Keepers' Diaries, July 2017

Voi Reintegration Unit



The orphans’ activities were dictated by the weather this month as the colder climate, typical of this time of year, drew in and impacted the elephants’ decision to mud bath, play and when to browse as well. When the Keepers spotted Ex Orphans Lempaute and Kivuko looking very grey, it was indicative they too had not mud bathed for some days due to the cooler weather. On warmer days, however, the orphans resumed their fun in the mud bath and the Keepers enjoyed watching their antics, like when Tundani became jealous of Ndii’s games in the water and sat on her stomach to bring an end to her fun. Another day, a wild cow and her calf joined the orphans at the mud bath and they greeted them warmly, extending their trunks and welcoming the two into the water where the orphans watched the cow in amazement, picking up new tricks and games to play in the mud.

01 July 2017

Another wonderful day started with the orphan elephants following their milk and supplement feeding before engaging in some brief socializing game around the stockade compound. Mbirikani and Lentili led the others towards the browsing grounds where they had a peaceful browsing session grabbing as much browse as they could. At the noon mudbath and milk feed Ajali enjoyed a lovely bathing session with his adopted favourite Pasaka, while Ndii shone in mudbathing games which Tundani got jealous of and went and sat on Ndii’s stomach, bringing an end to Ndii’s fun. Rorogoi was jealous of Nguvu’s interaction with Ajali at the mudbath and pushed herself between them preventing them from bathing together. It was clear that Rorogoi wanted to spend some time with Ajali and the two stood side by side spraying water on their backs.

02 July 2017

Kenia decide to include Pasaka in her browsing activities this morning. Pasaka joined her and Araba for a browsing session on the northern side of the stockade browsing grounds. Pasaka felt a bit of a third wheel as Kenia and Araba seemed to be joined at the hip and Araba followed every move that Kenia made. It wasn’t long before Pasaka left the two to browse on their own and joined Panda who was feeding nearby. The orphans came to the mudbath in groups of five where they enjoyed their noon milk bottle before entering the water. Today, Suswa as the best performer, diving in and out of the water like a fish. She was having so much fun that she did not notice the others leave to head back to the browsing fields and had to run to catch up. Ndoria had a lovely time tossing huge chunks of red soil onto her back warming herself up following her mudbath. Naipoki and Ishaq-B stood at the same tree trunk and enjoyed a scratching session when they were done Suswa came and had a scratch against the same tree trunk.

03 July 2017

The orphan elephants were engaged in a variety of activities around the stockade compound today. Tundani invited Panda for a scratching session against a rock boulder. Nelion wanted to join them but the rock could not accommodate all three at the same time so he had to wait until the others had finished to have his turn. While the orphans were having a drink from the water trough Mbirikani became a bit of a bully and chased Arruba away. Arruba had to wait for Mbirikani to leave the area before being able to continue having a drink. Panda is quite a tall elephant and was able to use her height to reach some acacia branches around the stockade before following the others to the browsing grounds. The stockade dependant elephants had a wonderful browsing session high up on Msinga Hill. Nelion and Ishaq-B took the opportunity to settle an old score and became engaged in a strength testing and pushing game before joining the others who were making their way to the mudbath. They all had a lot of fun playing different mud bathing games before spending the afternoon browsing close to the big waterhole.

04 July 2017

Another morning began with the orphans concentrating on their normal supplement feeding routine before heading towards the browsing grounds. Arruba tried to take over Kihari’s leadership role and in an effort to do so, grabbed her leg. Kihari was able to hold her lead position all the way to the browsing fields. In the browsing grounds today Araba became the center of attention with Kenia, Ndii and Ishaq-B all wanting to embrace him and have him by their side with Ndii winning the privilege of spending the morning browsing with Araba. The three then escorted Araba to the mudbath as if he was the most prized jewel. Ajali’s recuperation has been amazing and he has healed brilliantly from his broken ribs. Today he mimic mated Mashariki which showing how well his injuries have truly healed. The rest of the day was spent browsing around the water hole.

