It’s our winter time in Nairobi which brings about chilly days and quite a few days have been overcast this month, so the orphans have had very little interest in mud bathing. They have been spending most of their days browsing and dust bathing to keep warm. On cold days the orphans only walk to the open areas when it is time for their milk bottles, but as soon as they are all done with their milk, they head back to the shelter of the forest and thickets. The truth is that winter in the tropics on the equator means a cool season, very mild all things considered but enough to keep them out of the water!
Mukkoka and Naleku seem to have adopted Ziwadi’s adventurous ways and lately they have taken to wandering off together, further into the forest, to browse away from the others. This morning, after their 9am bottles of milk, they snuck off together and walked further into the forest. The Keepers kept a watchful eye on them making sure they didn’t wander off too far away. The Keepers also knew that greedy Mukkoka would always come back with little Naleku when it was time for their milk and sure enough just before 11am they reappeared, ready to have their milk.
Roho seems to be gaining his confidence with the older bulls and it is amazing to watch him play with them and challenge them during their strength testing matches. He seems to prefer to challenge Mukkoka but will sometimes challenge Kiombo and Maktao, who are both bigger in size. These are all important lessons for him as he learns to grow in both confidence and strength and learns the important skills he will need to survive in the wild.
Olorien is growing healthier by the day as she continues to put on condition and adapt to her new life in the Nursery. She, like all the orphans, loves her milk and has learnt very quickly when it is time for her bottle and will even try to sneak past her Keepers to get to her bottle. This morning at the 9am milk feeding time, she managed to sneak past the Keepers and get close to the milk wheelbarrow where she tried to slurp up some of the spilled milk and grab one of the bottles that was in there. The Keepers slowly ushered her away, teaching her that she should not steal from the wheelbarrow.
Olorien spends most of her days moving between the orphans as she continues to build her own friendships within the Nursery herd. She does, however, spend quite a bit of time browsing near Ziwadi as Ziwadi is always welcoming and gentle and will happily keep her company as they walk through the forest. Larro and Kiasa will come over to check on her from time to time but Nabulu seems to have taken on the role as main guardian to little Olorien. Nabulu will spend a good part of her day looking after Olorien, watching over her when she takes a nap in the forest and keeping her under her belly, protecting her from the sun when it is very hot. It is always amazing to watch the older females grow into such caring caretakers of the younger orphans.
Maisha, who is the current matriarch of the Nursery herd, seems to have an order in how she prefers the orphans to walk when they are out in the forest. She prefers Roho to be right by her side and then is happy if Larro, Kiasa, or Nabulu are following closely behind, perhaps to make sure the other orphans are close behind namely Naleku, Olorien and Ziwadi. Naleku and Ziwadi are both very independent and Naleku will often choose to walk with Mukkoka as they grew close when she first arrived and Ziwadi is always happy to walk close to Olorien and Naboishu.
Maisha, much like Tagwa, also has her days where she prefers not to be around most of the Nursery herd and today was such a day. Whilst in the forest she kept chasing Ziwadi, Naboishu, Mukkoka, and Kiombo away and trying to wrestle Maktao. Her bad mood continued for quite some time that the Keepers eventually intervened and moved her away from the herd, giving her a time out. After a good half hour, she seemed to have calmed down and slowly made her way back to the herd and did not bother Ziwadi or the bulls anymore and even settled to browse near them. Ziwadi and the boys weren’t too bothered by her mood as they continued with their day as normal and did not take much notice of her when she returned. Ziwadi even wandering off to browse near Olorien and Naboishu.
This morning, Maisha, Kiasa, and Nabulu led the orphans out to the forest. Once they had all settled in the forest to browse, Larro could be seen looking after Ziwadi and Olorien, making sure that they were both safe and accompanying them wherever they chose to browse. It was nice to see Larro once again assuming her role as nanny and checking in on these two girls, spending her whole morning with them.
