01 July 2016

The orphans were in such an excitable mood this morning – they left their stockades running and trumpeting and bumping into one another as they ran into the forest, taking their excitement out on the vegetation around them and bashing it down. This funny behaviour the keepers have often witnessed before the arrival of a new baby at the nursery, as if they foresee this happening. This month we have seen the graduation of babies Ambo, Jotto and Tagwa into the older group of orphans and they are now spending their days out with them in the forest. Ambo is so attached to Oltaiyoni, and we have seen Ndotto and Ngilai trying to walk him away from his adopted mother but he pays no attention to them! The two boys tried all sorts of games, rolling on the ground and posing with their trunks in the air, all to try and lure the baby away but to no avail – Ambo loves his adopted mother Oltaiyoni! During public visiting today two male lions rocked the visit by bringing the fight they were having all the way past the visiting area and out into the bushes past the offices. They were roaring fiercely all the way around and continued to fight out of sight. The first group of orphans by the mud wallow were slightly unsettled by all of this and turned with their ears held high and trunks pointing in the direction the lions had gone. But they soon settled down once the roars of the lions moved further away. At noon we received a call to perform an elephant rescue, corresponding with the excitable behaviour of the orphans this morning, from Tsavo near Voi. The rescue team was sent out to bring this poor elephant calf back to the nursery.

02 July 2016

As the orphans settled out in the field early this morning, Boromoko and Sirimon were busy having a pushing game. The game started as a normal play-pushing game but escalated into a real challenge where both looked they were very serious about beating the other. They battled it out and then dominant Sokotei came over and tried to settle the game by coming between the two fighting boys, but they paid him no attention. It seemed they were trying to establish who the next ‘dominant’ bull was after Sokotei. They had moments of challenging each other all day long though it seems they did not manage to find out as they both seemed equal. Today we performed another rescue in the morning around 10am, after another calf we had heard about the day before was sighted again and we were called to rescue it. By 2pm the orphan was back in the nursery, rescued from Amboseli National Park.

03 July 2016

After the orphans had their 9am milk bottles and were busy walking back out to the bushes to continue browsing, Kiko watched them go from a distance and seemed to be deciding whether or not to join them. He decided he would and started sprinting after them enjoying their company for the whole morning, although Kamok and Naseku did not give him a moment of peace; they frequently charged and chased after him whenever he happened to browse alongside them. However Kiko is brave enough to challenge them back and he would just run in a wide circle, leaving the girls in the thicket wondering where he had gone. During the public visit today the orphans were very quiet and concentrated mostly on browsing on the greens. When they got back to the forest however, Ndotto, Lasayen and Godoma had a busy time chasing and charging after young warthogs who were hanging out beside the keepers. They kept spreading out when the elephants gave chase, leaving the orphans confused about which one to run after! It was very funny at one point when one of the warthogs turned a very sharp corner which came as a surprise to Godoma and she fell over rolling on the ground, when suddenly at the same time, one Lasayen and Ndotto were chasing made its escape by jumping over Godoma who was lying on the ground. Godoma started bellowing as she tried to get up and lovely Mbegu and Dupotto came running to help – this brought an end to the game!

04 July 2016

When the orphans were out in the field this morning, Kauro and Tusuja were busy engaged in a pushing game, gauging the level of their strength against each other. These pushing games provide important lessons for these young bulls and they will continue them as they grow older and even become mature bulls in the wild, fighting for dominance and mating rights. Kauro, Tusuja, Boromoko, Sirimon and Sokotei are just practicing and learning the skills they will need later in the wild. Little Jotto was a favourite at public visiting today as he is so little and happily walked along the rope cordon allowing the visiting public and school children to touch him. He was also smelling and touching with his little trunk, so small he still cannot even reach some people! Some of the school children could not believe that massive adult elephants start out as something so small and vulnerable. Little Jotto had formed such a strong and playful bond with some of the school children, some who were small and almost his size, that he was almost reluctant to leave when it was the end of visiting time! It was funny to watch him suddenly run away from his keepers to rejoin the school children and when he was made the follow the other orphans he bellowed loudly in protest. Caring Mbegu came running back to quickly join him. Little Jotto was amongst the school children who he was touching with his trunk and some other taking his picture, and Mbegu tore through them to her to her little baby; they were very surprised to suddenly find Mbegu in their midst!!! The school children left in a hurry and the keepers came to escort Mbegu and Jotto away back into the forest. The visitors left were so surprised to see Mbegu’s lovely and caring nature towards the other babies and it really touched them. This day ended with another elephant rescue – an orphan from Tsavo who arrived almost in a coma he had been without his mother for some time.