05 July 2017

The orphans enjoyed their morning milk bottle and supplement feeding before walking to the browsing grounds. Soon after the stockade dependant babies reached the western foot of Msinga Hill, Layoni and Lempaute, who were browsing half way up, came down in a rush to join them. Kenia, Kihari and Ndii did not seem happy to see them and started walking faster in an effort to avoid interacting with them. Although the two Ex Orphans caught up with them, they were did not want to keep the quick pace the juniors had adopted and chose to return to their browsing activities. At today’s mudbath Bada and Aruba sat separately on the walls of the water pool rubbing their bottoms in competition with each other. Mbirikani sat in the center of the wallow and shone in mudbathing games which were being closely watched by Kihari. Ishaq-B was determined to challenge Mbirikani to a mudbath game and ended up exiting the waterhole via a steep wall in an effort to get away from Ndii who was following her every move, preventing her from getting to Mbirikani.

06 July 2017

It was a nice beginning to the day with Lempaute arriving at the stockade arriving early in the morning and settling down with the juniors to enjoy some lucerne grass with the babies. Soon after the supplement feeding was over, Lempaute followed the stockade dependant group to the browsing grounds. Panda gave her some browsing company while Kenia, Ndii and Ishaq-B concentrated on their adopted baby Araba. Lempaute stayed with them for the better half of the day and visited the mudwallow with them. After an afternoon milk bottle, the weather was cloudy and cold and at first the juniors and Lempaute avoided entering the mudwallow. Mbirikani was the first to decide to plunge into the water and was soon followed by Rorogoi, Kivuko and some of the others. Nelion went for a bottom rubbing competition with Mashariki while Arruba appeared to cheer them on. Lempaute left the babies once the mudbath was over.

07 July 2017

This morning the babies downed their morning milk bottle before settling down to enjoy some copra cake and lucerne, after which Mbirikani and Lentili led them to the browsing grounds. On the way Nguvu stopped for scratching session against a rock on the side of the road, with Kihari and Mudanda waiting for him to catch up and rejoin the group. On arriving on the western side of Msinga Hill, Mbirikani and Nelion attempted to lead the others up the hill for the morning browsing session. Naipoki did not seem keen on climbing the hill and pushed Panda towards the flatter northern grounds of Msinga Hill. The two were soon followed by the rest of the group. An hour before the midday mudbath Lentili enjoyed playing in a shallow erosion trench with Ishaq-B while Mudanda scratched her bottom against some rocks. At the waterhole the orphans drank their milk but did not enter the water as it was rather cold.

08 July 2017

The elephants hurried with their morning stockade activities before heading to the browsing grounds under the leadership of Lentili and Suswa. Despite it being rather dry there is still some good vegetation left for the orphans to browse on. Bada and Mbirikani led the group to Msinga Hill where they could enjoy some greens. At midday the orphans made their way to the middle waterhole where they all enjoyed mudbathing games; Arruba climbed on Naipoki’s back as she slid down the mudbath walls into the water. Naipoki wiggled around in an effort to get Arruba off her back so that she could get back to her feet and enjoy a wallow without the weight of another elephant on her. The commotion the two made brought some discomfort to the other orphan elephants and a premature end to the days bathing activities.

09 July 2017

The stockade dependant orphan elephants spent the morning browsing in single file on the northern plains of Msinga Hill before heading to the water hole that afternoon. Tundani made his grand entry into the water pool in his own unique style, sliding into the water from the steep walls in a sitting down position. This style rewarded him some good marks from the other orphans including Mudanda, Suswa and Nguvu who surrounded him congratulating him on his spectacular entry. Ishaq-B enjoyed for some bottom scratching games on the mudbath walls while Panda enjoyed a game in which she dug at the side of the mud bath using her tusks. There was then a fantastic rubbing and scratching party against the trunk of a fallen tree. Lentili was the pioneer of this scratching game which was most enjoyed by Naipoki and Ndii. Pasaka was very comfortable enjoying a private dusting game before joining the rest of the group for the afternoons browsing session which took place close to the mudbath.

10 July 2017

The orphan elephants started their day well with some games at the stockade compound before leaving for the browsing grounds. Ajali headed to the front of the group and led them in a professional manner out to the fields. At the mudbath Ajali had a lovely time wallowing and was approached by Embu who wanted to learn something from her older friend. The two enjoyed playing together for a while until it was time to return to the browsing fields. Nelion decided to take on the leadership role in the afternoon despite the fact that everyone had decided that Ajali could be leader for the day. Not wanting to cause any problems Ajali let Nelion lead and that way maintained the peace.

