The Kibwezi Forest was brimming with wild elephants this month. Our rangers even came across fresh evidence of a baby being born within the forest, which was incredibly exciting. Our social butterfly, Lima Lima, was particularly delighted by the presence of these wild visitors. Upon hearing the trumpeting of a nearby herd, she would dash off to see if they had any babies to play with. She optimistically trots alongside the wild herds, hoping they will permit her to nanny their little ones.
May was a month of mixed emotions. For the older girls in the Umani herd, losing Luggard was extremely painful, especially for Murera and Lima Lima who would sometimes visit the young bull’s stockade. This was particularly difficult for the Keepers to watch, but the arrival of Kiasa, Kiombo and Maktao, our new graduates from the Nairobi Nursery, has breathed new life into the Umani Herd.
Murera has already taken a keen liking to Kiasa, who is quite independent little girl, showing signs of being a great leader, qualities that were already apparent when she was at the Nairobi Nursery. Kiasa has already moved into the stockade with Murera, who dotes on the little girl. Lima Lima seems rather unsettled on which boy she would like to take under her wing, she adores both Kiombo and Maktao, who are both at present sharing a room, but will be separated into their own quarters once they get a bit oldr.
We have seen some changes in Lima Lima too recently. When it is time for the Umani herd to make their way back to the stockades in the afternoon, we find a few wild elephant herds waiting around for her. Despite the Keepers calling her back, Lima Lima leaves with the wild elephants and stays out all night, only returning in the morning in the company of the night-clubbers. It seems as though Lima Lima is starting to like the idea of exploring her independence a little more.
Kiasa continues to show signs of her very strong and independent nature. At the Nairobi Nursery she used to like to lead the other little orphans, but there is no one younger than her here, so instead she gives both Sonje and Murera the run around. Kiasa is simply excited to explore her new surroundings and everything the forest has to offer, but the two matriarchs have a hard time trying to keep up with her, and are often seen running behind Kiasa, trying to keep up Kiasa’s fast pace!
Zongoloni is another elephant who has her eye on Kiasa. She can see how a strong character like Kiasa would be a great addition to her night-clubber herd, but the older girls of the Umani herd are very aware of Zongoloni’s intentions. So, they stay very close to Kiasa, monitoring Zongoloni’s every move and in case Zongoloni gets too close to Kiasa, both Sonje and Murera chase her away.
Mwashoti isn’t very happy at the moment. The Keepers feel he might be a bit jealous of the growing bond between Murera and Kiasa. However grown up he may think he is, the Keepers feel he still thinks of himself as Murera’s little boy. At the moment when he sees Murera and Kiasa together, he will either run towards them trying to separate them, or give Kiasa a bit of a chase.
After the noon bottles, Maktao and Kiombo were the first in the mud bath, wallowing and showing off their bathing skills. These two boys had a wonderful time and watching them made the Keepers happy to see them settling in so well.
Lima Lima’s new found independence is teaching her a few lessons on how to handle the wild elephant bulls in the forest. She seems to be quite popular with the bulls that hang around in the Kibwezi Forest at the moment! Today we saw her in the company of a few very large older bulls. All seemed to be going well until some fierce fighting broke out amongst the male elephants, each vying for Lima Lima’s attention. The fighting got quite intense, scaring Lima Lima somewhat and sending her running towards the Keepers. She couldn’t get past the sparring bulls however, but the clever girl backed off and stayed out of sight until the fighting died down.
A little while later the Keepers ventured out to see if they could spot Lima Lima but she was nowhere to be seen. It seems she must have left with her wild friends. The next time we saw her was the next morning, in the company of Zongoloni and her boys when they joined the Umani herd for their lucerne feeding.
The Keepers checked on Lima Lima to make sure she was okay. It doesn’t seem like any mating is occurring, but it is clear the bulls are interested in Lima Lima, and Lima Lima is enjoying the company of the wild elephants she is meeting and the adventures that come with it too. The boys from the night-clubber herd stayed very close to Lima Lima and were rumbling at her, almost as though they were asking how she was finding life in the wild.
Our newcomers, Kiombo and Maktao, are getting along very well with all their new friends from the Umani herd. They are spending time with all the older females who it is clear to see love both of the new little bulls.
Kiasa was very quickly taken under Murera’s wing, and they now share the same stockade at night. Sonje and Lima Lima are torn between the two little bulls, but we have seen that Sonje tends to spend a bit more time with Maktao. Poor Mwashoti is finding this new arrangement a little difficult to accept and we have seen how he tries to block Sonje from getting close too close to Maktao. The girls understand perhaps that Mwashoti is feeling a little threatened with the new arrivals, but they also know that Mwashoti will settle down and accept them as he did when Luggard and Enkesha arrived.