05 July 2016

Out in the bush in the early morning, Naseku, Roi, Dupotto and Godoma were scampering out and about in the bushes as they charged and ran around after some dik diks. After the poor dik dik ran away the girls were left stamping around and trumpeting wondering where it had fled to. Their game was cut short though by the ostrich Pea, who came running past them at top speed happy to be let out of her stockade and which frightened poor Godoma who she ran past. She bellowed and ran past Roi, Naseku and Dupotto towards Oltaiyoni and Mbegu who were also making their way over to see what was happening. Before the two caring girls reached Godoma Roi and co also ran after her to comfort her, so they all met up together and patted Godoma with their trunks to reassure her.

06 July 2016

Soon after the orphans came out of their stockades in the early morning, we watched as caring Oltaiyoni, Mbegu, Dupotto, Kamok and Roi were busy hanging around the stockades where the babies sleep. They greeted and communicated with them for some time; Maramoja one of the new little babies locked trunks with Mbegu in a lovely bond. From there the Oltaiyoni, Roi and Kamok moved to Pare’s stable, leaving Mbegu and Dupotto with Maramoja. When the keepers started moving the orphan herd out to the forest, the two babies started rumbling in protest at the disappearance of these new friends ad wanting to spend more time with them. Neither of the two young babies are properly settled yet though, and able to go out into the bush yet. Out in the bush today Galla and Sana Sana spent a lot of time together, on their own and away from the others. The Keepers had to keep looking for them when they wondered off together. They are showing a strong bond with each other and seem to have similar characters being gentle and calm and not fully interested in attaching themselves with the other orphans. However, being greedy for their milk they never go too far for long! Both also yell at their keepers when they have finished their share of milk and demand to have more! We rescued another orphan today from Amboseli, who was also in quite bad condition indicating it had been without its mother and her milk for some days. She was given lifesaving milk formula and flown straight to Nairobi to join the nursery unit.

07 July 2016

During public viewing it was sunny which meant the orphans quickly drank their milk bottles and rushed to enjoy the mudbath. Godoma, who really loves mud bathing, was the first in the mud splashing around and quickly followed by Lasayen, Ndotto and Rapa. They all rolled and twisted around in the muddy water, Ndotto doing what he loves best and chasing Godoma around in the water in order to climb on her; most of the time though Godoma managed to get away from Ndotto because the thick mud made it difficult to chase her. At one point Ndotto missed climbing on Godoma and landed with his head in the water, a pose which attracted his friend Lasayen who came over and started scratching his on his hind. This caused Ndotto to shout out because he couldn’t get up properly, but the keepers came over to help him. Ndotto got up in a bad moon and immediately turned to head-butt Lasayen, but Lasayen stood strong and a fight ensued, which in the end Mbegu came over to end by intervening and settling the differences. As all this was going on Murit was over in the corner playing with the babies in the loose soil, posing so Ambo and Jotto could come over and play with him. They were all playing in the dust and Tagwa was playing with the loose soil next to them too. Tagwa is a really sweet little elephant, very calm and gentle and she allows the more boisterous Ambo and Jotto to push her around without reacting and fighting back, but just standing her ground. She has a very humble character and in future she might be very caring and protective of others in her own family, like Mbegu.

08 July 2016

As the orphans were heading out to the forest in the morning, they and their keepers came across two lions who were perched atop an anthill, probably scouting for warthogs to chase and eat as the warthogs are always close to the elephant family and their keepers, believing they are safer in their midst! Once they spotted them the keepers led the orphans away from the lions, fearing the safety of Pea the ostrich as well. Kiko, who was also about to reach where the orphans were, was lead back to his stockade for security as well. Having seen the lions this morning the warthogs attached themselves tightly to the little baby group, though they were not given a moment of peace from Sokotei, Boromoko, Kauro, Oltaiyoni, Sirimon, Kamok and Roi who constantly tried to chased them away from the babies and their elephant family. This proved quite a challenge though and they would just come back again until Sokotei and company gave up and allowed them to enjoy the same security they have, of each other and the keepers. Even when it was time for public visiting the warthogs accompanied the orphans to the mud bath and browsed alongside where the elephants were around the mud wallow. When the first group of orphans left back for the forest the warthogs were right there with them, prompting some of the visitors to ask if they were orphans too!