After the orphans had their 9am bottles of milk, Kiombo and Maktao began their own strength-testing match, pushing each other around the forest. They appeared to be having the best time with neither of them wanting to back down, both showing their mighty strength. Unfortunately, their game was short lived as Maisha came running over and interrupted their fun by challenging Maktao in her own wrestling match. Kiombo, unimpressed with Maisha, quickly walked off to join the others. Maktao wrestled Maisha for a short while before returning to his greens.
Roho is becoming very protective of Maisha and he doesn’t seem to want to share her attention with any of the other younger orphans, namely Naleku and Olorien. This morning, as the orphans were making their way out to the forest, Olorien was trying to keep up with Maisha and walk by her side but Roho would not allow it and kept chasing her away. After chasing her away he walked proudly right by Maisha’s side, as if he was boasting his success. Olorien gave up and joined Naleku who was walking with the others and they both seemed content letting Roho have all Maisha’s attention.
Maxwell seems to be gaining his energy day by day and he is getting back to his normal routines of pacing up and down his stockade and is spending less time napping. It is great to see him so full of energy and he has been thoroughly enjoying his variety of greens throughout the day, always eagerly waiting for his Keepers to bring in the fresh branches.
As the orphans were settling to browse in the forest this morning, Roho could be seen eagerly trying to start a wrestling match with Mukkoka. Mukkoka who is always so full of energy was happy to take on the young bull and the two could be seen pushing against each other and chasing each other around the forest. Roho could be seen taking big run ups to Mukkoka, in an effort to show off his strength and intimidate his older friend. Mukkoka, like all the older orphans, knows that Roho is still young and he will always gently wrestle him, making sure to not hurt him.
Nabulu spent her whole day with little Olorien, making sure she was safe and ensuring that little Roho didn’t push her around. Olorien seems to really enjoy spending time with Nabulu and the Keepers feel that Nabulu could be developing a close bond with this little girl.
This morning, the orphans went on a little adventure and walked further afield with their Keepers. After their 9am bottles of milk, the Keepers led the orphans to a different area of the Nairobi National Park where they had not been since Tagwa and Tamiyoi’s departure. This is an important learning exercise for the orphans, as when they are living a wild life they would need to be able to migrate to all sorts of new territories in order to find water and vegetation and the matriarchs would need to be able to lead the herds to such territories.
As it was their first day going to these new areas the orphans were very curious and alert, smelling the environment and getting to know the new area. Once they had reached the area the Keepers were heading to, the orphans didn’t seem too excited about staying there for too long and were quick to turn around and head back to their normal browsing areas. The Keepers, knowing all too well that they will slowly learn to be comfortable in these unchartered plains were happy to lead them back to one of their normal browsing spots.
Once the orphans got back to their favourite spots they settled down and start browsing and Maisha and Kiasa could be seen checking on all the orphans. Ziwadi and Olorien, who both didn’t take part in the longer walk as Olorien continues to gain her strength, soon joined the Nursery herd and happily began to browse with all of them. The orphans had a peaceful afternoon browsing in the forest.
Little Olorien has quickly learnt where the Keepers mix her milk and this morning as the orphans were being let out of their stables, she immediately ran over to the milk mixing area to check on her Keepers. The Keepers were quite amused by this, as they could see her eagerly looking for her bottle which she was only going to get at 9am. As all the orphans were ready to head out into the forest, the Keepers ushered her back to the Nursery herd where she happily followed the other orphans and her Keepers.
Naboishu is still quite shy and will often get lost amongst the other orphans as he is still small and cannot easily be seen when all the orphans are standing together. Despite his smaller stature, he is very loud and can often be heard by his Keepers before he is even seen. He is especially loud when it comes to his milk feeding time and has recently been greedier than speedy-Mukkoka, yelling at his Keepers to let him run down for his milk and even trumpeting at them as he arrives for his bottle. The Keepers always find it amusing to see him so confidently wanting his milk when he is normally very shy.