Big sister Enkesha also keeps an eye on both Maktao and Kiombo. She knows how keen Zongoloni is about adding new babies to her night-clubber herd, so she makes sure to stay close to both Maktao and Kiombo when Zongoloni is nearby. Zongoloni is notorious for sneaking off with babies, as she has done in the past with Enkesha.
All the orphans exited their rooms this morning with loud trumpets and greetings to Zongoloni and her night-clubber herd who were patiently waiting outside the stockade gates for their friends. One of the Keepers was carrying a sack of lucerne on his back to put out pellets for the orphans, but Kiombo and Maktao couldn’t wait and started bothering the Keeper by pulling on the sack and the Keeper’s coat, hence slowing him down. Quanza saw what the cheeky duo were up to and walked up to them to put a stop to their naughty behaviour.
Ziwa and Faraja were sizing up each other getting ready for a pushing and strength testing game, when Jasiri decided he wanted in on the action as well. The three very big bulls started pushing and play fighting with each other and instead of it being a friendly tussle, the game escalated into a fight. Lima Lima, always the peacekeeper, stepped in and deftly put an end to the fight. The Keepers were impressed with Lima Lima’s leadership skills and we feel that that earned Lima Lima newfound respect from the night-clubber boys.
Kiasa, who is obviously new to the Umani herd and the night-clubber bulls like Alamaya, Ngasha, Faraja, Jasiri and Ziwa, was a bit taken aback when the bulls started fighting. She is not used to such big bulls and so ran off to find safety with her friends Kiombo, Maktao and Enkesha.
Mwashoti is having a hard time adjusting to the arrival of the three new babies from our Nairobi Nursery. He is still not on board with Sonje taking Maktao under her wing. Every chance he gets, he chases Maktao away from Sonje, trying to get some of Sonje’s attention for himself.
The Keepers feel it might be good for Mwashoti to join the night-clubbers for a bit, and perhaps being in the company of his male friends as well as some older wild bulls, it might help Mwashoti learn by example as to how bulls should behave. Right now, besides the two young bulls from the Nairobi Nursery, he is the only other male elephant in the Umani herd and he might benefit from the guidance of older male elephants.
Zongoloni hasn’t given up on Kiasa yet, and keeps a very close eye on the little girl, but Kiasa is very quick on her feet. She’s such a good navigator, and when she notices Zongoloni following her, she quickly changes her route and disappears off into the bush to reappear out of a different place, but by then Zongoloni has lost track of her and Kiasa carries on with her browsing.
As the sun was dipping on the horizon, the orphans slowly made their way home, stopping first at the Umani Springs for a quick drink. Here Lima Lima met up with some of the wild friends she has been staying out with. This is the first time the Keepers got to see the wild bulls up close. They were enticing Lima Lima to join them for their nightly adventures. The Keepers tried to coax Lima Lima to return with them and the others, but Lima Lima disappeared into the forest with her friends.
When Jasiri was younger and still a part of the milk dependent herd at Umani, he gained the reputation of being a gentle giant, but his character is changing slightly now. Since spending more time in the wild, he has picked up the unsavory habit of chasing some of the girls, and this behaviour doesn’t sit very well with the girls at Umani.
Now every time Murera sees Jasiri approaching, she will either go out of her way to avoid him or run as soon as she sees he is about to start chasing her. Jasiri doesn’t realize that he is still a juvenile and chasing after Murera is rather pointless still. Nevertheless, this doesn’t deter him from being a nuisance. All the running sometimes tires Murera out and the Keepers have to intervene and chase Jasiri away. Kiasa is not used to all this commotion, so whenever Jasiri is up to his tricks, she takes off and joins her friends Maktao and Kiombo.
The other night-clubber boys are being very gentle and protective of the Umani herd. Ngasha used to have the same habit of chasing girls, but these days he has turned over a new leaf. Ever since he sprained his leg, he is much calmer and the Umani girls enjoy the young bulls company more now.
Kiombo, Kiasa and Enkesha rushed for their milk bottle at the noon feed. Everyone knows we have another greedy little elephant who loves her milk just like Lima Lima – Kiasa! After finishing her own bottle Kiasa spotted a full bottle on the ground that was being kept for one of the other orphans. Enkesha spotted it at the same time and both girls ran over to the bottle and a tussle broke out between Enkesha and Kiasa. Kiasa gave up and walked off into the forest leaving all her friends behind. Zongoloni and Alamaya, worried that the little girl might get lost in the forest on her own, followed her, but Kiasa is a clever little girl. She dodged everyone and made her way back to the area where the herd had found some acacia pods in abundance yesterday, and when her Keeper found her, she was busy munching away quite contentedly.