09 July 2016

The journey back to the wild for the three boys Sokotei, Sirimon and Boromoko is nearly upon us and this morning they took their 9am milk bottle in the translocation lorry to practice loading. The boys began their training on and off some months ago so they showed little apprehension and drank their bottles happily in the lorry. They were accompanied by Kamok, Roi, Oltaiyoni, Naseku, Kauro and Tusuja – it was funny to watch Boromoko and Sokotei even reluctant to leave the lorry, because they found some tasty greens hanging in there! At their last rehearsal for the 5pm feed all went well and we were not worried about their loading early tomorrow morning to begin their journey to the wild. We will miss them, but are so happy they have made it this far and can take the next step to be wild once more – good luck Boromoko, Sirimon and Sokotei!

10 July 2016

Before dawn, the three boys Sokotei, Boromoko and Sirimon proved ready and fit to start their journey back to the wild at Ithumba in Tsavo East National Park. They all entered the lorry easily and within minutes were happily settled into their compartments, browsing on the greens provided for them in there. Out in the field when the orphans came out of their stockades this morning, Kauro and Tusuja seemed almost happy the big boys had gone, as they were witnessed scampering around in the bushes and playing other happy games. They chased around after Roi, Mbegu, Dupotto and Naseku, happy with the thought they were the only big boys there now and no one could challenge them, except mama Oltaiyoni! After chasing around after the girls the two boys were witnessed engaged in a very challenging pushing game, as if they had to decide now who the more dominant bull was; no one seemed to win the challenge, although Kauro seems to be a bit bigger stronger to Tusuja who is also a calmer and more gentle bull.

11 July 2016

Oltaiyoni has been the leader and matriarch of this herd for some time now and she is still a very good leader. She has the sort of character to distinguish who among the herd needs extra attention and care as well, and this applies to new arrivals too. Since the older boys left a few days ago, the herd has still remained together and intact, apart from Sana Sana who still remains a little girl who likes to wonder alone. Since the older boys left though Oltaiyoni has also started becoming slightly pushy towards her keepers and she has even been slightly pushy towards the newcomer Pare, who just recently joined the orphans out in the bush since his arrival on the 2nd July. We are not sure why she is behaving like this but maybe it is just temporary? Kiko as usual has been his independent and naughty self today. This morning he left his keepers with the baby group just before 11am and walked up to the chain that steers the public visitors towards the visiting area and away from the rest of the compound. He started feeding on the acacias there and watching the visitors waiting in the queue. Some of the people didn’t want to move down the queue when the visiting time opened, as they were busy taking pictures of Kiko! Later in the afternoon new orphan Esampu who was rescued on the 6th July, joined the babies and Pea out in the forest. Pea’s presence amongst the elephants bothered her though and she went on chasing poor Pea around, as mist new arrivals do who don’t understand why there is an ostrich with them!

12 July 2016

In the morning before the orphans moved further out into the forest, Esampu went out to join the whole family. From a distance Mbegu saw her coming and she went up to her to welcome her to the herd. This was Esampu’s first meeting with everyone in the family and unfortunately when she saw Mbegu rushing towards her she got scared and ran in the opposite direction. Mbegu kept running after her though and didn’t give up. She eventually caught up to her and blocked her from going into the think bushes, and directed her back to the rest of the herd. It wasn’t that easy for Mbegu, as the little one turned around and tried to head-butt her! But as an understanding mini-matriarch Mbegu was so gentle and just went on persuading her until they rejoined the group. Roi and Dupotto realised the new ones presence and went up to join Mbegu in greeting her. As Esampu saw the other two elephants now approaching her she tried to turn and run again, but Mbegu blocked her. Roi and Dupotto went on to inspect the little one, touching her all over her body with their trunks. Once these two had finished inspecting the new baby they left and the little one took the opportunity to run away again. This time Oltaiyoni ran after the baby very fast and as she got closer she stretched her trunk out and pulled the baby under her neck. She rumbled loudly and had her ears raised. The whole herd came running towards Oltaiyoni and they all surrounded the little one who was hiding under the neck of Oltaiyoni. Eventually the little one became calm and quiet, soothed by Oltaiyoni’s cuddling and soft rumbles, and she settled down to stay out with the older orphans for the rest of the morning.

