Keepers' Diaries, July 2022

Voi Reintegration Unit



Little Juni, who was rescued by our Voi team in May, has become the most coveted member of our orphan herd. The month began with a custody battle between Mbegu and Tagwa. Mbegu was spotted browsing with Juni, which caused Tagwa to panic. She sidled over to the duo and browsed just next to them, stealing furtive glances at them all the while. She spent the rest of the day sulking about Mbegu’s coup.

01 July 2022

The milk-dependent babies came sprinting out of their night stockades for their milk bottles which were fed to them in front of the milk mixing area along the trough. They decided to play a few games in the compound when they were all done feeding. Tamiyoi went to sit in a small rock and scratched her bottom before deciding that it was time to head out for the day. She took the lead of the rest of the herd towards the gates and down the road to the bush.

Mbegu was spotted closely browsing with Juni, a situation that caused Tagwa to panic a little thinking that Mbegu, who is slightly senior to her, might be trying to take her new adopted friend for herself. She went over to stand and browse close to them so that Juni knew she was there as well and kept stealing furtive glances at the duo.

The orphan elephants later visited the water hole after the noon milk feed, but decided to snub a mud bath due to the cold July weather. Later, Arruba and Murit went to relax under a commifora tree and broke the peace by engaging in a wonderful sparring game. 

Diria the zebra and Ivia the buffalo decided to play their usual wrestling matches around the stockade compound. A wild elephant female who often visits with her calf arrived to drink water from the stockade trough and later settled for some lucerne pellets which had been left behind by the orphans. Cheza the female buffalo wanted to join them, but the wild female’s calf wasn’t welcoming and chased her away. The mother intervened and Cheza went away voluntarily.

02 July 2022

Once again Mbegu got in there early, before Tagwa, and went to feed with Juni on the lucerne grass supplement after the milk feed. Tamiyoi went to join them but Tagwa stayed away and busied herself with feeding somewhere else, perhaps sulking that Mbegu was spending time with Juni again.

The orphan elephants later visited the baobab tree water hole and joined several wild elephant herds coming to drink water. Juni, Sagala and Tamiyoi stood in a near perfect straight line, admiring a one-week-old elephant calf suckling milk from its mother.

Emoli was off on a mission, chasing wild zebra who were waiting nearby to drink at the water hole. Emoli’s game of chasing the zebra turned into him deciding to follow behind a wild elephant herd with young who were leaving the mud bath area.  The Keepers were keeping a keen eye and noticed Emoli walking away with the wild herd, but there was a very aggressive wild elephant cow who was making it very difficult for them to retrieve Emoli and bring him back to the Voi herd. They went into a deep wooded area and the more the Keepers tried to call Emoli back to them, the faster the wild herd ran off with him into the trees! Emoli bravely later came back to the stockades all by himself at about 2pm. He was escorted back out to the bush to join his friends for the rest of the afternoon, who welcomed him with trumpeting and charging about.  

03 July 2022

It was a lovely morning with the Voi orphans choosing to play some games after the feeding was done. Embu went to scratch her bottom and her back on the rock that all the orphans enjoy scratching against as it is the perfect height. Little Thamana waited patiently close by for his turn to scratch. Suswa took the biggest rock close to the stockade water hole for her own scratching session. At last, Tagwa was able to enjoy a peaceful lucerne grass feeding session with her darling Juni. Godoma chose to join them, but Mbegu kept away with Lasayen, Emoli and Murit, feeding elsewhere. Juni was excited to have so many females so eager to take care of her and revelled in the attention that Tagwa was giving her this morning.

A monitoring patrol out in the bush found some lions waiting in ambush for some prey on the northern side of Msinga Hill today, forcing the Keepers to approach the water hole from the opposite direction.

It’s still very cold so only Lasayen decided to play briefly with Murit at the edge of the mud bath before joining up with their friends who were leaving the water trough to continue with their usual browsing activities for the rest of the afternoon.  

04 July 2022

It was drizzling this morning and a cold mist had descended to touch the ground. The orphans all decided to play after their milk feed this morning, perhaps in an effort to get moving and warm up in the cold weather! Ndotto concentrated on feeding and started his games later than the others, deciding to get down on the ground to roll around, but was embarrassed to find himself all alone as his friends had already started leaving towards the gates of the compound to begin their long day of browsing.