11 July 2017

It was a quiet beginning to the day with the stockade dependant orphan elephants downing a morning milk bottle and proceeding to the lucerne grass and copra cake feeding area. They had a brief moment of dusting and scratching before moving towards the browsing grounds. Soon after arriving out in the bush, they began feeding on the available grass as they slowly walked towards the northern side of Msinga Hill, where they fed in a close knit group except for Ndoria who ventured further away choosing to browse on her own, and ended up finding herself being left behind when the rest of the group proceeded to the water hole. Ndoria panicked and ran towards them, charging to catch up with them. In the evening, Mashariki took Pasaka to a private place away from the others and lay down in a wonderful dusting game to woo him to play with her and stay as her adopted baby. Pasaka enjoyed watching Mashariki’s game before rejoining the rest of the group so that they could return to the safety of the stockades for the night.

12 July 2017

The morning started well with the earliest callers at the stockade being Lempaute, Dabassa, Kivuko and Layoni who joined the stockade dependant orphan elephants to eat lucerne. Kenia and Ndii then rounded up their herd, leaving the four Ex Orphans feeding on the remains of the lucerne grass, and headed towards the browsing grounds. The stockade dependant orphan elephants browsed in single file on the western side of the stockade before visiting the middle water hole that afternoon. The weather was fairly cold with only Lentili, Embu, Panda, and Kihari taking a partial bath with the others only moving around the water hole avoiding actually touching the water. Once the mudbathing babies had left the waterhole, Lentili enjoyed a wonderful bottom rubbing game against the mudbath walls. Her huge trumpet blasts caught Mashariki’s attention and she came and stood beside her watching her game. The two then went to join the rest of the group who were browsing nearby.

13 July 2017

The stockade dependant orphan elephants had some wonderful games at the stockade compound after the milk and supplement feeding. The orphans engaged each other in hide and seek chasing games, kicking up a great cloud of dust into the air. Kihari and Naipoki became engaged in a strength testing game while Ndii sat on the ground watching the rest of the orphans and Tundani enjoyed a scratching session against a rock. Mbirikani and Mudanda trumpeted loudly to notify the rest of the group that it was time to head back to the browsing fields where they fed until it was time for the mudbath where they arrived in groups of five and had their midday milk bottle. None of the orphans entered the water as it was a rather cold day.

14 July 2017

The morning began with the usual stockade activities of milk and supplement feeding followed by socializing games before the orphans headed to the browsing grounds. Today the orphans made their way to the eastern side of the stockade where they browsed for a while before going to the northern side for a short spell. The orphan herd made their way to the midday milk feed and mudbath in groups of five and once all the group had arrived and had their milk they were joined by Kivuko and Lempaute. July is the cold month in Voi and both Lempaute and Kivuko were looking very grey, an indication that they had not had a mudbath in a few days. Kivuko went and tried to push Mbirikani into the water in an effort to get the orphans into a mudbathing mood but no one wanted to enter the water. Ajali led his friend Pasaka for a partial mud bath and the two were joined briefly by Lempaute. Mbirikani managed to get away from Kivuko and led the orphans away from the mudbath for the afternoons browsing session joined by the two Ex Orphans who left an hour later for the Voi River.

15 July 2017

It was a wonderful beginning to the day with the stockade dependant orphan elephants running out of their night quarters for their morning milk bottle. After the supplement feeding the orphans were in a playful mood and they ran around the compound with their heads held high and their ears spread wide as they played hide and seek games. Once they had worked up a thirst they assembled around the stockade water trough for a drink where Ndii placed her trunk softly onto Nguvu’s giving him some attention. Ishaq-B copied what Ndii was doing and placed her trunk onto Tudani’s back. As Tundani is taller than Ishaq-B it looked a bit awkward. . Most of the orphan herd are slowly being weaned off the midnight milk bottle and are instead provided with extra grewia and Lucerne grass to last them the night. Only Pasaka and Embu continue to be given a midnight milk bottle.

