back to rejoin her friends and browse where they were for the afternoon.
The milk dependent orphans came running out of their stockades this morning and grabbed their milk bottles, downing the contents before joining their older friends at the Lucerne pellet feeding area. Ndoria then sat against the orphans’ favourite rock where she enjoyed a scratching session. Although she has become slightly mellower recently and no longer bites her friends’ tails, the other orphans are still a little wary of her and at times keep their distance.
The orphans left the stockade for the Park and browsed their way to the baobab tree waterhole, arriving there in time for the noon milk feed. They quickly finished their bottles and headed to the mud bath where they had a lot fun playing in the water. Embu lay in the water rolling around like a mud fish and was having so much fun that she didn’t see the others leaving. She came out a short while after the others had already walked off to browse, and had to run to catch up with them. The orphans browsed for the rest of the day without incident, before making their way back to the compound for the night.
The morning was overcast with the sun being blocked by thick clouds and there was a cold wind blowing as the orphans exited their stockades to begin their day. They concentrated on their early morning activities which began with the milk and supplement feeding followed by some fun and games at the stockade soil pile.
Tagwa, Sagala and Tamiyoi took the lead of the orphan herd out to the browsing grounds for the day. It was a bit warmer by the time the orphans made their way to the baobab tree waterhole for their noon milk feed, after which they enjoyed a mud bath followed by a quick dust bathing session.
The orphan elephants, buffalo and zebra then resumed with their browsing activities for the afternoon, settling to feed to the west of the waterhole before making their way back to the safety of the stockades in the evening.