The orphan elephants browsed halfway along the western side of Msinga Hill, coming down and proceeding for the noon milk feed and later a mud bath. Arruba, Tamiyoi and Pika Pika kept themselves busy trying to get close to some wild elephant calves who were present with their families at the mud bath, but they were denied the interaction by the older siblings in the herd. Arruba launched a game of rolling on the ground with the intention of attracting the attention of the wild calves to come and play with her, but she didn’t succeed either.

There wasn’t very much mud bathing activity due to the cold weather, and the orphan elephants eventually decided to move away from the mud bath and continue with their afternoon.

05 July 2022

The orphans decided to hang around for a bit again this morning, with Ngilai and Emoli initiating the mornings games with a sparring match. Mudanda invited Rorogoi to go and feast on some green acacia branches that were overhanging the stockade fence line. Arruba went for a satisfying scratch on one of the rocks, with her darling Pika Pika coming over to join her for a scratch as well.

In the afternoon after milk feeding, Lemeki wanted to hang out close to the Keepers for some attention, and her favourite activity of them blowing into her trunk. Ndotto also decided to stay back with Lemeki, but she jealously moved over and rammed Ndotto with the broad part of her head to get him to move away from ‘her’ Keepers, as she was enjoying all the attention for herself. Ndotto didn’t retaliate and simply walked away towards the water trough to leave Lemeki in peace.

The orphan elephants were reluctant to swim again. Tagwa stood at the edge of the water trough stirring the water with her trunk. She started splashing a little too vigorously however and the cold-water landing on Juni sent her running away, which meant Tagwa stopped splashing and walked to catch up with her.

06 July 2022

Juni is the baby of the herd at the moment and the obvious favourite amongst the older females in the Voi herd. She was escorted by Sagala this morning to the lucerne pellet feeding area, with Tagwa quickly coming to pick her up and lead her for the next session of feeding on the dried lucerne grass. The orphan elephant later moved off to the browsing grounds where they browsed in single file.

Upon arriving at the baobab water hole in the afternoon after the milk feed, the orphans found several wild elephant herds drinking water at the water trough, and some waiting their turn. The orphan elephants huddled together and followed suit, joining the queue for some water. Once all the wild elephants were done and had left the area, the orphans took their time, drinking in peace.

Most of the orphans decided not to mud bathe, with the exception of Ngilai, who plunged into the water to try the cold water. Emoli didn’t want to wait at the edge for his friend to come out, so he followed suit and dove into the water after his friend, engaging him in a wrestling match as soon as they met. Later they both got out of the water at the same time and joined their friends who were leaving for browsing.

07 July 2022

After the morning milk and lucerne grass feeding, Embu, Pika Pika and Arruba walked straight over to the stockade water trough to quench their thirst. Ngilai invited his best friend and playmate Emoli for a sparring game, while Tahri stayed with Arruba. Mudanda went to take up an early position at the twin trees, enjoying scratching her whole body.

 After browsing for about four hours, Rorogoi decided to lie in one of the erosion trenches on the side of the hill, and later pretended she was having difficulty in getting up. Ndotto, who was close by, decided to ignore her tricks as he knew she was trying to entice him to a pushing game, and carried on with his important morning browsing session. Murit became curious however and went over to investigate and make sure Rorogoi was okay. He decided to climb on her back as a test and start a rolling game on her. Suswa intervened for a final check up on whether Rorogoi was okay, and Rorogoi immediately got up as she had only been playing and seeking attention.

08 July 2022

The milk dependent orphans were so eager for their morning milk bottles today and started rumbling from very early in the morning. Tagwa’s little herd of seven members including Tamiyoi, Sagala, Emoli, Lemeki, Juni and Thamana were the first to run over for their bottles, shortly by Mbegu’s herd members after. Godoma was hot on Mbegu’s heels, but she was running so fast she ran past Mbegu and the Keepers holding the closest milk bottles, and she had to slap on the breaks and turn to come back for her bottles. Mbegu then made it obvious it was she who was going to look after Juni this morning, escorting her to both the lucerne pellet and lucerne grass feeding areas, leaving Tagwa with no option other than to obey her decision.