16 July 2017

It was all systems go when the orphans exited the stockades this morning and charged towards their morning milk bottle before assembling at the Lucerne grass feeding area. Kenia decided to step into the stockade water trough to reach and pluck the softer and palatable regenerating twigs from a tree. Ndii tried to reach the twigs as well from where she was standing but was not able to reach them. She then tried to climb onto a high up stockade terrace in an effort to get to the branches but was unable to do so as the walls were too high so she settled for a neck scratch on a nearby rock. It was a cloudy and fairly cold day today with the orphan elephant milk getting sent to the northern side of the Msinga hill where they were busy browsing. The orphans came to the water hole at 2pm where they had a drink of water before resuming their browsing activities in the area around the mudbath.

17 July 2017

The morning started with the orphans downing their milk bottle before settling for copra cake and Lucerne grass. Once they were done with the supplement feeding Ndii followed Kenia’s example from yesterday and climbed into the water trough so that she could reach the higher branches. Naipoki took her time scratching against a rock close to the stockade water trough. A short while later Lempaute and Layoni came and joined the juniors for a drink before heading to the Lucerne grass feeding area while the babies headed to the browsing fields. The orphans had a wonderful browsing moment on the western side of the stockade with Pasaka lying down for a rest while the rest fed. Ajali kept him company for a while before joining the orphan herd that were headed to the waterhole. The orphans had a lot of fun in mud bathing games before continuing with their browsing activities.

18 July 2017

This morning at the Lucerne grass feeding area where the orphan elephants had congregated, Ajali peacefully played host to a herd of visiting impala, accommodating them and giving them access to the Lucerne grass as there is hardly anything left in the fields for them to feed on. Arruba was had filled up her belly and went and leant against a rock outside her stockade until it was time to head to the browsing fields. Soon after arriving at the browsing grounds, Kenia and Ndii stayed close to Araba in an effort to get warm as it was a cold morning. It was still rather cold when the orphans arrived at the waterhole. Mashariki was the first to enter the water and was followed a short while later by a few of the other orphans. Kihari chose to stay out of the water and instead rubbed her back against a tree trunk before joining others for a final browsing session of the day.

19 July 2017

The morning was calm with the stockade dependant orphan elephants sticking with their milk and supplement feeding before assembling for a drink around the stockade water trough. Kenia climbed onto the rock close to the water hole and stood there overlooking her dependant orphan herd. While up there she noticed that Ndii was taking advantage of her absence to get close to Araba and she quickly came down to claim her baby. The orphans made their way to the browsing grounds while the four ex-orphans Kivuko, Layoni, Lempaute, and Dabassa visited the stockade later to quench their thirst and enjoy some Lucerne grass. The four then left the stockade for the browsing field but did not meet up with the babies. After a wonderful noon mud bath, Suswa enjoyed scratching and rubbing against a tree trunk, with Naipoki and Ndoria waiting patiently for a turn to do the same. The rest of the afternoon was spent browsing around the waterhole.

20 July 2017

It was a perfect beginning of the day with the stockade dependant orphan elephants playing happily around the stockade compound after finishing their Lucerne grass piles. As the orphan elephants were leaving the Lucerne feeding site for the stockade water trough for a drink, Nelion stopped, turned and engaged Arruba head on in a strength testing pushing game. Their game then came to a premature end when their friends took off towards the field. The morning was cloudy and cold and as such the orphans did not visit the water hole. Their milk was taken to the northern side of Msinga hill where they were busy browsing. Today Arruba went to suckle Suswa’s ear which is something that she has not done in a while. The keepers thought that she had outgrown this habit and were surprised to see her doing this again. It was easy to see that she was enjoying sucking Suswa’s ear as she was completely relaxed and had her eyes closed in blissful enjoyment.

21 July 2017

This morning Kivuko alone to the stockades to join the orphans for some lucerne grass supplement feeding. The stockade dependant orphan elephants fed quite quickly then headed for the water trough. They hoped to leave Kivuko behind but were unsuccessful as she joined them for a drink. Tundani went for some scratching games against a tree trunk at the stockade and was nearly left behind by the others who were leaving the stockade for the browsing field. Kivuko remained at the stockade for three hours and feasted on lucerne grass. In the evening Ndii, who was in the lead, stopped to enjoy a bottom scratch against some rocks. The effectively blocked the path to the stockades frustrating here friends who were thirsty and wanted to get home so that they could enjoy their evening milk bottle, fresh cut grewia branches and Lucerne grass.

