Ngilai is relishing his senior status as a newly independent bull. When the ex-orphans arrived at the feeding trough on the first morning of July, feisty Itinyi challenged Emoli to a sparring match. Not to be outdone by a young upstart, Ngilai pushed Itinyi aside and took his place against Emoli. Itinyi found himself a new opponent in Thamana, sparring close to the two big boys.
Itinyi's antics didn't stop there. The playful youngster decided to mount Ashanti, but Ngilai quickly came to her defence and pushed him off. His final trick was clambering on top of Mushuru while she was enjoying a soil bath with Sileita and Sholumai. The three girls promptly stood up and moved away, with Ngilai watching on with warning eyes.
Itinyi has developed quite the crush on Ashanti! After their morning milk feed, Ashanti and Mushuru lay down together on the mound of dry soil, rolling around playfully. Itinyi, ever the hopeful suitor, searched for his favourite girl Ashanti and climbed on her back.
Matriarch Mbegu continues her journey towards full independence, though the younger dependent orphans aren't quite ready to let their big sister go. Whenever she visits, her adopted babies cluster around her. One morning, Busara and Dabida flanked Mbegu on either side, almost leaning against their beloved big sister. Busara even offered her back to Mbegu for trunk touching and hugging, while Dabida contentedly scratched her neck on Mbegu's bottom.
Mbegu and her group may spend nights outside the stockades now, but they still link up with the dependent herd most mornings. Mbegu usually stays close to Busara, Godoma pairs off with Baraka, and Tagwa remains near Juni. The three younger girls may be similar in age, but their personalities couldn't be more different: plump Busara is wonderfully easy-going, while Baraka tends towards shyness and Juni is more reserved.
Our February rescue, Chapeyu, remains happily ensconced in his stockade. We have started encouraging him to venture out, but the seven-year-old is proving reluctant to leave his Voi paradise. Adjusting to his new family is always more challenging for older rescues like Chapeyu than for younger orphans, but he is now fully at ease. When he feels ready, he will leave his stockade of his own accord, but we do not want to rush him.
Losoito is adorably devoted to her 'big sister,' Lemeki. When Epiya wandered over to stand beside Lemeki, little Losoito became visibly jealous and uncomfortable, rumbling in protest. Lemeki extended her trunk to touch Losoito affectionately, reassuring her that Epiya posed no threat. Placated by this gesture, Losoito settled down and the three orphans browsed peacefully together.
The afternoon milk feeds continue to provide endless entertainment. The orphans are organised into feeding groups of four or five to add an element of order, but some level of chaos always ensues! Rokka delights in racing past the others, sprinting ahead of Losoito to reach the milk line first. Seeing this as an injustice, stout Losoito trumpeted in protest. When Rokka ran particularly fast one day, overtaking everyone, both Baraka and Losoito trumpeted loudly to make sure she stayed away from their precious milk bottles.
Our boisterous young bulls are learning to sort their issues out amongst themselves. When Thamana began playing rough with Kilulu, pinching his bottom with his tusks, clever Kilulu picked up a small stick and raised it above his head — a clear warning to Thamana to play fair.
Sholumai is earning quite the reputation as a notorious milk thief! After quickly finishing her own bottle one afternoon, she attempted to grab Rokka's half-full bottle. Good-natured Rokka simply walked away, leaving her milk behind. Fortunately, the Keepers intervened before Sholumai could claim her prize, returning the bottle to Rokka so she could finish at her own pace. The pattern repeated in the afternoon, with Mushuru, Sholumai, and Sileita leading the first group to the feeding area while Busara and Rokka walked cautiously behind, wary that Sholumai might try to steal their bottles.
Ex-orphans Ndotto and Murit have become regular morning visitors, bringing a gentle energy to breakfast time. One morning, good friends Mushuru and Sileita were standing together with trunks entwined when Ndotto ambled over. Rather than moving away, they accepted his greeting warmly. Ndotto and Sileita held each other's trunks across Mushuru as she stood between them, and the gentle bull rested his trunk along Mushuru's back.
On 23rd July, we came across a two-year-old female elephant on her own. She had a spear wound on her left leg and was hobbling with great difficulty. The SWT/KWS Tsavo Mobile Vet Unit immediately mobilised to the scene. Because she was young, injured, and alone, she would struggle to survive in the wild, so KWS called for a rescue. We brought her to the Voi stockades, where she was shown into a stockade near the other orphans. We named her Serenget.
Serenget slept well that first night, clearly relieved to be in safe hands. Her new neighbours — Rokka, Sileita, Sholumai, Mushuru, and Busara — welcomed the little girl with friendly trunk touches through the gaps in their stockades before their early morning milk feed.
The following day brought a wonderful surprise: Not only did Mbegu, Ndotto, Ngilai, Godoma, Tagwa, and Murit visit the stockades, but Naipoki and Rorogoi appeared as well. Naipoki's return was particularly exciting, as she was last seen with Mweya's herd in December. We were thrilled to see that she is heavily pregnant and likely to have her baby soon!
With Mbegu increasingly living wild, Tamiyoi has stepped into the role of matriarch for the dependent herd. As the oldest female, she has naturally assumed Mbegu's former responsibilities. One day, she seemed to miss her old friends who have recently gone wild, wandering away from the group to spend time with them before returning to the dependent herd.
Lemeki is proving herself to be a matriarch-in-the-making. Our big girl now has two adopted babies — Rokka and Losoito. She is often seen with both in tow, touching them regularly between mouthfuls of greens while the two younger girls happily share her attention.
One afternoon, Tamiyoi demonstrated her growing confidence by leading the herd to greet a group of wild elephants with young calves at the baobab tree waterhole. The wild elephants allowed Tamiyoi to approach their babies and touch them with her trunk, while Ushindi engaged in a sparring match with another wild elephant.
However, this interaction made Sileita very nervous. Seeing the older and much larger elephants, she trumpeted loudly and repeatedly, probably worried that her friends Mushuru and Sholumai could be kidnapped by the wild herd. After falling silent for a moment, she trumpeted again as she ran towards the Keepers. Responding to the alarm in her voice, the rest of the herd followed her away from the wild elephants. Having only graduated to Voi at the end of May alongside Mushuru and Sholumai, Sileita is still naturally wary of wild elephants.
Later in the month, we tried sending Thamana into Chapeyu's stockade to persuade him out, but without success. Chapeyu stood stubbornly in the corner of his room and made his stance very clear: He is not ready to go out! His neighbours, Kilulu and Hildana, continue their evening ritual of extending trunks in greeting to their new friend.
By month's end, we were pleased with Serenget's progress. The veterinary team treated the spear wound on her left front leg again, and it is showing promising signs of healing.
We haven't seen Manda since he disappeared with a wild herd last month. As a strong young bull, we're not concerned about him — the wild herd he joined has likely wandered far from the stockades in search of fresh green browse.
As for our ex-orphans, neither Kenia's nor Edie's herds have visited this month. This is typical for this time of year when ex-orphans wander further afield searching for green browse. In contrast, Mbegu's herd — having only recently returned to the wild — continued to be frequent and welcome visitors.