At the mud bath in the afternoon, the orphans joined a single wild elephant bull drinking water from the trough. Mudanda decided to pose there and put one leg up on the side of the trough as if to show off, with Ngilai copying the same from the opposite direction. The wild elephant bull later left, with the orphans deciding to continue with their afternoon not long after.

09 July 2022

During the morning lucerne feed, Mbegu stayed with Juni, which made Tagwa extra jealous. She came over and pushed between them, then the three fed together in peace.

Arruba and Rorogoi took Pika Pika onto the red earth pile, rolling and having fun. Embu saw them and wanted to join in. She tried taking a shortcut down the steep stockade terrace, but it was quite a difficult route and took her a long time.

Ndotto, Thamana and Sagala teamed up for the peaceful feeding onto the Lucerne pellets.

The orphans browsed onto the southern side of the Msinga Hill, coming to drink water and milk in the afternoon at the stockade. Arruba and Suswa ran the show, rolling onto the red earth piles before later joining up with their friends to browse.

10 July 2022

The orphan elephants left the stockade compound after a wonderful time playing and settled to browse on the slopes of Msinga Hill. Mudanda made her way up the hill munching on bushes as she went along, still in the company of her adopted babies Lemeki and Thamana. Meanwhile Mbegu, Sagala, Tamiyoi, Tagwa and Juni spent the morning hours browsing at the foot of the hill, before joining their friends as they came down to proceed for the noon milk feed and mud bath at the stockade compound again, whilst the problem with the Mzima pipeline is fixed.

Rorogoi later took a break from browsing and decided to start a game with a log on the ground, trying to roll it around with her feet almost as if it was a ball. Lasayen and Ngilai had a wonderful time sparring later in the afternoon before it was time to return home for the night.

11 July 2022

It was a chilly morning, and Juni and her friends were anxiously waiting by their stockade door to come out for their morning milk feed. As soon as the gate was opened, Juni, Thamana, Pika Pika, Lemeki, Tamiyoi and Tagwa all came running over to the feeding area in that order. They all soon settled for some lucerne pellets after the milk feed. Tagwa, Sagala, and Mbegu escorted Juni to have some of the delicious supplement, before Sagala walked away, leaving Mbegu and Tagwa babysitting Juni.

As the orphans walked out to the bush, Juni walked between Mbegu and Tagwa as they carefully manoeuvred their way along the rocky sides of Msinga Hill. Mbegu decided to take a break from browsing and got down on the ground to play, and Rorogoi came over to join her. Ndotto spotted them and after a while he came over to interrupt their games and take Mbegu for their own sparring match. Mbegu wasn’t as interested in the sparring match however, and she left the game with Ndotto and quickly invited Rorogoi to play again. 

Later in the afternoon we watched as the orphans busied themselves with uprooting the tough grass from the ground using both their trunks and toenails to slash at the roots. 

Emoli kindly took some time to teach little Thamana some sparring skills, as Tamiyoi decided to hang out with Sagala. Tagwa browsed side by side with Juni as Mudanda rolled in the dust showing off next to Emoli, who was still playing his sparring game with Thamana.

At noon the orphans enjoyed their milk feed before interacting with some wild elephants at the baobab tree mud hole, and later resumed browsing for the rest of the day.

12 July 2022

Ndotto and Mbegu were sniffing the air eagerly awaiting their milk bottles this morning. They couldn’t wait to be let out of their night stockades for their first morning bottle and were among the first to the milk feeding area. After the morning milk feed the orphans walked straight to the lucerne grass and pellets. Pika Pika and Arruba came back to drink water from the stockade trough and resumed feeding. Tagwa and Mbegu took turns babysitting Juni as Mudanda stuck close to Thamana throughout the morning browse. 

When they were done feeding the orphans walked out for their daily bush walks and settled to the south of Msinga Hill overlooking the baobab tree water trough. Emoli took on Tamiyoi for a sparring challenge. Godoma had a good time rolling in some loose the ground at the foot of Msinga Hill as her friends busied themselves browsing in the background along the hill.

The orphans had their noon milk feed back at the stockades, where they indulged in some supplement pellets and resumed browsing not far from the compound for the rest of the afternoon.

13 July 2022

After the morning milk and lucerne feed, the orphans left the stockades to browse and make their way along the side of rocky Msinga Hill to the south. Mbegu, Tagwa and Sagala all surrounded Juni, shielding her from interacting with Mudanda.