13 July 2016

We are sure that just like humans, elephants can have nightmares and this gives them a sleepless night as well. Naseku had a bad night last night – after drinking her 9pm bottle of milk she went straight back to sleep but after about an hour she started shouting in her sleep. Suddenly she got up and started rumbling and trumpeting. She charged at her gate with her ears held high and wide, but failing to see anything at her gate she settled down after a while and then went to eat the greens her keeper had put in her stockade for her, before settling back down to sleep. However the bad dreams went on haunting the poor girl and it didn’t take long for her to begin rumbling in her sleep again and behaving the same way; she didn’t sleep soundly the whole night. She was so happy in the morning when her gate opened she went running out heading very fast to the forest and not wasting a minute in the compound. Normally she is off browsing on her own and even ahead of the other sometimes, but this morning was different. Today she stayed within the herd, browsing next to Kauro, Kamok, Oltaiyoni and Tusuja the entire time until public visiting time. After public visiting she gained more courage and settled down to her usual ways. Mbegu seems to have been in a bad mood today! She has been disciplining the babies for even mild bad behaviour, which sometimes she just ignores. Rapa and Godoma were the most affected today – Godoma when she was just taking some branches away from Murit whilst he was eating some of them, and Rapa when he accidentally stepped on Ambo whilst moving backwards. He was pushed and sent away from the group and not allowed next to the little ones for the rest of the day! It seems Mbegu would not stand for anything today.

14 July 2016

In the morning the orphans were enjoying their early morning browse in the bushes surrounding the stockades. Rapa is always jealous of any other baby looking for his best friend Tusuja’s company, especially the new babies, and because of this they will usually stay clear of Tusuja! But today Rapa was so nice to Pare who was browsing next to his friend Tusuja. He did not bully him and was even friendly, leading the new baby with Tusuja to the lovely soft grass they like to browse on. Sometimes Tusuja would break from feeding just to check on Pare, and Rapa allowed this all to continue. While Tusuja was looking after Pare, Sana Sana was on a mission of her own and looking after the new little orphan Esampu. Esampu seems to be quite a stubborn little girl and she keeps walking of to browse away from the others. Sana Sana has always been a little like this as well though recently she has become more sociable with the others. Sana Sana led the little girl into a small thicket full of soft greens and would not let her leave; every time she moved, Sana Sana moved with her. If she attempted to go, Sana Sana would block her and steer her back to the soft grass to browse. It was a lovely time for the small girl to spend some time with her who might understand her behaviour a bit more. Pea hurt herself whilst playing with the older orphans the other day. She ran into a broken tree which cut her leg and made it bleed. She is still lying down a lot when she is not feeding but we are certain it will get better with some treatment.

15 July 2016

It has been a lovely morning for the orphans – as they headed out into the forest today it was already sunny and warm, different from the previous cold mornings we have been having! They all appeared to be happy and jovial. Ndotto and his friend Lasayen lead the others in a ‘hide and seek’ game, whilst Kauro was entertaining Tusuja and Roi in a wrestling game. With new fresh, red soil at the mud bath ground, none of the orphans were left out of the fun. Jotto, a very jovial and playful boy, was having a good time with Murit in the soil. Murit is always super gentle and knows how to handle the very young ones as well. He was rolling around on the heap of soil away from where the rougher, older orphans were and only with the little boy Jotto. Ndotto was acting like a super star right in the middle of the mud bath area, showing off in a sitting style with Naseku and Lasayen. There was another group playing consisting of Galla, Sana Sana, Taga and Ambo who were playing in another corner. Mbegu kept moving around all the groups making sure that all was well with the younger babies. At 3pm during the private visit with the orphans it was the same as the morning; all the orphans went into their little groups and rolled and dusted on the loose soil. Oltaiyoni lay down on one of the heaps of soil and all the babies surrounded her to climb on her back, sliding and rolling down. Kauro also took advantage and joined the babies in climbing on Oltaiyoni; his climbing nature will never end! He started climbing on the little ones as well and as soon as Oltaiyoni saw that she got up immediately and pulled Ambo under her neck whilst pushing Kauro away.