At the mud bath, Kiombo and Alamaya put on a spectacular show of their swimming skills. Ziwa soon joined in and it warmed the Keepers hearts to see how gentle Ziwa was with Kiombo. They stood back with smiles on their faces and applauded the boys wallowing styles. Lima Lima, not wanting to be left out, decided to leave Sonje and Quanza and join the boys in their mud wallowing. Sonje and Quanza watched for a while but then signaled Enkesha and Maktao to join them at the water trough. Later the Umani herd moved towards the Chyulu Hills where they spent the rest of the afternoon foraging.
Today the Umani herd had a visitor, a juvenile bull. Lima Lima as always was the first to sense the wild bulls’ presence and ran to the Keepers to inform them of his arrival.
Both Kiombo and Maktao were fascinated when they first saw this wild bull and not understanding that this bull was not from the night-clubbers herd, Kiombo ran towards him, eager to interact, especially as he saw Murera also walking towards the wild bull as well. The Keepers had to stop Kiombo and call him towards them, which he did obediently. The Keepers don’t know this bull or his temperament, so they thought it best that Kiombo stay close to them. They called out to Murera, but their calls fell on deaf ears as Murera walked towards the bull with a very purposeful stride and after a while, both of them disappeared into the forest. Zongoloni heard the Keepers call and ventured closer to where Murera was with the bull and tried to convince her to return but Murera paid no heed to Zongoloni either. She was very happy with her new friend, so much so that we didn’t see her until it was time to go back to the stockades in the evening.
All the orphans were already inside the stockades compound when Murera arrived with her wild friend. He tried to stop her from entering the compound, and for a few minutes Murera seemed rather undecided as well but upon seeing her little girl Kiasa, Murera forgot all about her wild friend and rushed in to give the little girl trunk hugs. A few minutes later Faraja and Ziwa arrived and saw that the wild bull was still waiting outside the stockade compound for Murera, so they chased him away.
Enkesha was taking great care of Maktao today. Mwashoti still feels somewhat displaced by the three newcomers and unfortunately, for Maktao, he was on the receiving end of Mwashoti’s annoyance.
Kiombo, Maktao and Enkesha were browsing peacefully when Mwashoti decided he wanted to push Maktao. The young boy did not see this coming as he was so engrossed in pulling down some soft leaves to feed on, as he had just found a tasty acacia tree. Enkesha was nearby however and knows her friend Mwashoti all too well. Before Mwashoti could get close, Enkesha stood between both the bulls and chased Mwashoti away. Feeling a bit dejected, perhaps even disgruntled, the Keepers watched Mwashoti run off into the forest to browse by himself.
In the evening, when orphans returned to the stockades, they found some left over lucerne pellets from this morning. Jasiri and Faraja were also with the orphans and made a beeline for the lucerne feeding corner, pushing past the three new babies. They do not have nurturing qualities like that of Zongoloni and Ziwa, who luckily for the three little ones, stepped in and chased away the big boys, allowing Kiasa, Maktao and Kiombo to enjoy the left-over pellets. Kiasa continues to be Murera’s baby but whenever Zongoloni is with the Umani herd, she is always looking for ways to sneak off with Kiasa. The older girls in the Umani herd are wise to Zongoloni’s ways and always ensure that Kiasa has someone with her.
Today was quite an extraordinary day for Murera. In the early morning the night-clubbers arrived with a wild bull. Zongoloni, Faraja and Jasiri arrived flanked by this much older bull, but the Keepers are used to seeing them turn up with wild friends, so they thought this would be one of those days when the wild bull might stay with the Umani herd.
The orphans were busy having their lucerne pellets and so Murera decided to walk up to the gate to greet Zongoloni but as soon as she saw the wild bull, it was almost as though she recognized him. The bull walked right up to Murera and gave her trunk hugs, which Murera allowed with no hesitation or fear at all. The Keepers were quite taken aback as they have never seen Murera behave in this manner with any wild bull. The bull lowered his head as did Murera as though they were communicating with each other and then both of them turned around and left together, walking toward the forest. Zongoloni and Lima Lima, curious to see where they were going, followed Murera and her friend, but the bull didn’t want them to follow so he turned as if to chase them away and prevent them from following. Murera was gone all day and only returned to the stockades in the evening looking for her baby Kiasa, but minus her friend.
The Keepers didn’t believe this was any mating ritual either, but they eagerly await the day when one of their girls will be pregnant with a baby of their own; this would certainly be a very proud day for the Keepers!
After Murera’s adventure with the wild bull yesterday she decided to put all her focus onto the new babies today.