22 July 2017

It was a beautiful beginning to the day with the stockade dependant orphan elephants happily enjoying their milk bottle and supplement foods before leaving for the browsing grounds. Pasaka sneaked away from the rest of the orphan elephants and went to his private browsing place at the top of Msinga Hill. He later heard the rest of the orphans running for enjoying their milk bottles and came rushing down the hill to get his share. Ndoria, who heard the milk Pick-Up approaching from a distance, sneaked away from the rest and was able to get her milk bottle ahead of the rest of the group. The orphans visited the water hole at 2pm where they had a drink of water before returning to their browsing activities.

23 July 2017

This morning Panda and Kihari had a nice time lying on the ground and rolling over one another. They were having such fun that they did not notice the rest of the group leave the stockade for the browsing grounds. The two had to run to catch up with their friends who were a few miles away from the stockade. The browsing day went well with a small wild elephant herd consisting of a cow and her calf coming to join the orphans as soon as they arrived at the water hole in the afternoon. The orphans were happy to see the wild herd and Bada greeting them warmly. Rorogoi and Ajali were braver and went up to them extending their trunks in greeting, welcoming the wild herd into the water where they all enjoyed mudbathing games. The orphans were able to learn some new mudbathing techniques from their wild friends. The wild herd left the orphans wallowing him the mudbath as they made their way to the Voi River in search of vegetation to browse on.

24 July 2017

This morning the orphan herd assembled around the stockade water trough for a drink after their milk and lucerne grass feeding and quenched their thirst before heading towards the western side of the stockade for the morning browsing session. After two hours of un-disturbed browsing, a wild elephant cow and her tiny calf came and got Pasaka and three walked towards the northern side of Msinga Hill. The stopped along the way to allow the calf to suckle milk from her mother while Pasaka watched the milk-feeding calf. The keepers had to call and woo Pasaka back to the orphan herd as he is still milk dependant and in the ongoing dry season he still needs to build up his strength and condition. Layoni came and joined the babies in the browsing field and headed straight for Panda engaging her in a strength testing wresting match. Layoni spent three more hours browsing with the juniors before heading towards the Voi River where his friends were believed to be browsing.

25 July 2017

The morning was good with the orphan elephants playing around the stockade compound after their milk and supplement feeding. Today they enjoyed a game of rubbing themselves against outcropping rocks. Panda started the game and was soon followed by Tundani and the others who were all lined up waiting their turn. Nguvu became impatient and decided to head to a different rock for his scratching session. The orphans settled on the northern side of Msinga Hill for the mornings browsing activities and moved in groups of five to the middle water hole for an afternoon milk bottle and mud bathing games. Lempaute followed the orphans together with Layoni and while Layoni chose to stay with the babies Lempaute made her way to the stockade. While at the mudbath a small wild elephant herd of a cow and her two calves joined the orphans. The wild herd went straight to the half drum barrels for a drink of clean water before joining the orphans in the mudbath. The wild elephant cow enjoyed some amazing bottom scratching games on the walls of that water pool, with the orphan elephants surrounding her and watching her games in an effort to learn a trick or two. The wild herd then left towards the air strip with Layoni and the juniors browsing close to the water hole for the rest of the day.

26 July 2017

Ex Orphans Lempaute, Layoni, Kivuko and Dabassa visited the stockade early in the morning and joined the babies in the lucerne grass feeding area. After feeding for more than half an hour, Pasaka went for a scratch against a big rock boulder at the entrance of the big stockade complex and thereafter at a rock close to the stockade water trough. When his friends finished feeding, Layoni, who was keen on Pasaka’s scratching games, walked up to him, lifted his head and flapped his ears while rumbling in greeting. The greeting ceremony between the two was carried out with great energy and excitement. Layoni then joined Pasaka on the scratching game before leaving for the browsing grounds. The four Ex Orphans followed the juniors from a distance but later veered off towards the Mzima-Mombasa pipeline side. In the evening, when the juniors were already in their stockades, Lempaute, Kivuko, Layoni and Dabassa once again came to the stockades. They had a drink and enjoyed some lucerne grass before heading back to the Park.