This morning after the orphans finished their 9am bottles of milk, Larro was again looking after Olorien and Ziwadi and she could be seen walking with them back to the forest. Nabulu seemed to get a little jealous of Larro spending time with Olorien and Ziwadi and she quickly ran over to join them. Once they were back in the forest, they all happily settled to browse together but Nabulu kept trying to keep Olorien to herself. Each time Olorien would try to walk in the direction that Larro was browsing, Nabulu would grab her with her trunk, ensuring she stayed close by. Larro didn’t seem to mind that Nabulu wanted Olorien all to herself as she continued to peacefully browse with Ziwadi, whom was eagerly munching on her favourite greens.
After their midday bottles of milk, the orphans had a small rest at the milk feeding point, resting against the trees and lying in the shade. Their peace and quiet quickly ended when Kiasa, Kiombo and Maktao all began a wrestling match. Kiasa played with the bulls for a short-time and then left them to wrestle each other. Maktao and Kiombo played for quite some time before returning to their browsing activities.
As Nairobi experiences its winter time at the moment, quite a few days have been overcast and cold and the orphans have had very little interest in mud bathing. They have been spending most of their days browsing and dust bathing to keep warm. Today, the orphans walked further into the forest and spent their entire day browsing and walking deeper into the forest and spending less time in the open plains which seemed to be colder than the forest. The orphans only walk to the open areas when it is time for their milk bottles but as soon as they are all done with their milk they head back to the forest.
After their midday bottles of milk, Maisha, Nabulu, and Kiasa could be heard rumbling softly to the Nursery herd and leading them back to the forest. The three girls led the orphans deep into the forest where they all settled to browse for the afternoon. Most of the orphans remained calm but Mukkoka and Maktao were bursting with energy and decided to challenge each other in a strength testing match. They were so busy chasing each other around that they did not realise that the girls had moved the orphans further into the forest and they quickly ran after them.
It was a beautiful sunny morning as the orphans were let out of their stockades and it already felt as though it was going to be a warm day. Naleku was so excited that she came barrelling out of her stable and ran over to Mukkoka’s door, patiently waiting for him to be let out by his Keepers. As soon as Mukkoka was let out Naleku seemed to be egging him on to head out to the forest before the others but Mukkoka was not so keen as he walked over to greet Maxwell. Maxwell was standing at his gate and appeared happy to greet Mukkoka and Naleku who were now both at his gate. After a brief interaction, Mukkoka and Naleku made their way out to the forest before the others.
Maisha and Nabulu were busy browsing along the pathway waiting for the rest of the orphans to join them. Once the orphans were out in the forest, Kiasa appeared to get excited and quickly dashed ahead of the orphans to lead them further. Roho, Maktao and Larro were all eagerly following her and running after her as they all ran to catch up with Mukkoka and Naleku.
Olorien has fully learnt the routine at the Nursery, and she now knows exactly when it is time for her milk and when it is time to go back to her stable for the evening. This morning, as soon as she finished her 6am bottle of milk she could be seen eagerly waiting at her stable door for her Keepers to let her out, her little trunk appearing over the door whenever they walked past. Once the Keepers had finished feeding all the orphans, they started to let them out, and little Olorien was so excited to have her door opened that she came bounding out.
Olorien is much like Ziwadi in that she loves the softer greens and they both know exactly where to look for them and are happy to head off together for their adventures.
This afternoon, Nabulu was being rather stroppy with Kiombo and she kept pushing him away from her. Maisha was quick to pick up on this and she quickly came running over and chased Nabulu away making sure she didn’t come back. Nabulu knew she was in trouble and went off to browse on her own and only returned once Maisha had calmed down.
As of late, little Naleku always wants to lead the Nursery herd out to the forest with Mukkoka by her side. She is a very independent young girl and the Keepers believe that one day she too will be able to lead her own herd in the wild. This morning, she could be seen trying to instruct Olorien on where to go, and trying to lead her own little group.