The night-clubbers arrived with another new young wild bull today, but it seemed as though he was only interested in the younger girls, like Lima Lima and Quanza. He showed no signs of wanting to mate with them, instead just browse along side them and engage in some occasional friendly pushing games.
When Enkesha and Kiombo saw this bull playing pushing games, they got a bit scared and ran off to keep their distance from the wild bull. Sonje and Quanza, who were looking after Kiasa, decided to go to where Enkesha and Kiombo were browsing, to reassure them it was safe to return to where the rest of the herd was and that the wild bull was no threat. The Keepers also kept an eye on the wild bull at all times, but he was a very gently and calm bull, happy to enjoy the company of the Umani orphans.
Later near the Umani Springs, they Keepers were watching the orphans as they browsed, when they heard the loud trumpeting of a wild herd passing by. Lima Lima got so excited at the prospect of finding some babies to play with, she ran towards the wild herd, but she was soon chased away when they realized that Lima Lima was only interested in stealing and playing with their young ones. Lima Lima returned to her Keepers and stayed close to them until was time to go home.
The morning started as usual with the orphans having their milk and enjoying their lucerne pellets. When it was time to head out to browse, it seemed as though Kiombo and Kiasa felt they were now experts of the forest and knew all the best browsing spots, so they started to walk ahead of the herd. Enkesha soon realized they were going in the wrong direction and tried to turn them around. Kiombo doesn’t quite consider Enkesha as an authoritative figure in the herd however so he didn’t listen to her. When Enkesha tried to urge the two youngsters to change course, a fight broke out between the three friends and escalated quite quickly with Kiombo refusing to turn around. Enkesha felt she had no choice but the push Kiombo a little hard so that he would listen, and the tactic worked. Kiombo settled down and the both Kiasa and Kiombo followed Enkesha back to where the rest of the herd were waiting for them.
With the help of the Keepers, Murera, Sonje and Zongoloni moved the orphans towards the Umani Hills, where they were delighted to find a variety of greens in abundance and soon settled into browsing until it was time to move again. The Keepers started to call out to all the babies, and on doing a quick check they realized Murera was missing. One of the Keepers walked back to where they had seen Murera last only to find her browsing away happily, unbothered, but surrounded by a large herd of buffaloes. The Keeper managed to coax the buffalo herd in a different direction allowing Murera to rejoin the rest of her friends.
After their noon bottles and mud bath, again Murera ventured out on her towards the Chyulu Hills. When it was time go home, Zongoloni and Jasiri knew exactly where to find her and guided her back to where the Keepers and orphans were waiting for her.
As the Keepers opened the stockade gates early in the morning they found Lima Lima already waiting there, after having spent the night out with a wild herd.
Lima Lima enjoys being part of a wild herd that has little babies as she absolutely adores them. Whenever there is a wild herd nearby, she will always walk alongside or just behind them, hoping they will welcome her into their herd and let her nanny their little ones. We are sure Lima Lima would love a baby of her own, and while the Keepers want nothing more for her, Lima Lima is not quite ready to be mated with just yet, and she will have to wait for some time, but Lima Lima remains the most popular orphan with wild herds and wild bulls alike.
Lima Lima missed her bottle this morning so at the noon milk feed she ran as fast as she could, so as not to miss out on another bottle.
The three newcomers are settling in well. Mwashoti had to be reprimanded today, when the Keepers caught him pulling Maktao’s tail. He was chased off to go and browse with Zongoloni and her herd, and in the end, Mwashoti ended up leaving with the night-clubbers and stayed away for two nights. When he returned, he was very calm and did not bother Maktao.
Maktao and Kiombo were very pleased with themselves this morning. They wanted to show the older orphans that they were no longer the newcomers of the herd and that they were old enough to make their own decisions.
They snuck into the pellet store, unseen by the Keepers, and between the two of them they stole a sack of pellets and dragged it outside the gate with the plan of carrying it with them when they went out to browse. Before they could get any further however, Lima Lima and Mwashoti put a stop to their shenanigans. Before Mwashoti could reprimand Maktao however both Sonje and Murera rushed over to calm down the situation. Mwashoti and Lima Lima thought this was their chance to make off with the pellets, but the Keepers quickly retrieved the contraband and returned it to the store, and then the two young boys were shown to the lucerne corner where they were left to enjoy some pellets in the right place!
Sonje and Faraja were in a very playful mood and decided to charge about in the bushes, kicking and pulling down small trees and shrubs, but after a while their game got a bit out of control when they tried to kick a tree with a troop of monkeys in it. The monkeys started yelling out in protest, and so Ngasha and Ziwa decided to intervene and put a stop to Sonje and Faraja’s games.