The orphans spent the mid-morning browsing and playing around. Lasayen invited Murit to a sparring game. Godoma later came over to interrupt the game and Murit was very upset when Lasayen shifted his attention to Godoma instead. Murit walked off shaking his head in protest.

Lemeki decided to hang around the Keepers again and play with them; sometimes she prefers hanging around the Keepers than the other orphans! Thamana was out exploring the shrubs with his adopted mother Mudanda and finding the tastiest ones to eat.

The orphans walked down the for the noon milk feed at the main waterhole and then later to the water trough to quench their thirst. After drinking, Emoli and Ngilai proceeded to the mud hole where they splashed from the waters edge and started a pushing game there next to the baobab tree. After the game Ngilai went for a dust bath and a few minutes later he was joined by Arruba on the loose soil.

The Voi dependent orphans then went back to browsing, walking deep into the woods in search of fresh foliage.

14 July 2022

This chilly morning Tagwa was feeding side by side with Juni at the feeding trough. Mbegu was not far from them. Mudanda decided to spend time with Suswa and Thamana while Arruba was with her favourite Pika Pika.

Ngilai and Emoli seemed poised as they were about to begin a sparring match but neither made the first step, while Tamiyoi went for a scratch on the orphans’ favourite rock. Ngilai decided he didn’t want to wait for his friends, and he walked out of the compound gates to go and explore the Msinga Hill and to begin browsing while his friends finished the lucerne supplements. Arruba, Rorogoi and Pika Pika later joined him on the hill.

When the Keepers were done with their breakfast, they called out to the rest of the orphans to ready them for their morning bush walks. Lemeki and Thamana responded quickly and marched out of the gates. Tamiyoi, Emoli and Sagala followed them closely leaving Tagwa behind with Juni.

The orphans spent the morning hours browsing at the southern foot of Msinga Hill and later proceeded for their noon milk feed. The weather is still so cold, and the orphans camped beside the water trough only to quench the thirst, before going back to browsing without having a mud bath.

15 July 2022

It was a cool and chilly morning again. Ndotto, Godoma and Lasayen all waved their trunks through the bars of their night stockades eager to be let out for their first milk bottle of the day. Lemeki, Thamana and Tamiyoi joined in by knocking on their stockade gates as their milk breakfast was being prepared. Satisfied with their morning milk feed, the orphans settled for some lucerne pellets before leaving to browse in the Park for the day.

During the daily morning patrol, which is done before the orphans leave the stockade compound, our driver encountered a pride of 16 lions camped out on the way to the baobab mud wallow. For this reason, the orphaned used a different browsing route today, and later returned to the stockades for the noon milk feed and mud bathing session.

Back at the compound, Murit splashed himself from the water trough before going to roll around and dry off on the loose soil. He then went for a scratch against the twin trees while Emoli went to do the same against the terraces. Ngilai and Mbegu played some sparring games with Ivia and Cheza respectively, which they haven’t done for some time, and they thoroughly enjoyed playing with the two buffalo.

The elephant orphans left the stockades and continued browsing up on the hillside not far from the compound until it was time to return home.

16 July 2022

The sky was clear and it was bright and sunny for a change this morning. Little Juni kept company with Tagwa and Mbegu, as both enjoy looking after her. Suswa seems to have given up on the fight for Thamana, with Mudanda getting full custody. Eventually the orphans left the compound for the day, with Emoli taking the lead of the herd to the browsing field, manoeuvring their way through the rocky slopes of Msinga Hill.

Once at the foot of the hill again the orphans settle to browse on the open grasslands, which are looking a little dry these days. Ndotto and Tahri browsed together but facing in different directions. Tahri found a delicious shrub that she was enjoying all to herself. Sagala flapped her ears to keep cool as she browsed nearby. Murit, Lemeki, Thamana and Godoma were all busy concentrating on finding the best browse in the area but everything looks pretty dry at the moment.

Later Lasayen tried to take on Murit for a sparring match before joining Aruba and Suswa to walk down to the mud wallow. Mbegu and Tahri spent some time together while they browsed but later Mbegu turned her attention back to Juni. Tagwa saw this however and came over to hug and pull Juni close to her. Mbegu didn’t mind though and moved to browse shoulder to shoulder with Suswa.