16 July 2016

Every orphan we have at the nursery is different in character and personality. It’s been more than two weeks since Maramoja was rescued and this little girl is still very wild – she has taken a long time to settle down in the nursery. She is the immediate neighbour to Oltaiyoni and Oltaiyoni seems to like her as well. Every day when she returns in the afternoon, either before or after her milk, she checks on the little girl to see how she is doing. When Oltaiyoni and the others left this morning, she was fighting and struggling hard to follow them into the forest. Luggard came over to her gate and his presence there helped her calm down for a short while. All the babies love their milk very much, but Mbegu is a funny one with her milk. She never likes any of it to go to any waste and every single drop that falls to the ground while she is drinking, she will suck up with her trunk. While she was collecting her spilt milk today, Dupotto came over to share the milk too, which obviously angered Mbegu and she pushed her away with her tusks!

17 July 2016

Roi is really keen to look after little boy Ngilai but she doesn’t possess all the same mothering qualities as some of the others. She has been trying to follow and care for him all morning but he just walks away from her. Ngilai is known to enjoy suckling on the ears of the ones that care for him and this is one thing that Roi will not allow! Maybe that is why he keeps walking away and instead he looks for Kamok or Dupotto who allow him to do that. Sana Sana is becoming such a settled and sweet little girl. She keeps coming up to the keepers and staying beside them, sometimes wishing to suckle their fingers as well; if she is denied a finger to suckle she shouts until they oblige! This has been annoying the little boys Jotto and Ambo who are jealous of the attention she is getting, and they have been bullying her whenever she approaches them; they want the keepers all to themselves!

18 July 2016

Finally today, around the 9am milk feeding time, the decision was made to allow Maramoja out into the forest with the others. Accompanying her out to the bush was Mbegu, Kauro, Dupotto, Kamok, Lasayen, Roi and Oltaiyoni. She was surrounded, rather overwhelmingly, by the whole group as her gate was opened. Kamok and Roi walked ahead to show her the way and she followed closely. The rest of the orphans had been left behind in the forest to welcome this party. As soon as Maramoja saw the bushes by the stockades she ran into them and started feeding. She looked very excited and happy to be out of her stockade! Roi, Dupotto and Kauro interacted with her whilst they all browsed, though later Kauro started trying to climb on her back which the keepers got cross with him for doing. Mbegu was the most welcoming and caring. She spent more time with her, hugging and smelling her all over for her scent. It was interesting to watch the two dip their trunks folded together in the long grass, cut some and share from each other’s mouths. When Tusuja and Naseku later tried to push Maramoja around, Mbegu was present to protect her. Maramoja was also not as aggressive with the keepers as she had appeared in her pen, and they have started winning her Trust. She did not attend the public visiting time, but she did go down for the smaller private visit and she was very well behaved. It was a good start for little Maramoja’s first day out in the bush!

19 July 2016

The whole orphan herd had been together the entire morning since they entered the forest. There was a bit of drama later on though when Ambo couldn’t find his adopted mother Oltaiyoni, who had moved deeper into the forest with some of the older orphans without his knowledge. Ambo went mad, running around in different directions with his trunk raised high in the air to try and locate Oltaiyoni’s scent. He went on shouting in his loudest voice, waiting for her to respond, but she had already moved some kilometers away into the forest. After trying for some time and without success, he turned to his human mothers and started to settle down. He was offered some fingers to suckle on and he quieted down further, happy to be in his keepers company. Maramoja has longed to be out in the forest with her friends and she is so different to the keepers now then when she was in her pen; she seems much more settled. She went down to the public visiting time today and that went well, apart from Oltaiyoni occasionally going over to push her. Otherwise she had a wonderful time, painting her skin the same ochre red colour as the rest of the orphans in the mud bath. Most of the orphans have come to accept her into their little herd; it is only Oltaiyoni who has to fully accept her yet. Naseku had a happy time running up and down stamping on the short bushes ahead of her and trumpeting. Roi and Rapa decided to join her in this impromptu celebration, but only for a short time. Her happy time was eventually brought to an end by Tusuja, who seemed to have been bothered by trumpeting. Kiko is becoming further independent still, spending more time on his own lately. Once he has got his milk from his keeper that is all he is interested in, and he walks off to go and do his own thing, like find some acacias to browse on.