Maisha is developing slightly from being a matriarchal figure to all the herd, to caring solely for Roho; she certainly cares for him the most! Sometimes she can be in a bad mood with the rest of the herd and will charge and push them away, everyone except Roho. Naiboishu, Ziwadi, Larro and Maktao bore the brunt of her bad mood today!
Kiasa and her greedy character often means she is last in the group, especially at milk feeding times when she is held back by the Keepers until the end, so she can feed on her own and not cause any trouble to the other orphans when they are trying to have their milk bottles. Today at the 11am feed however she ran very fast and reached the milk feeding area before Naiboishu was done. She finished her milk bottle in lightning speed before Naboishu, who drinks his milk very slowly, was done. As soon as she finished, she left her bottle and ran over to Naboishu who was still drinking and started demanding some of his share too. The Keepers had a hard time moving Kiasa away but eventually succeeded, so that Naboishu could finish in peace.
It was a very chilly morning for the babies today and none of them appeared interested in coming out of their warm rooms to go into the forest to browse. It was drizzling a bit and when the Keepers came to open their gates it took a bit of time for the baby elephants to work up the courage to walk out to begin their day. Mukkoka and Kiasa were the first out. Ziwadi and Olorien were going to stay behind for a bit until it stopped raining, but actually they were not far behind the rest of the herd as they started pushing on their doors to come out with the others, when they heard Larro, their neighbour, also leaving.
Maktao tried to invite Kiombo and Mukkoka to a wrestling game but neither of them paid him much attention.
Later in the morning after the 9am milk feed, close to the milk feeding area, Olorien decided to lead the rest of the herd in a cool dust bath. She found the best spot all on her own and without following one of the older orphans and just began dusting herself there. Naleku moved closer and joined her and after a few minutes… everyone was there! They all dusted together and thoroughly enjoyed doing so for some time, until Maisha decided to lead all the orphans out to the forest to continue browsing.
Maisha is always so comfortable around Roho and will allow the little boy to do anything around her – he can extend his trunk to her mouth to see what she is eating, stand below her when she is having her milk bottles to suck up anything that spills, even climb all over her when she is rolling on the ground, but the one thing Maisha denies Roho is suckling on her ears – something which most of the matriarchs in the past have allowed younger babies to do to them. Roho missed the opportunity to catch Maisha’s milk drops as she came earlier for her milk bottle and was already done by the time Roho came for his. When he finished his own milk bottle he went in search of her perhaps thinking that she might still have to have her share. After waiting around her for some time in vain, he started pulling on her ears trying to suckle on them, but Maisha didn’t like this at all and kept moving away from him, even trying to engage him in a pushing game to get him to stop! Roho started yelling out so loudly that Kiasa and Nabulu came over to check that he was okay. When they saw him with Maisha they realised he was just being demanding and left to continue browsing.
It was quite funny later in the day as we watched Ziwadi and Olorien team up to chase a warthog and her piglets away when they wandered too close to the orphans. This game of cat and mouse went on for some time until the Keepers started walking the orphans to a different area to prepare for their next milk feed.
We know very well how intelligent elephants are, but sometimes it is still remarkable to us how intelligent and emotionally advanced the elephant babies are; they can tell when one of them isn’t feeling quite right. Ziwadi is known for her love of browsing and the other orphans know she is happy to walk off on her own into the forest, quite content in the search of her favourite browse. We noticed this morning she was limping slightly because of a small swelling on her knee. It is bothering her a bit this morning and she isn’t walking as fast as she normally would. Mukkoka is known to wander off into the forest with Naleku, but this morning he noticed something was bothering Ziwadi and her leg was sore. All the other orphans walked off into the bush, but Mukkoka stayed back to keep Ziwadi and Olorien company; which was so thoughtful of this young bull. Naleku abandoned her best friend Mukkoka in favour of walking deeper into the forest and walked off with Kiasa and Nabulu.