After the noon milk feed the orphans walked down to the mud wallow to drink from the trough next to the baobab tree. Suswa and Mudanda decided to roll at the edge of the mud bath while the rest of the orphans decided to fully swim today! Ngilai and Lasayen had such fun together, rolling around in the middle of the mud bath. Pika Pika climbed on Arruba’s back while she was swimming. Rorogoi, Embu, Aruba, Pika Pika and Suswa then came to drink from the water trough before joining the group who had already decided to continue browsing.

17 July 2022

Emoli, Lemeki and Thamana decided to lead the orphans out to browse immediately after the milk feed today. The orphans settled to browse at the foot of Msinga Hill. Juni was nervously looking around for Mbegu with her ears open and flared, and she didn’t settle down until she found her. Thamana was picking up sparring skills from Suswa; the two always enjoy some time together when Mudanda is not around. Mudanda soon noticed that Thamana was with Suswa however and she came marching over, furiously trumpeting. She barged in between Thamana and Suswa and walked off with her beloved little boy.

We spotted Ngilai resting his trunk on Emoli’s head as they seemed to be having a very candid conversation. Ndotto was walking about pestering everyone. He started with a sparring game with Mudanda which didn’t last long before he moved on to play with Rorogoi, hugging her close, before finally coaxing Arruba to play with him as well. Pika Pika was using all the skills she has learnt recently about digging for roots and feasted on them, just before the orphans walked down to the noon milk feeding area.

While at the mud bath beside the baobab tree, Ngilai decided to uproot some roots he found, while Sagala held and embraced Juni by the water trough. The orphans resumed browsing deep in the woods to the south of the mud bath.

18 July 2022

Pika Pika was knocking on her stockade gate to come out for the milk feed this morning. She, alongside Lemeki and Thamana, were the first to come for the milk feed and proceed to the pellet feeding area. Tagwa enjoyed an early morning dust bath while Juni and Mbegu decided to feed on the lucerne pellets that had been put in the trough in front of the milk mixing area. Thamana, Godoma and Mudanda lined up along the terrace wall feeding on the pellets there, as Ngilai and Rorogoi opted to feed on some lucerne grass instead. Emoli was the one to lead the orphans out for the day once again. The orphans browsed their way slowly around the hill towards the south.

Later in the day when the orphans were at the mud bath, Lemeki invited Ndotto to a wrestling game, but Ndotto didn’t seem in the mood, and he turned down the offer and walked away to continue browsing with his friends. This was a shame for Lemeki, as it’s not often she chooses to start a wrestling game with her friends! Mbegu was left behind at the mud bath trying to pull up some roots from the ground. She only chose to join her friends once she had managed to extract her prize!

19 July 2022

This morning while some of the orphans were feasting on lucerne pellets, Tamiyoi was scratching on a rock next to the stockade mud hole, while Arruba went to see what she could reach from the acacia branches that overhang the electric fence. Tagwa joined Juni and Mbegu at the pellet feeding trough and Mudanda went to scratch on the orphans’ favourite rock. Emoli and Ngilai warmed up through a sparring game until Tagwa walked in between them and ruined all the fun. Emoli walked away looking unhappy and decided to lead the others out of the compound gates towards the bush. Lemeki and Thamana followed him first and eventually the rest of the herd did too. 

At noon the orphans had their milk feed then walked down to the mud wallow. Lemeki decided to cool off at the water trough by splashing behind her ears and on her chest with her trunk. Rorogoi took centre-stage in the mud wallow as when everyone else left, she stayed behind splashing and running back and forth in all directions, trumpeting with her ears open wide. She loves behaving like this when everyone else has left the mud wallow! When she had enough, she came out of the mud bath and walked to the water trough and continued splashing there with her trunk in excitement. Ngilai and Murit enjoyed a short sparring match as they walk off back up towards the hill and where the orphans had chosen to continue browsing for the rest of the day.

20 July 2022

It was a chilly morning again today as the orphans enjoyed their supplement food in the stockade compound. Ngilai was evidently in a sparring mood and invited Emoli to play, but Emoli turned down the request, so Ngilai turned to Murit instead. Murit was a poor second choice however as he was enjoying some lucerne and didn’t want to play with Ngilai either. Arruba went to her usual favourite morning browsing spot which is the acacia branches beside the electric fence, and today she took Rorogoi and Lasayen with her.