20 July 2016

Usually the younger babies like Jotto, Esampu, Ambo, Tamiyoi, Tagwa and Luggard will join the others out in the park later in the morning. This morning the older ones had moved further into the forest by the time the babies came out. On the way into the forest, Luggard, who sometimes pushes around the younger ones, pushed Ambo who burst out shouting. From a distance, Oltaiyoni emerged out of the thicket with several other older orphans; Roi, Dupotto, Kauro, Lasayen and Kamok all accompanied their matriarch to come and check on the babies. As they reached the younger ones, Oltaiyoni was only interested in Ambo. She walked past Esampu and pulled Ambo out of the crowd of babies and went off with him. The rest of the group that accompanied her went to mingle with the other babies for a bit before rejoining Oltaiyoni. Ndotto wasn’t his normal, active and entertaining self today. He is known to be everybody’s friend leaving both his elephant and human friends smiling all the time. He is feeding well and his body condition is fine, he might just not be in the mood for playing today. This morning he looks more interested and concerned in Pare; there has been a lot of communication and interaction between these two since they met out in the forest this morning. Yesterday Naseku was the one celebrating and running around and today is was Roi who led this random joyous moment as the orphans ran back into the forest after the public visiting hour. Kauro, Kamok, Maramoja and Ngilai all ran behind her. They stamped around and trumpeted and rumbled with delight. It was like a noisy choir as they responded to each other with loud rumbling. This game went on for awhile before it turned into a warthog chase! The warthogs were hanging around waiting for some leftovers from the keepers’ lunch and they were driven away by the orphans who decided they didn’t want them there, before they settled down to browse for the afternoon.

21 July 2016

If there is a way of telling which orphans are attached to who, it is when something happens to the other, whether good or bad. Little Jotto loves playing with the school children during public visiting time. After finishing his milk he moved down into the far corner where the school children were standing. Almost towards the end of the visit he left to taste the water in the mud bath. He gained courage further and started spraying his little body as he moved towards the middle of the pool. He was called back by the keepers but he didn’t pay any attention; the further into the mud pool he went the stickier it became and by the time he had come to his senses he was almost in the middle of the pool, and stuck! He started calling for help which Mbegu heard as she was moving back out to the forest. The keepers were trying to persuade him to walk out with the help of a milk bottle, when Mbegu arrived and walked into the pool to assist her baby. She was cheered by some of the visitors still there, as she escorted the little one out, hugging him to her side. Kamok is always so excited to see the school kids and when they shout with excitement she likes to try and smack them with her trunk! But today was different as there were a lot of school children visiting today so the keepers had an eye on her the entire time – whenever she moved towards them a keeper was beside her. She gave up trying to play with the children and instead began pouring all the water out of the water troughs. After that she turned the water troughs into footballs and started running and kicking them all over the place! She did this right up until the end of visiting. Pea’s leg wound has started to heal and she even attended public visiting time today. Ndotto was also in his usual active and playing mood and he was running up and down the rope cordon saying high to the public and playing games with Naseku as well.

22 July 2016

We are always amazed, and reminded, how intelligent elephants are even from a young age. Pare is used to seeing some of his friends leave him with some of the little ones as well, when it comes time for the public visit. From the early morning the whole herd had been together out in the forest. When the middle group left for visiting, the older herd stayed behind with Pare and the other younger babies. When the older orphans went down for the visit, the middle group returned within ten minutes so Pare and the others did not feel alone for long. When the public visiting time was over all the orphans reunited in the forest and Pare spent a lot of time communicating with Sana Sana. Since he has arrived at the nursery Pare has never been down to the mud bath area or been fed milk there, but when it came time to the private visiting time Pare was missing and Sana Sana was now browsing alone. A search began and he was found to be down at the mud bath area, waiting for the milk in an area he has never even been before! The keepers carrying the milk in the wheelbarrow down to the feeding area were shocked when they saw him waiting there, as were all the others! After drinking his milk he had a lengthy mud bath which has not had since his arrival either, and he really enjoyed it. Kiko also joined the orphans for the private visit today, as usual he decided on his own what his routine would be for the day! The last time we had seen him today he was feeding not far away from a wild herd of giraffe’s. He must have followed them for a bit but he still keeps a slight distance from them. Kauro is keeping an eye on Maramoja these days. He accompanies her everywhere and it might be because of his, generally, gentle character that he has won her trust.

