Although it was a month of happy antics and daily mischief among the orphans, July was marred by two heartbreaking losses for our Nursery family.
On the morning of 5th July, Raha, our very special little rhino, started exhibiting symptoms that looked like colic. We immediately consulted our veterinary team, who took bloods and determined that she actually had a bacterial infection.
We managed to stabilise Raha and felt tentative hope by the following day. She had her evening milk as usual but collapsed shortly thereafter and never woke up. Very sadly, the little rhino died peacefully in her stable during the night. Raha was a great favourite among all of us — we will miss our stubborn, squeaking, blanketed bundle of joy. Read our tribute to Raha.
Unfortunately, the heartbreak continued — just four days later, we had to say goodbye to Tali. The young bull had been struggling after he was knocked over in the bulls' rowdy play several weeks ago. After a cautiously promising recovery, his condition took a downward turn. It was at this point that we felt it necessary to put Tali through the stress of an X-ray and were confronted with the very worst news: His distal femur was broken close to the hip, with bone override that made recovery highly unlikely and operating impossible. What must have initially been a hairline crack had turned into a serious break.
In all the months Tali had spent on his own prior to his rescue, and the very compromised condition he arrived in, it now seems likely that his bones were weakened. The attending vets advised that it would be kindest to ease his passage — which was an extremely difficult reality to face. Tali passed peacefully, leaving all of us totally bereft. Read our tribute to Tali.
These losses hit us hard, but we can take some comfort in the fact that Raha and Tali's chapters with us were happy ones. Taking cues from the elephants, we must 'turn the page' and focus on the living.
After Sileita graduated last month, Kerrio took on the role of mini matriarch of the Nursery herd. Our chief nanny has several helpers, namely Mzinga and Nyambeni. These two budding mini matriarchs are great friends and have spent almost all of their lives together. Whenever a new rescue arrives at the Nursery, we know that Nyambeni and Mzinga will be first to approach them and take them under their wing, whatever the age and gender.
Mzinga and Nyambeni are equally caring, but they take different approaches to nannying — almost like a good cop, bad cop routine. Mzinga has an enormous heart, just like Kerrio, and will remain with a newbie for as long as it takes for them to settle in. Nyambeni will always protect newbies from any strangers or perceived threats, but she doesn't stick to them like glue the way Mzinga does.
Our newest little girl is settling in beautifully to her new family and is never without a nanny. Mini matriarch Kerrio is found next to her often, but Weka, Mzinga, Nyambeni, and Muridjo also take it in turns to look after the little one. In the past, Muridjo was not particularly maternal, but her character is changing and she is often found caring for either Wamata or the newbie.
With so many capable nannies, we sometimes see a nurturing domino effect — everyone has their favourite and is fiercely loyal to them! Inevitably, Wamata is jealous of the new girl, who has usurped her position as baby of the herd. She behaves well when with the older girls but not so well if she is on her own with the baby. One afternoon, Wamata ran at the newbie on two occasions. When it happened at the mud bath, Nyambeni intervened to drive away Wamata and protect the baby, whereupon Latika ran at Nyambeni to chase her away and protect her beloved Wamata, whereupon Kerrio got involved to stand up for Nyambeni and restore calm.
We often find that our orphans become good friends with their neighbours. Olomunyak and Wamata sleep in neighbouring stables and are in constant communication, trunk touching and even lying down next to each other, one on either side of the partition so they are almost touching. Talek and Pardamat sleep in neighbouring stockades and are best friends, especially after dark. They often extend their trunks through the gaps in their shared partition — either in greeting or to pinch each other's lucerne!
It used to be Taroha who liked to greet Maxwell the rhino on his way out to the woods in the morning, but recently, Olomunyak has taken on that responsibility. One morning, he stood at Max's gate for ages. The rhino stood quite still while the young bull rumbled and draped his trunk over his head. Olomunyak didn't want to leave Max and ignored Muridjo's attempts to move him on up the path. We had to intervene and shepherd him out to join the herd!