During all this commotion, Quanza got the opportunity to get close to and spend some quality with Kiasa. After awhile Zongoloni realized she could spend some time with Kiasa too, and she managed to sneak off with the little girl towards the Chyulu Hills. Luckily the Keepers were watching however, and trailed behind the two girls as they walked through the forest.
A number of wild elephants approached the Umani herd today accompanied by some wild bulls too. The wild bulls were seemingly interested in Murera, and Lima Lima only had eyes for any tiny babies in the herd. The Keepers tried to convince Murera to follow them and the other orphans but in the end they gave up and allowed Murera to wander off with the wild elephants and the big bulls among them. Enkesha with Zongoloni also walked behind them for a little while as they wanted to know and see where this wild herd was taking Murera, but they soon turned back. Then the Keepers saw Lima Lima trailing behind them in the forest too after spotting a tiny baby among the herd.
As the Keepers were following along behind, a herd of buffalo came along and blocked their path, so they lost the trail. Suddenly, out of nowhere, Alamaya appeared out of the bushes with Jasiri, and saved the Keepers from being surrounded by the buffalos. They charged and scared the buffalos away and the Keepers were very grateful to the young Alamaya who hasn’t done anything like that before.
We expected Mwashoti to join Zongoloni and her night-clubber herd of six, but after just a few days he came back to claim his room which was now being shared by Sonje and Kiombo. He arrived back demanding his room but Kiombo didn’t want to leave Sonje either, forcing us to allow them all to sleep in the same room! This seemed to calm everything down and make everyone happy and no one minded all sharing a room.
Zongoloni arrived with Jasiri, Ngasha and Faraja too. Ngasha was interacting with Lima Lima when Faraja came over which seemed to annoy Ngasha who was enjoying spending time with Lima Lima. Ngasha stopped Lima Lima from joining Faraja but this soon escalated into a fight. It seems even the night-clubber boys are starting to take an interest in our little Lima Lima! Alamaya had to go and break up the fight and stop them from potentially inuring one another.
Murera and Quanza lead the orphans towards the Chyulu Hills today in the search of more vegetation to browse on. Makato and Kiasa acted as if they knew where Murera and Quanza were leading them and ran in front to try and take their turn at leading. Murera and Quanza decided to give them that opportunity as it is one of the only ways they will learn the different ways through the forest, and they remained just behind them to assist if need be. It is important they learn the different paths as one day Murera with Sonje might leave to have their own families, and these young calves will have to learn the way to lead those that follow them in the Umani herd too!
The orphans met up with a big wild elephant herd which much to Lima Lima’s delight had a little baby in their midst. As Lima Lima loves babies she walked off and accompanied this herd for awhile, but when the herd didn’t let her close enough to play with the baby she returned to the Umani herd again to browse with them for the rest of the day.
A large number of antelopes came to the mud bath area today in search of mineral salts which the Keepers put out for the orphans and other wildlife to enjoy. A bush buck was enjoying some minerals when Mwashoti approached trumpeting and running around in a playful mood, which obviously scared the little antelope and she ran away.
Maktao, Kiombo with Enkesha all followed Mwashoti to the salt lick but Mwashoti wasn’t in a sharing mood and didn’t let them near to the salts. Instead he pushed Enkesha away, and when Kiombo and Maktao saw that they both ran away, leaving Mwashoti as he was evidently in a bad mood.
The Keepers walked with the orphans towards the Chyulu Hills which is where Zongoloni, Jasiri and Ziwa together with Alamaya wanted all the orphans to go. They were eagerly leading the herd that way because they knew they would find lots of nice areas to browse around there. Enkesha was easily convinced by Zongoloni and dutifully followed behind her good friend, which resulted in the whole herd following the night-clubbers for the day and not the Keepers. The Keepers had their work cut out for them by the afternoon when it was time to convince the orphans to return home again! As the orphans got closer to the stockade compound however they grew very excited about the prospect of their milk bottles, and ran into their stockades for the night.
We have noticed some conflict developing between the two old friends Jasiri and Faraja. Since joining the wild herds and becoming a little hot-headed, these two bulls sometimes get a little carried away with their pushing games these days which end up in fight. It then falls to their leader Zongoloni to settle these disputes, and in this regard she remains a very gifted leader. Zongoloni stands in between and waits for whoever next pushes the other, before dishing out the appropriate discipline by pushing hard using her left tusk. She is so forceful that the two bulls immediately give in and listen!
Today the two boys tried to go at it but Zongoloni was keeping a keen eye on them. Faraja knew not to try anything because he saw Zongoloni watching and he didn’t want to be reprimanded by her again today!