Tagwa dragged Juni along with her to the heap of loose soil, along with Tamiyoi and Thamana. A little later, Tamiyoi took the lead of the orphan elephants out to the browsing fields.

The orphans spent the entire mid-morning browsing at the foot of Msinga Hill. A wild elephant and her baby walked down the hill and interacted with the orphans for a bit, before walking off in the direction of the baobab tree water trough with her baby. Pika Pika tried to make a move to follow them but Arruba signalled her and she came running back trumpeting. The orphans soon went for their noon milk feed as usual, before proceeding to the baobab tree water trough to quench their thirst and continue on with their day.

21 July 2022

The Voi orphans enjoyed their supplements and going about their daily routine this bright morning. Mudanda and Ndotto had a wrestling match and Murit had an early morning dust bath. Mbegu took Juni to the lucerne feeding area while Mudanda followed behind Thamana and Godoma. Aruba walked side by side with Pika Pika to the same feeding area.

During the mid-morning browsing session the orphans settled at the foot of the hill. Mudanda, Tamiyoi, Rorogoi, Ngilai, Ndotto and Lasayen all spread out to browse, with many of them uprooting grass (and dropping the roots once they had cut the grass off with their teeth) while a herd of buffaloes walked towards the pipeline area behind them. Mbegu and Sagala stayed close to Juni while browsing.

Later in the afternoon as the orphans walked down to the milk feed, Tagwa decided to challenge Ngilai to a sparring match, while Ndotto took on Arruba for yet another wrestling game. Tahri stood quietly to the side watching their game.

After their milk feed the orphans went straight to drink at the baobab tree water trough and resumed browsing after. A few minutes after the orphans left the mud bath, a wild elephant family came to the water with a tiny baby of about two months old. The herd were very thirsty and came running up to the water to quench their thirst.

22 July 2022

It was another bright morning today and the Voi dependent orphans were enjoying their supplement food. Tamiyoi, Lemeki and Thamana set off to the browsing fields along the paths around the rocky slopes of Msinga Hill, and settled at the foot of the hill, browsing towards the baobab tree. They went with some Keepers who escorted these early birds who were eager to start browsing in the bush this morning.

Murit, Mbegu, Suswa, Juni and Ndotto all lined up along the feeding trough enjoying the range cubes. Mudanda decided to feed on some lucerne grass that had been placed next to the terraces, with Godoma feeding on some range cubes next to her.

Over at the terraces, Ngilai enjoyed a sparring game with his favourite playmate, Emoli, while Lasayen relaxed. Lasayen still isn’t as playful as some of his age-mates, such as Ndotto and Ngilai, and prefers to browse peacefully rather than engage in wrestling matches. Ngilai then climbed up the terrace to gain a height advantage over his adversary Emoli. Ndotto followed Arruba, who was enjoying browsing on the acacia branches along the electric fence as usual, but his intention wasn’t to browse with her, but to invite her to a sparring match. Arruba declined as she was keen to browse on her favourite greens first.

The orphans then caught up with Tamiyoi, Lemeki and Thamana who weren’t far, and they all spent most of the day up on Msinga Hill today in search of fresh foliage to browse on.

23 July 2022

This morning Murit was feeding over by the terraces while Emoli and Lemeki went for an early morning dust bath. Ngilai came over to interrupt Emoli’s dust bath and invited his best friend for a sparring game instead. The wrestling game continued for the longest time, taking the centre stage in the stockade compound. After the pushing game, Ngilai went to scratch and relax on a rock next to the stockade water hole, perhaps a little tired out after all his playing with Emoli.

Suswa and Tahri were both posing and relaxing against the terrace wall, until the orphans started making their way out for their daily browsing routine where they settled on the open grasslands.

Godoma, Sagala, Pika Pika, Arruba, and Embu took advantage of a mud wallowing session after the milk feed this afternoon. It had been a slightly warmer day than others experienced recently and they enjoyed cooling off in the water. They rolled and splashed and then all got out at once to enjoy drying off on the loose soil pile. Mudanda then led Ndotto, Mbegu and Sagala for their own dust bath.

When the orphans resumed their afternoon of browsing, Ngilai chose to go up the hill while the rest of the orphans browsed at the base of the hill.