Regardless of their age, elephants will often get a fright at any strange thing that moves. Naboishu made some performance today when a small wag-tail bird flew low over his head. Not knowing what it was, he started charging and trumpeting around. It wasn’t until the bird landed in front of him and he saw what it was that he calmed down. By that time however he had already got the rest of the herd worked up and excited, and they too were running all over the place and trumpeting with excitement.
Today after their 9am milk feed the orphans went straight back out into the bush to feed on all the varieties they love to feed on. After a while they came across a place that normally holds a small pond of stagnant water that they like to play in. It was quite a warm morning so as usual, Roho was the first to approach the water followed by Mukkoka, and the two boys enjoyed rolling and playing together in the mud. Olorien and Ziwadi arrived together a bit later after the others as they had been enjoying feeding on the greens behind the rest of the herd. As Mukkoka and Roho enjoyed playing in the mud, Kiasa and Naboishu were enjoying playing in the dust just to the side. Maisha, who always likes to take care of Roho, stood to the side and just watched the young two boys playing until they were done.
This morning Maxwell the rhino woke up full of energy! He came out of his bedroom and went straight over to the area where he is always provided with a bunch of freshly cut different varieties of greens every morning. One of his favourites is the thorny acacia which he always likes to start with and eats the fastest. When he finished all his acacia branches, he sniffed through the others and moved them about with his horn to see if there were any more there he could enjoy. After having enough of his greens he walked about for a bit, not even venturing to the top half of his stockade to enjoy some Lucerne pellets as he was so full of energy, he wanted to walk about for a bit first. It was not until much later in the morning that he decided to go for some Lucerne, as after walking around and having his greens, he decided to go back to his bedroom for a bit of a mid-morning nap!
Ziwadi and Olorien are growing quite close as they like to do the same things and are therefore often in each other’s company. They both like to browse on greens the most and therefore often stay at the back of the herd enjoying, while the others all march off in different directions and are always in a hurry. Today Ziwadi and Olorien chose to browse together and at all the milk feeding times today, they walked to the feeding point together.
The orphans had a beautiful day in the forest, and Naleku and Roho enjoyed the full attention of the older girls as they browsed. The older boys always enjoyed their wrestling matches in between their browsing with Mukkoka challenging both Maktao and Kiombo. They spent their entire afternoon in the forest until it was time for them to head back to the stockade compound for the evening.
After the 3pm milk feed today, Nabulu, Larro and Maktao all decided to enjoy a pushing game with one another. The two bigger orphans, Nabulu and Maktao, were engaged in the pushing game while Larro, who is a bit smaller, stood next to them with her trunk raised in excitement and wishing to join in on their game. Kiasa came over and decided to supervise their game, although Nabulu and Maktao were just being playful and exerting a bit of energy, and at the same time Larro decided to go and join the other orphans who were busy feeding in the bush. After a while Kiasa decided to intervene and brought about an end to Nabulu and Maktao’s game, and the two orphans also decided to follow the direction Larro had taken to join the others in browsing. Since this took place after the 3pm feed, the orphans didn’t spend long browsing before it was time for them to follow the Keepers in the direction of the Nursery compound, to return home for the night.
Mukkoka and Naleku have been showing such a good relationship since Mukkoka is always friendly to little Naleku these days and always wants her to be happy. He has come a long way since Naleku first arrived and was always trying to befriend Mukkoka, but the little bull didn’t want much to do with her in the beginning! These days he is very friendly with her. Today these two babies walked down to the 9am milk feed together. Mukkoka normally likes to run really fast and be the first at the milk feed, but this morning he decided to wait and walk slower with his adopted little sister Naleku, who doesn’t feel the need to always run towards her milk bottle!
Maisha and Roho were also walking to the milk feed together and Maisha was making sure not to walk too fast and leave little Roho behind. After the milk feed Mukkoka and Naleku walked back out to the bush together to browse which made Naleku happy. All the orphans carried on browsing for the rest of the afternoon in the company of their Keepers, who enjoyed watching the orphans and all their little antics, until it was time to return home to the compound for the night.