Lima Lima and Enkesha gave chase to some baboons who were heading towards waterhole today. Lima Lima saw them first and signaled to Enkesha that a fun game was afoot. They both gave chase, forcing the baboons to flee running and shouting and leaping up into the nearest available trees. This left Lima Lima and Enkesha feeling very triumphant and pleased with themselves. They celebrated their win by swinging their heads in happiness as they bounded back to rejoin the herd with full celebratory trumpeting.
After spending some days away at a time with the night-clubbers Mwashoti still returns to the stockades sometimes at random to check in on his old room that he used to share with Sonje. At first he took offence that Kiombo was sharing his room too and he was visibly upset by the new arrangement. Now he seems to have settled down a lot and he realises it was because of his bad behaviour that he was encouraged to spend more time with the night-clubbers in the first place! On the days he does return to the stockades he is happy to share his old stockade with both Sonje and Kiombo now, and doesn’t try to push Kiombo anymore.
Maktao is such a lovely and humble boy and a very peaceful neighbour to Enkesha. He never complains or rough houses with any of the other orphans and Enkesha loves spending time with him – she is an advocate of peace amongst all the orphans and hates any kind of conflict.
Murera seemed slightly nervous today. Most mornings the night-clubbers arrive at the stockade gates and wait for the Keepers to open them, then they join the dependent Umani orphans in the lucerne feeding corner. Nearly every day Murera goes up to the gate to greet them, but not today.
From the time she exited her room and had her milk, she kept looking towards the gate and the Keepers wondered if there was a wild bull nearby. They soon realized that Murera was looking to see if Jasiri was with the night-clubbers as he has been rather naughty recently and she is doing her best to avoid him. As the night-clubbers got stuck into the lucerne pellets, Murera snuck out unnoticed without her friends. She wanted to avoid any encounter with Jasiri, but unbeknownst to her, Jasiri had not arrived with the night-clubbers today. After Zongoloni and Lima Lima had had their fill of the lucerne, they rounded up the rest of the orphans and followed Murera out into the forest. Kiombo walked ahead of the older girls and was very happy when he caught up to where Murera was happily browsing.
At the midday feed today, Murera missed her milk bottles and her share was given to our other greedy little girl, Kiasa, who gulped down her own two bottles as well as Murera’s. Just before noon, Murera and Lima Lima came across a small wild elephant herd who had three little babies with them. Murera immersed herself in the wild herd and happily interacted with the little babies. When Mwashoti alerted everyone that it was time to go for their midday bottles, Murera was happy to stay back with the wild herd and their young. Lima Lima was with Murera and just as happy having little babies to play with, but nothing was going to stop her from getting her milk bottles today! Kiasa and Enkesha were already running towards the milk vehicle, but Lima Lima soon over took them. To date, it always amuses the Keepers how fast Lima Lima will run to get to her milk bottles, she’s simply unstoppable!
This morning what started of as a playful pushing game, soon turned into a fight to see who the strongest and most dominant male was. Ngasha claimed this victory for himself by defeating Faraja, and not one to be left out, Jasiri also challenged Faraja, defeating him. Faraja wasn’t too pleased and decided to take on both bulls at the same time, which wasn’t the best decision, because things got out of hand and Zongoloni had to intervene and put a stop to all the fighting. Sonje and Lima Lima also tried to separate the boys but gave up. Instead, they decided to gather their little babies, Kiombo, Maktao and Kiasa and move away to a safer distance. Murera had already made herself scarce as she does not like how boisterous the boys get when they start fighting.
Later when they orphans were browsing in the Kibwezi forest, they came across another wild herd today that had some small babies. Lima Lima and Murera as usual, were very delighted to have little babies to interact with. Murera once again missed her midday bottle, happy to stay with the wild females and their babies.
When it was time to go home, our confident girls, Kiasa and Enkesha decided to take the lead, and under the guidance of Quanza and Mwashoti, the two girls got the whole herd back home, safe and sound. As they approached the stockade gates, Sonje heard a rumble coming from Kiombo. She quickly rushed over to her baby to see if he was okay and it turned out that he just wanted a bit of attention from Sonje. Sonje dotes on Kiombo as though he were her own.
From the time Maktao was rescued, to his time at the Nairobi Nursery and now his graduation to the Umani re-integration unit, next to Luggard, he remains one of the sweetest, most humble and calm boys. Being the youngest bull in the Umani herd, there has been a tussle between Sonje and Lima Lima to see who his guardian might be, but it seems the girls have lost out to Enkesha and Quanza.