23 July 2016

Ngilai can sometimes be another little pushy one and sometimes he can be naughty! In the early morning he had been playing and browsing with Maramoja and suddenly the duo disappeared. Ngilai had led Maramoja to the mud bath area, and just like naughty children who know they have done something wrong, as soon as he saw a keeper walking towards them to take them back to the forest he started shouting, and he ran back to the bush as fast as he could. Maramoja was left confused and started running after him wondering what was going on. Later on all the other orphans were just out in the forest in small groups, some feeding together and others playing. There was one group of Roi, Tusuja, Godoma, Dupotto, Ngilai and Rapa, who were browsing together far away from the others on the plains. They were all playing and feeding on the long grass which can be found there. All of a sudden, they were all alert. Those that had been playing and rolling on the ground were now standing, and they all started racing in the direction of their keepers. Ngilai was running behind and managed to overtake all the others including Tusuja – it seems like he is one of the fastest runners in our little orphan herd!

24 July 2016

It has been a really hot day today and every time the orphans have got down to the mud bath they have gone into the cool mud to cool themselves down. Whilst out the forest too the majority have been spending their time relaxing in the thick bushes for some relief from the sun. Oltaiyoni, Dupotto, Naseku and the little boy Ambo decided to spend their time under the tall trees instead; it was surprising how Oltaiyoni allowed the other girls to help her care for her baby as well, especially Naseku who normally does not have much interest in the younger babies. Among the older females it is normally only Mbegu who Oltaiyoni permits to help her protect the younger babies. The peace over the orphans browsing in the forest was disrupted later by Kiko. He had been out browsing on his own since around 9am. When Kauro and Roi were leading the orphans through the forest suddenly some of them ran past them shouting. Before the keepers could find out what was wrong, all the orphans were running. Oltaiyoni and Kauro ran over to where they were running from when Kiko emerged from the thicket. The two went after him chasing him away from the herd.

25 July 2016

Mbegu has a hard task with her adopted baby Jotto as she keeps trying to persuade him to accompany her to the bigger group but the little boy really loves his keepers. He is different to Ambo who loves following Oltaiyoni around and that really hurts poor Mbegu! When she and Oltaiyoni approached the younger ones earlier Ambo immediately started walking up to Oltaiyoni and she hugged him to her. When Jotto saw Mbegu he was equally as happy, but when it came time to walking back to the orphan herd, he declined and decided to stay with the keepers instead. Mbegu tried everything to convince him to follow her but he wanted to stay behind. Godoma had been watching all of this and she is another one that likes the attention from the keepers. She must have been jealous of Jotto because when she saw Mbegu walking away to follow Oltaiyoni she went over and pushed Jotto away from his keeper. Luckily Mbegu and Oltaiyoni did not see her do that or she would have been disciplined by them for sure! It isn’t usual to find Murit engaged in any very active games with his friends but today he had a very lengthy wrestling game with Lasayen during the 3pm milk feed. At the same time the ever-smiling boy Ndotto was having a great pushing game with Kauro. Ndotto always wants to play with his friends and share happiness amongst them, no matter their size or age!

26 July 2016

Maxwell has been walking up and down his stockade for almost 3 hours this morning. Solio, who has been away for nearly 3 months without visiting, came back to visit this morning which always excites him. A few minutes after 6am just as the babies were coming out of their pens, Maramoja was among a small group who were already browsing next to Maxwell’s stockade. She has never met Solio before and this is the first time she saw her walking towards the group. Maramoja was quite surprised and reacted aggressively, wanting to charge at Solio. Solio wasn’t fazed and she continued walking towards the orphans. By the time Kamok saw her she had already walked past and Kamok made to chase her from behind, but Solio did not mind this either. She stopped at Maxwell’s stockade to say hello to him. Max was sleeping on the other side of the stockade but he smelt her and ran towards her, but Solio left and walked towards her stockade. Unfortunately the gate to her pen had been locked because of the repairs that were being done there. Max was left quite distraught when Solio left so suddenly and he was running around in circles, up and down his pen. While Max was running up and down trying to find Solio, Solio was trying to force her way into her pen through the locked gate. By luck the gate to Maxwell’s stockade was open and she got access to her room through his (through the gate inside that is normally kept shut but which the keepers opened for her). She started calling for lucerne and once she was given this to eat she settled down. When she finished she left back through the same route but did not leave without saying goodbye to Max through the bars of his gate, making him even more excited!