The orphans were all in a good mood this morning as they came out their stables to begin walking out to the forest. As the orphans began to make their way along the path to the forest, Ziwadi and Olorien could be seen hanging back as if they weren’t yet ready to head off. Ziwadi walked over to one of the water troughs and began to splash around with her trunk and take big gulps of water through her mouth. After a couple of minutes, the Keepers ushered Olorien and Ziwadi along to join the rest of the Nursery herd. Neither of them was in any rush and they happily slowly followed their Keeper.
When they got out to the forest, they joined Kiasa, Nabulu and the rest of the Nursery herd whom were already busy browsing amongst one another. The orphans had a wonderful day of browsing and only took breaks when it was time for their milk bottles. In the evening they were happily led back to their stables by their Keepers.
It was quite a chilly morning as the orphans were making their way out of their stables. Exactly like yesterday, Ziwadi was behind the rest of the orphans splashing around in each of the water troughs as she walked past them. Whilst she was busy splashing about, Olorien was not too far away from her, throwing some dust over her head. As the Keepers came up behind Ziwadi she quickly began to walk towards Olorien to then join up with the rest of the orphans who were already walking within the forest.
Out in the forest, Roho and Nabulu began a strength testing match with each other where Roho would try with all his strength to push Nabulu and she would gently resist against the young bull. They could be seen holding trunks as they pushed against each other. Their game did not last for too long as it was soon time for the orphans to head down for their 9am bottles of milk. Once the orphans finished their milk, they spent most of their day browsing.
Olorien is growing in strength day by day, and she seems to have gotten quite greedy like many of the other orphans when it comes to her milk. This morning when it was time for the orphans to get ready to walk down for their midday bottles Olorien quickly snuck off and started heading to the milk feeding point before the others. The Keepers were quick to spot her ears flapping along the path and they knew she was heading straight for the wheelbarrow with all the milk bottles.
As Olorien had wandered off ahead of the others, she was quickly followed by her friend Ziwadi. The Keepers waiting for the orphans were surprised to see Olorien and Ziwadi arriving first as they are normally much slower than the other orphans, especially Naboishu and Mukkoka.
After the orphans finished their midday bottles of milk, they made their way back to the forest where they browsed for the remainder of their afternoon until it was time to head back to the stockade compound.
Maxwell the rhino was in a great mood this morning as he was walking all around his stockade smelling and rubbing up against his stockade wall. Once he was done trotting around, he munched away on his variety of branches including the acacia branches which are his favourite. As he was eating his greens, he could hear his Keepers getting his Lucerne pellets ready for him. As soon as his stockade gate was opened, he left his greens and walked over to his pellets. He was so happy eating his Lucerne pellets that he could even be seen closing his eyes.
Once Maxwell had finished his pellets he walked over to a sunny corner of his stockade and lay down in the long grass to have a mid-morning nap. He spent his day feasting on his greens and strutting around his stockade, eventually settling down in his bedroom for the evening.
Larro has always been happy to follow Maisha wherever she may lead the orphans when they are out in the forest. This morning, however, she seemed to be on her own little adventure and wanted to walk off in a different direction. Larro went off in the company of Mukkoka, Kiasa, Naleku and Naboishu. They didn’t settle too far away from Maisha and the others but Larro seemed quite chuffed with herself being able to lead her own little group.
Maisha didn’t seem too bothered as she was in the company of Nabulu taking care of Roho, Olorien, Ziwadi and busy bodies Maktao and Kiombo who were constantly wrestling each other. In the afternoon, all the orphans came back together and were seen happily browsing together.
Naleku is a tough little girl and the Keepers are always pleased to see her standing up for herself when the bulls are trying to push her around, which is often young Roho. This morning after they had their 9am bottles of milk they both began to walk off together and then they suddenly began a wrestling match. Their game got a little rough with Roho pushing Naleku until she had a little wobble. Instead of calling out to the older girls, the little girl found her footing and quickly chased after Roho. Naleku appeared angry and Maisha picked up that their game was getting too rough.