Maktao must have realized that with Lima Lima spending most of her time with wild female elephants and their babies or out at night with wild bulls, he would be better off under the guidance of Enkesha and Quanza who have now taken him under their wing. They are most attentive to this little boys every need and are eager to show and teach him all that they know; Enkesha, with her knowledge of where the best browse is, and Quanza, with her knowledge of all the best routes through the forest! They have formed quite the team.
Murera saw Jasiri arriving very early this morning and the big bull headed straight for the lucerne pellet corner to join the rest of the orphans.
Since Jasiri has been such a nuisance recently, chasing Murera and trying to mount her, the older girl decided it was best to avoid Jasiri, so instead of joining her friends, she decided to make a head start on her browsing. Murera knows that Jasiri is a growing bull and we are sure she remembers how she’s looked after him when he was little and that this is a phase all juvenile bulls go through. In the meantime, she prefers the peace and quite of her own company until Jasiri settles. Murera still loves all her boys dearly.
The nightclubbers were browsing with the Umani orphans after their midday bottle feed, but after a few minutes Faraja signaled to his friends Zongoloni and Alamaya. The Keepers watched as three put their heads low as though they were in a meeting; after that Faraja walked away, leaving Zongoloni and Alamaya. We saw Faraja walk into the forest, but after a few minutes we heard Faraja blow a very loud trumpet in an urgent kind of way. Sonje and her trusty herd rushed to see what was troubling their friend. They found that Faraja had encountered a large herd of buffaloes who were blocking his way. Between Sonje, Faraja and their friends, they managed to chase the buffaloes away, clearing the path for Faraja to carry on with his own adventures. The buffaloes must have realized they were out numbered and outsized by the nightclubbers and Umani herd.
Lima Lima is quite the character. After spending a night out with her wild friends, she was at the stockade compound gates at the crack of dawn today, hoping the Keepers would indulge her with an early morning milk bottle. The Keepers know that Lima Lima gets sufficient feed while she is out browsing in the forest at the moment though, and they are starting to wean her of her milk bottles.
Lima Lima’s loss was Maktao’s gain, the sweet little bull was treated to three bottles of milk today, two of his own and one spare When Lima Lima realized no milk bottle was coming her way, she decided to rebel slightly by sneaking into the hay store, stealing a bale of hay and dragging it out of the stockade compound. She thought that she could enjoy the hay all by herself, but not a chance, especially when Ziwa is nearby. Lima Lima was happy to share her hay with Ziwa, but when Ziwa saw that Ngasha wanted his share too, he chased the other bull away, despite Ngasha’s hard efforts. In the end Ngasha decided to leave the two elephants to enjoy their hay and instead joined the rest of the orphans at the lucerne feeding area.
Lima Lima has the greatest desire to build a large herd, that would consist of wild babies as well as babies from the Umani herd.
Whenever she comes across a wild herd that has small babies, Lima Lima is overjoyed and cannot wait to play with them and look after them. She gets quite carried away and often forgets about her babies in the Umani herd. This has worked out quite well though for both Quanza and Enkesha, as both these girls have stepped up and filled the position that Lima Lima used to have as Maktao’s caregiver. Enkesha and Quanza both take great pride in looking out for this sweet, calm and humble boy, and they work very well as a team, both having skills that benefit each other and Maktao too. Kiombo is now permanently planted next to Sonje, who absolutely dotes on the young bull. Both are seen together most days, and Sonje is very protective over Kiombo. Lima Lima is still deciding about where she likes to spend her time – with the wild herds or the Umani orphans. It does help that she still enjoys her milk bottles very much, so she likes returning for those! The Keepers are confident that Lima Lima will find her place, she just loves small babies so much!
Little Kiasa is Murera’s favourite. This confident little girl loves Murera but she also can run circles around her guardian. She also instinctively knows when not to, like whenever the older boys like Jasiri, Faraja and Ngasha are around and being a nuisance. She trumpets at them very loudly to deter them from chasing Murera, but being a little girl, the older boys tend to ignore her. That is when Ziwa will come along and chase away the naughty boys. Ziwa remains Murera’s favourite boy from the nightclubbers herd at the moment.
After the mud bath today, both Murera and Kiasa were enjoying dusting themselves at the soil mound. Both girls were so engrossed in rolling around in the soil, that they didn’t realize that Ngasha had walked up to them too. Since Ngasha can be a bit of a nuisance, Murera decided to move away with Kiasa to avoid any trouble. Quanza was already at the soil mound with Maktao too, and they decided to stay there. Ngasha proceeded to dust himself, but luckily, he didn’t bother anyone today. After a while Quanza also decided to move to where the pellets were, along with Maktao, just in case Ngasha got into one of his boisterous moods.