Latika remains extremely devoted to Wamata and is possibly the only female in the herd who shows little interest in the new girl — she is loyal to Wamata and Wamata only. Since our herd has shrunk following two recent graduations, we are now able to send the Nursery elephants down for feeds in one group rather than dividing them by age. Latika much prefers this new arrangement, as she is no longer separated from her little girl. She sees a minute without Wamata as a minute wasted!
One morning in the forest, Talek and Pardamat began playing the pushing game. The two friends pushed and twirled apart and pushed together again for some time before the game became serious and escalated into a fight. As Pardamat is stronger than Talek, he managed to knock her over. As soon as she trumpeted, Kerrio ran to her rescue. The mini matriarch disciplined Pardamat with a strong shove, sending him running for cover whilst she trunk touched Talek.
As a general rule, baby elephants are obsessed with milk — but not Kerrio and Shujaa! Whilst the sight of Keepers holding bottles sends the rest of the herd into a full-tilt sprint, these two wander down the path, often heading away from the Keepers, meandering around for a time, and only strolling over for their bottles when they have exhausted all other detours. One afternoon, Shujaa picked up a stick along the way and twirled it in his mouth before dropping it and walking to his patient Keeper.
Kamili continues her 'take no prisoners' approach to life. One afternoon, she decided that Pardamat was misbehaving and gave him a shove that nearly toppled him over. He probably was, but his misbehaviour was not apparent to the Keepers. We separated the two orphans, knowing that stubborn Kamili might continue disciplining the younger bull.
However, Kamili is extremely loyal and protective of her family. Another day, as the herd was heading back to the forest from the mud bath in a long line, they came across a troop of baboons blocking their way. The baboons were playing on the ground and picking up seeds that had fallen from trees. Kamili, Shujaa, Latika, and Pardamat dealt with the situation in seconds, charging in unison and trumpeting loudly whilst the baboons hopped up into nearby trees.
Weka is noisy, active, and always in a rush. Our mischievous girl loves trumpeting loudly and doing everything at speed. Whereas many of the others amble out of their stockades in the mornings, Weka powers her way out. One morning, she charged out, trumpeting as she jogged excitedly around the stockades. She and Shujaa have become great mates, whiling away the days engaged in energetic sparring matches.
Taroha is proving himself to be our 'gentle uncle.' He may be a bull, but he also takes excellent care of the babies. One morning, Taroha padded out of his room and down the path to welcome Wamata and the new girl as they emerged from their stables. He touched both in greeting and escorted them up the path, making sure that feisty bulls Pardamat and Shujaa kept their distance.
By contrast, Shujaa is really asserting himself now that he is the Nursery's big boy. Even though the other boys are younger and haven't challenged his role, he continues to be confrontational. This is all part of growing up and is a sign that Shujaa is ready to graduate from the Nursery and enjoy the bigger horizons of our reintegration units.
On that note — translocation training began for Weka and Shujaa this month. Our feisty girl is four years old and our dominant bull is three, and both are ready to embark upon the next stage of their lives back to the wild. Weka is enjoying being fed in the truck, ambling up the ramp and into her compartment, partly because she receives extra treats of pellets and sugar cane. Shujaa, however, remains suspicious. He walks extremely slowly up the ramp, sometimes reversing back down and then up again, clearly not at ease inside the truck. He gulps his milk and a few pellets before scooting back to the stockades. Once at a safe distance from the truck, he waits for his friend rather than heading out to join the herd in the forest!
Maxwell, our resident blind black rhino, is well. During the cooler months, he often has a lie-in under the covered area of his enclosure, emerging only when the day becomes warmer. When he eventually lumbers out for breakfast of sugar cane, pellets, and lucerne, he often has many visitors. Oxpecker birds perch on his back whilst warthogs, baboons, and monkeys share his snacks. The warthogs are his most frequent visitors. On hot days, Max cools off in his small wallow in the afternoon, lying in the mud with several small pigs paddling around him. When he climbs out for a drink of water, they follow, standing underneath him to rub themselves against his scratchy belly and legs.