24 July 2022

After the milk and the supplement feeding was over, the orphans took off to the bush for the beginning of a busy day ahead. After browsing for two hours, Murit approached Rorogoi for a possible sparring match, but Rorogoi denied the offer and snuck off in the other direction, as she was more interested in browsing than playing! Murit resorted to approaching Ngilai, who was close by, and they had a lot of fun in their sparring games, so all ended well for Murit this morning. Suswa approached Tahri for a wrestling match, but Tahri snubbed her and didn’t look interested in playing, either.

This afternoon at the mud bath, Mbegu and Suswa got into the water and lay down flat, totally submerging their bodies in the water and rolling around in competition with one another. Rorogoi meanwhile kept herself busy playing at the water trough, before joining her friends who were leaving to continue browsing.

25 July 2022

Ndotto lay down on the ground and invited Rorogoi to a pushing game. Rorogoi was happy to oblige, even while Ndotto was down on the ground as this gave her some advantage over him. It wasn’t long before Ndotto got up, as they could see their friends starting to leave the compound and they didn’t want to be left behind. 

After browsing for about four hours, Thamana took a break and lay down on the ground. This prompted Pika Pika to come over and play with him, and she rolled about next to him on the ground too. Sagala and Mudanda approached and watched on jealously, but Mudanda didn’t react as Pika Pika is only little, too. Perhaps she was just watching over them making sure nothing happened while they played and that their game didn’t get out of hand.

We have noticed that Pika Pika doesn’t seem to have any issues with Thamana and Lemeki, despite them arriving and usurping her position as the youngest in the herd. Interestingly, she does seem to have some issues with Juni! Occasionally, when the Keepers aren’t watching, she tries to push Juni away or send her little back-kicks of disapproval. Juni is now the youngest in the herd and is therefore attracting a lot of attention from the older females, including Tagwa, Mbegu, and Sagala, possibly causing Pika Pika to be extra jealous of her. When Lemeki and Thamana arrived, it was Mudanda who wanted to take care of them the most and she kept the attention of her favourite Arruba. Now perhaps she feels her position is under threat with the arrival of Juni!

Later in the afternoon, the Voi team went to rescue an orphan elephant that had collapsed in a ditch near Lualeni camp. The female orphan elephant was so far gone and couldn’t move a single part of her body. Drips were administered and the baby was brought back to the stockades, but sadly passed away the following day.

26 July 2022

The monitoring team sighted more than ten lions hunting close to the baobab tree water hole this morning, so the orphans made sure to take a different route. They browsed 

along the western side of Msinga Hill, returning to the stockade compound at noon for a drink of water and their milk feed.  

Mbegu surprised Pika Pika, Embu, Tahri and Arruba when she came over and sat right on top of the range cube supplements they were eating with her big bottom. They tried to continue eating around her until Arruba tried to push her up so she would move away. Murit kept himself busy scratching his bottom on a small rock close to the water hole, while Emoli invited Ngilai in a head-butting encounter. Soon Emoli realised that Ngilai wasn’t that interested in their game however, and he approached Thamana to join them in their game too. This made Ngilai react, and he came rushing back to invite his best friend Emoli for another wrestling match before he could settle down to play with Thamana.

27 July 2022

The orphan elephants were happy to go out to browse as soon as they were done with their morning milk and supplement feed today.

After browsing for more than four hours, Ngilai started a game with his love-interest Tagwa, before trying to climb on her back.

At the usual time the orphans made their way to the noon milk feeding area and then down to the baobab tree water hole. They didn’t swim as it was slightly colder today. Embu and Pika Pika, the two famous water babies, attempted a mud bath but quickly retreated upon realising that the water was very cold. Mbegu rolled on the ground and invited Lemeki to come and join her but before she could, Rorogoi dashed over and started playing with Mbegu instead. Ndotto seemed quite jealous of their game and started his own, lying a few meters from them and making a point of enjoying his own solo rolling game. Murit invited Emoli for tough head-on sparring match and later went to invite Tamiyoi for the same, before joining their friends leaving for the usual browsing activities for the rest of the day.