Zongoloni and Alamaya were seen with their heads bent low and Zongoloni seemed to be communicating with Alamaya. After a few minutes we saw Alamaya walking off but shortly later we heard very loud trumpets coming from the forest. The Keepers rushed to get a closer look and the sight that met them made them laugh with joy. There was Alamaya, tail up in the air, ears flapping, trunk up, running around the forest chasing butterflies! All the orphans also watched on and after a while Murera, Kiombo, Sonje and little Maktao decided to join in the fun. There they were, these five orphans running around, charging through the bushes, blowing trumpets and chasing butterflies. Then poor Alamaya got his feet tangled in some vines and he toppled over, which also marked the end of the fun and games.
Hot and tired with all the running and chasing, the orphans stopped at the water trough to cool off and quench their thirst.
The bond between Sonje and her little boy Kiombo continues to grow and deepen. You will never see these two too far from each other. If Kiombo wants to go somewhere or do something, for example, move to a new browsing spot, he will first consult with Sonje and Sonje will always oblige. Sonje is also very protective of Kiombo. When the nightclubber boys arrive and start their boisterous games, sometimes they can get carried away and push one of the other orphans without realizing it. Sonje is always sure to keep an eye on such situations; if she sees any of the boys start their games, she quickly moves Kiombo away from the roguish boys to a safer place. Alamaya made the mistake today of pushing Kiombo out of the way while the younger bull was at the water trough. Sonje turned on Alamaya blowing a very loud trumpet and reprimanding him.
Zongoloni walked over to where Maktao was browsing with Enkesha and Quanza. Enkesha and Maktao always enjoy Zongoloni’s company because she will always show them where the best browse is, but the Keepers also know to keep an eye on her, because on more than one occasion Zongoloni has tried to sneak off with the younger babies. The Keepers had to follow her to retrieve the two young boys and return them to the Umani herd. Zongoloni also knows not to try any more of these tactics, if she wants to continue spending time with her friends.
At the waterhole, the nightclubbers invited the three new babies to join them. Kiasa and Kiombo waded in and joined the older orphans, whilst Maktao decided to stick to the shallower waters. In all the splashing around and games, poor Maktao got squashed by one of the older orphans, and let out a very loud trumpet. Sonje jumped into action to save the little boy, but Maktao was fine because as soon as he trumpeted everyone in the water dispersed and he went back to enjoying his wallowing games.
This morning as the orphans came out of their stockades, the older girls quickly made their way to rooms of the younger babies to check in with them and enquire how their night had been. After all the pleasantries had been exchanged, everyone made their way to the lucerne pellet feeding area.
The nightclubbers had already arrived and were waiting by the gate for their friends. In the meantime, one of the Keepers was wheeling out his wheelbarrow to dump old hay, but unknown to him, a wild elephant bull was in the bushes. No one had noticed this wild bull, except for our ever-alert Lima Lima, who blew a trumpet at the Keeper. As soon as the Keepers saw the wild bull, he dropped his wheelbarrow and retreated to the compound, as he wasn’t sure if this was a friendly wild bull or not. The orphans were very curious of the wild bull and ventured out to greet him. After a few minutes, the wild bull left, and the orphans carried on with their day.
At midday all the orphans made their way to the mud bath and found the water truck that delivers fresh water to their water trough. Murera led the herd towards the truck and all the orphans took turns drinking water straight from the water pump that was pumping water into the water trough.
Once all the orphans had finished their midday bottles, the older girls led them in to the Chyulu Hills where everyone got busy foraging, snapping off branches and enjoying acacia pods. Their peace was disturbed when a solo bushbuck came bounding out of its hideout and ran through the orphans, startling them and sending them running off in different directions. Lima Lima, Quanza and Mwashoti went to investigate the bushbuck’s hideout and found other bushbucks there, and chased them off by stomping their feet and trumpeting at them loudly. The poor bushbucks were startled and ran off leaving the orphans to browse in peace.
The morning started off rather cold and gloomy. None of the orphans were in a playful mood, so they all left the stockade compound as soon as they were done with their milk and lucerne feed.
Kiasa decided to lead the orphans towards the Umani Springs. There were two crocodiles, resting on the banks of Springs, and Alamaya and Quanza decided to be brave and walk towards where the crocodiles were to have a drink of water. Sonje rumbled at them, and at once both Alamaya and Quanza turned back. Maybe she was warning them not to take a chance with the crocodiles.
Ngasha approached Lima Lima wanting to play with her but pushed her away when she got closer. Not one to miss an opportunity, Faraja stepped in and enticed Lima Lima to join him in a private browsing session. Both elephants left together and browsed far away from the rest of the herd. After a while Maktao and Enkesha went looking for their friends and found them happily browsing. Later, all four elephants returned to rejoin their friends.