Before Naleku could catch up to Roho, Maisha stepped in and separated them both. Naleku and Roho both seemed to know that they were in trouble and quickly walked their separated ways. Naleku quickly joined up with some of the other orphans and Roho stayed close to Maisha.
It was a beautiful sunny morning as the orphans came out their stables. As it was a warm morning some of the orphans were stopping at the water troughs to have a drink of water before heading off to the forest. Ziwadi, was once again amongst them splashing about and dunking her head in the water to have a drink. Whilst the orphans were busy drinking, Olorien walked towards some of the bushes near the stockade compound to start eating some of her greens.
Olorien and Ziwadi have become very close friends and were following each other around the forest. As of late, Ziwadi appears to be followed by several orphans when she wanders off to browse on her favourite greens. Today, she was in the company of Mukkoka, Maktao, Olorien and Nabulu.
The orphans were scattered throughout their browsing areas for most of the day and only joined together when it was time for them to have their bottles of milk.
Maxwell was in a great mood again this morning and full of energy. As he came out his room, he made his way to his fresh branches that had been laid out for him by his Keepers. He started off with his favourite greens, the acacia branches, and then moved over to the others that were around. Once he had eaten enough greens, he pushed his branches around and then began to smell around his stockade. When he would find a peculiar scent, he would kick up his back feet, a sign that he is marking his territory.
As he continued to walk further up his stockade, he discovered who he had smelt as there were some warthogs trying to get in for some of his Lucerne pellets. The warthogs picked up on Maxwell very quickly and decided to find their snacks somewhere else. Maxwell seemed to notice that they were gone and continued up to his Lucerne pellets, where he remained until he had finished most of his pile.
It was another chilly morning in Nairobi as the orphans started to get ready to come out of their stables and head off to the forest. As it was quite cold, the Keepers decided to keep the orphans in their stables a little bit longer and wait for the sun to come up, especially for the younger orphans Roho, Naleku, Olorien and Ziwadi. As they could feel it warming up, they decided to let all the orphans out around 6:30am. Kiasa, Nabulu and Mukkoka appeared to all be waiting for the younger orphans to come and join them.
As the orphans began to head off towards the forest, Kiasa, Nabulu, and Mukkoka decided to stop and browse on some of the greens surrounding the stockade compound. As they were browsing Ziwadi was once again grabbing her routine drink of water from the water troughs as Olorien stood by eating some of the nearby greens, waiting for her friend.
After a couple of minutes, the Keepers ushered them all along and the orphans made their way to the forest. They had a fun filled day dust bathing and browsing in the forest in between each of their milk feeds and when it was time to return to the stockades, they all came rushing in for the evening.
After the orphans finished their 9am bottles of milk, the Keepers led them back towards the forest where they could start browsing on a variety of greens. As the orphans were settling down, Kiasa, Mukkoka, and Nabulu decided to head off in their own direction, whilst Maisha remained with the rest of the Nursery orphans and was letting little Naleku lead them around. Once Naleku had chosen where to browse, Ziwadi went off to look for her favourite bushes. After a couple of minutes, the orphans were all spread out within the forest calmly browsing near and amongst each other.
When it was time for the orphans’ midday bottles of milk, the Keepers decided to take them down to the mud bath as it was quite a hot day. Once the orphans were all together, the Keepers led them down the path to the mud bath area where their bottles were awaiting them. They all gulped down their milk and then some of them walked over to the mud bath, whereas others chose to rather dust bath. Little Olorien, who is still gaining her strength, will often stand aside as the orphans are playing around in the mud and dust but today, she was standing right beside Mukkoka having a dust bath with him. They both seemed rather excited and they enjoyed their Keepers also throwing dust over their heads.
Once the orphans were done with their mud and dust baths, they all made their way back to the forest where they remained for the rest of the afternoon.