28 July 2022

While the other orphans patiently waited in their night stockades for their milk bottles to be prepared, Lemeki and Thamana made a big show of pusing on the gates. When it was time, they came bolting out and eagerly gulped down their bottles. Ndotto and Mudanda enjoyed an early wrestling game to warm up, while Murit and Lasayen both enjoyed scratching at the same time on the favourite rock. 

In a dramatic encounter, Sagala found out that Juni was being guarded by Mbegu and Tagwa, who wouldn’t let anyone else escort her this morning. Sagala was pushed away, so she went to Pika Pika instead. Luckily, she succeeding in wooing Pika Pika away from Arruba, and they settled together for some lucerne pellets.

The orphans then left the stockades to browse. They settled along the rocky side of Msinga Hill. Lasayen went up hill in search of green foliage, with Embu and Rorogoi manoeuvring their way to follow him.

Later we watched as Ndotto chased Thamana in an attempt to climb on his back, perhaps to assert his authority and let Thamana know his place. Mudanda intervened, however, blocking and diverting Ndotto for an alternative sparring game with her instead. 

After the afternoon mud bath, Arruba and Pika Pika spent quite some time attempting to uproot a tree stump they had both begun by scratching against. When the going got tough, they invited Lasayen to assist them, who came forth trying to pull it up with the help of his front feet, but without success, so the three orphans abandoned their mission and moved on to other browsing areas. 

29 July 2022

The elephant orphans were excited as usual for their morning milk feed, and they later proceeded to the pellet and lucerne grass feeding area. Arruba browsed on some acacia branches in her usual spot close to the electric fence alongside Pika Pika, and Rorogoi came to join them too. Mudanda kept her adopted baby Thamana and her good friend Godoma together whilst they fed on lucerne. Ndotto tried to lure Arruba into a wrestling game, but she ignored him, so Ndotto walked off looking a little dejected. Lasayen was being very affectionate with Sagala and the two seemed in a tight embrace, holding each other’s trunks and hugging one another. Sagala then approached Pika Pika and hugged her too, as they walked to share some lucerne together.

After browsing for the morning, the orphans went for their milk feed in the afternoon and then proceeded to the water trough for a drink of water. The weather was chilly once more, so they decided not to bother going for a mud wallow. The orphans decided to hang around the baobab tree area just relaxing for a while, before leaving for their usual browsing bush walks for the rest of the afternoon. 

30 July 2022

Mudanda was being over-protective of her adopted baby Thamana this morning, bullying anyone who came close to her. Only Godoma and Emoli, who were simply engaged in their own sparring games nearby, escaped her ire. Elsewhere, Mbegu, Sagala and Tagwa were jointly looking after Juni, as the trio always enjoy spending their time with the little girl, and they don’t mind doing this together. 

After the orphans were done with the supplement feed, they left the compound for the bush. Tamiyoi, Lemeki and Emoli led the way out along the slopes of the rocky Msinga Hill while Mbegu, Sagala, Tagwa walked slowly behind the rest of the herd, forming a protective shield around Juni.

The orphans spent their morning browsing and slowly making their way towards the baobab tree water hole where they had their bottles and a fresh drink of water. The Keepers decided to accompany the orphans back to the stockade compound early this afternoon to provide them with some additional supplements of lucerne grass before they went to bed for the night. 

31 July 2022

The sun shone brightly this morning as the orphans played around the stockade compound and enjoyed some supplement food provided by the Keepers. Thamana was with his favourite girls, Mudanda and Godoma, while little Juni was in the company of Mbegu, Tagwa, and Sagala, as usual. Ndotto was rolling around on the ground with his friend Arruba just outside the main stockade. When they thought it was time, Lemeki, Tamiyoi, and Emoli led the herd out to browse. Suswa remained behind for a little while, making sure she collected up as much lucerne as she could before leaving to join her friends. 

Arruba and Pika Pika decided to browse uphill on the slopes while the rest of the herd browsed on the acacia shrubs at the base of the hill. Later in the afternoon, the orphans went for their milk feed as usual, before going to drink some fresh water and interact with a wild elephant family next to the baobab tree water trough. 

As the time to head home for the night drew close, Mudanda opted to give her adopted baby Thamana some sparring classes. Nearby, Godoma lay down to relax while Lemeki stood guard over her. The orphans soon sensed it was time to head home and Godoma immediately got up, excited for her evening milk bottle and to return home for the night.