27 July 2017

The morning was wonderful with Lempaute, Dabassa and Layoni paying the orphans another visit. After a peaceful supplement feeding, Dabassa looked at Panda and noticed that she had grown taller than him, and her tusks were also little longer than his. He engaged her in strength testing game to ascertain that he was still stronger that she was. Their game prompted some of the others to do the same with Nelion taking on Ishaq-B while Bada engaged Tundani. The Ex Orphans then followed the juniors towards the browsing grounds, with Kenia, Ndii, Kihari and Naipoki leading the others all round Msinga Hill in an effort to get the Ex Orphans to leave their group. After a wonderful noon mud bath, Lentili and Arruba positioned themselves strategically on the walls to enjoy their dusting games. Pasaka was busy throwing huge chunks of red soil onto his back while Tundani lay down and rolled down the steep sides of the dusting soil. The rest of the day was spent browsing close to the big water hole with Rorogoi and Suswa enjoying a lead of the orphan herd back to the stockades in the evening.

28 July 2017

The orphans headed to the browsing grounds very early this morning as they left the stockade compound as soon as they had finished their milk and supplement feeding. Lentili and Rorogoi led the group to the browsing grounds but when they wanted to lead them to the noon mudbath, they found that no one was ready to go and Kenia seemed to be holding them back as if demonstrating her leadership of the group. When the group eventually did come down for the mudbath, Lentili and Rorogoi made sure to be at the front so that they could lead them. The orphans arrived at the water hole at 11.30am, half an hour late. They drank their milk but did not enter the water as it was very cloudy and cold. The rest of the day was spent browsing on the eastern side of Msinga Hill.

29 July 2017

The morning was good with the stockade dependant orphan elephants playing a game of hide and seek after which they tossed huge chunks of red soil into the air as theyenjoyed their dusting games. Kivuko, Lempaute, Dabassa and Layoni walked into the stockade compound twenty minutes after the juniors had left. The four settled to feed on lucerne and copra cake for an hour before returning to the browsing grounds. In the afternoon the Taita Hills management team reported a possible sighting of an Ex Orphan herd that had been seen drinking from the sanctuary water hole. Once the orphans had drank their noon milk bottle the keepers went to see the herd and were able to identify some Ex Orphans in the group. Ndara, with her calf Neptune, Lesanju, Sinya and Tassia were among the group. When the keepers approached Lesanju, who is Neptune’s nanny, she charged towards them wanting to protect Neptune. When she caught the keeper’s scent, which was familiar to her, she rumbled in greeting and went to get some attention from her adopted family. They were all looking healthy and in good condition which made the keepers happy.

30 July 2017

The morning was good with the stockade dependant orphan elephants playing a game of hide and seek after which they tossed huge chunks of red soil into the air as they enjoyed their dusting games. Kivuko, Lempaute, Dabassa and Layoni walked into the stockade compound twenty minutes after the juniors had left. The four settled to feed on lucerne and copra cake for an hour before returning to the browsing grounds. In the afternoon the Taita Hills management team reported a possible sighting of an Ex Orphan herd that had been seen drinking from the sanctuary water hole. Once the orphans had drank their noon milk bottle the keepers went to see the herd and were able to identify some Ex Orphans in the group. Ndara, with her calf Neptune, Lesanju, Sinya and Tassia were among the group. When the keepers approached Lesanju, who is Neptune’s nanny, she charged towards them wanting to protect Neptune. When she caught the keeper’s scent, which was familiar to her, she rumbled in greeting and went to get some attention from her adopted family. They were all looking healthy and in good condition which made the keepers happy.

31 July 2017

The stockade dependant orphan elephants exited their stockade in a happy mood and went straight for their milk bottle after which they enjoyed some copra cake and Lucerne grass. Ishaq-B managed to find a low lying acacia branch and enjoyed feeding on the green twigs. Tundani tried to mimic mount her nearly knocking Ishaq-B into the acacia thorns which angered Ishaq-B no end. She turned to face Tundani and engaged her in a head on fight which lasted until the orphan herd began making their way to the browsing fields. Tundani made sure to stay at the back of the group so as to avoid incurring any more of Ishaq-B’s wrath. The orphans visited the middle water hole and had a lot of fun playing mud bathing games. When they were done wallowing they made their way to the big waterhole and browsed around that area for the rest of the day before returning to the stockades for the night.