27 July 2016

This morning when the orphans came out of their stockades it was sweet to watch Galla waiting beside Pare’s stockade and knocking on the gate, impatient for him to join him and the others. The two boys walked out together into the forest, which was Pare’s first time to be with the older orphans; since his arrival he has just been with the baby group. Pare is a quite, calm and nice young bull with a character similar to Galla, which is why he must have taken a shine to him. Kiko and Pea usually spend their time with the baby group but today they decided to do their own thing and walk away from this little herd and their keepers. The keepers tried to call them back but Kiko kept sprinting away, with Pea in hot pursuit. The keepers decided to let them do their own thing if they wanted to but just as Kiko was running away again, a wild herd of giraffes emerged from the bushes which made Kiko turn around and sprint back to his keepers again! He is still shy of wild giraffes but they did not understand why he was running away from them. They tried to follow him but stopped when they saw he was in the company of his human family. His daily encounters with giraffes will allow Kiko to become more accustomed with them and teach him how to greet them properly, without just running away and staring!

28 July 2016

Lovely Solio visited again this morning when the orphans were coming out of their stockades. Her presence saw Maxwell run around excitedly in his stockade again. As Solio settled down to eat lucerne in her stockade again, Maxwell was busy knocking on the wooden posts between their two stockades wanting to play and communicate. Due to his persistent knocking which was beginning to annoy Solio who was trying to enjoy her lucerne, she then intentionally sprayed urine in his face which sent Maxwell running away from his bedroom in a hurry! He charged off and spent some time running around his stockade before returning to his bedroom adjacent to Solio’s, but found she had already walked out into the bushes. Walking out into the field Solio came across the elephant orphans but Kamok, Dupotto, Kauro, Roi and Oltaiyoni were not happy to see her and started charging around after her and stamping around, trumpeting their disapproval at her presence. This prompted Solio to walk off further into the forest.

29 July 2016

As soon as the orphans had settled out in the field this morning, Roi, Godoma, Rapa and Naseku has a busy time charging around after some impalas who were also trying to browse in the area. Roi was leading the group who were running around after them, but the impalas were proving a challenge to charge after as they sprinted away with high kicks in the air. Some made a quick U turn which made Roi fall over as she was unable to balance and she bellowed loudly. Her shouting drew the attention of the entire group who, under the leadership of Oltaiyoni and Mbegu, came running to see what the problem was. They arrived to find Roi already managing to stand up on her own but looking confused about what had just happened; however the consolation of the two other girls who patted her with their trunks reassured her once more. It was lovely to see Maramoja confidently leading all the others to the feeding point this morning. Naseku, who is normally never challenged when running for bottle feeds, could not even overtake this fast little baby in the race for their bottles, although she tried! Maramoja seems to be another up and coming greedy young girl in the orphan herd. When she finished her bottles she shouted loudly at her keeper for more and snatched another empty bottle before running away with it!

30 July 2016

During public visiting at 11am today Kiko decided to break the norm and follow the older orphans down to the public visiting area, although he was challenged by Kamok, Naseku and Kauro who charged and tormented him so much he ended up not going to the visiting area but going into the bushes below that point. He stayed there and watched all the orphans feeding and just watching the visitors who were all trying to get a picture of his head above the bushes. He did not stay there long as his keepers came and tried to escort him back to the forest to join the babies, but funnily enough he broke away from them and ran back to the rocky area near the mud bath and feeding area again, where he began posing again and enjoyed watching the visitors under the watchful eye of his keeper. After awhile and when he decided he had had enough, he walked back into the forest to join the others orphans.

31 July 2016

During public visiting today after the first group of orphans had finished enjoying their milk bottles, Dupotto, Maramoja and Godoma rushed into the mud bath and enjoyed splashing around in the thick mud. Godoma began posing on Dupotto’s back and enjoyed scratching herself on her too which the visitors thought was very funny. As that was all going on little Tagwa was walking along the rope cordon enjoying the attention of the visitors as well. When it came time to leave to go back into the forest it seemed Tagwa was not ready to leave and shouted her disdain at having to go, leaving her keeper to walk off without her and call her name, so eventually she decided to follow.