After a hyrax gave Choka the fright of his life last month, we hoped we were done with the hyrax drama. However, the little creatures once again made their presence known. On the first of the month, a tree hyrax skittered past Kerrio, who greeted him with polite curiosity. However, Naleku wasn’t about to let him pass under her radar. She began to flap her ears and rumble, which sent Esoit, Kinyei, and Roho running over. Everyone banded together to run after the little guy, who quickly made himself scarce. It was such a big fuss over such a small creature!
Every morning, Neshashi has made it a habit to run straight over to the translocation lorry to enjoy some leftover Lucerne pellets as the other orphans are starting their day. No matter how many times the Keepers have tried to divert her attention or get her to follow the herd she will always sneak past them, so they have now just kept one Keeper behind with her. After a couple of minutes, she will peacefully walk out to the forest with her Keeper.
This morning, during the orphans 9 o’clock milk feed, the Keepers took them down to the mud bath. As the orphans had all finished their bottles of milk, they settled down to browse on some of the nearby bushes and shrubs. As they were all peacefully munching away, suddenly a tree hyrax ran across the mud bath, this gave them a huge fright.
The hyrax first walked past Kerrio, who wasn’t too bothered and tried to smell the little creature. Naleku came over and she alerted the rest of herd as she began to flap her ears and rumble at the hyrax. Esoit, Kinyei and Roho came running over to see what was going on and when they spotted the hyrax, they all ran after the little guy, but he quickly disappeared in the long grass.
All the excitement continued in the forest, when Esoit began to chase after all the resident warthogs. Once all the warthogs had disappeared, the orphans settled back down to browse.
This morning, Esoit spent his morning with one of the Nursery’s newest members, Sileita. As soon as he came out of his stockade, he walked straight over to her door and waited patiently for the Keepers to open her gate. When her door was finally opened, the two shared a nice moment of greeting each other, before heading off to find the rest of the Nursery herd. Although Esoit can be very boisterous, he is still so gentle with the newer rescues, checking in on them and spending time with them.
Sileita has settled in really well and she also seems to have picked up on some of the naughty ways of the Nursery orphans. This afternoon, as the orphans were heading back to the forest after their midday milk bottles, Sileita was part of the first group and was meant to be heading back to the forest, but she sneakily did a U-turn and ran back to the mud bath with the older group of orphans. She hid behind Olorien, Suguroi, Esoit and Kindani. When she was back down at the mud bath, she even managed to sneak one of the extra bottles of milk before the Keepers realised she had run back down. Instead of disturbing her, they just let her enjoy her second time at the mud bath.
Olorien continues to be very hot and cold with the Nursery herd. This afternoon, as the orphans were enjoying their 3 o’clock bottles of milk, she started to pick on Sagateisa. Every time Sagateisa would try to enjoy her milk bottle, Olorien would charge after her. Eventually the Keepers sent her to the naughty corner where she remained until the orphans ran back to the forest.
Last night, Naleku and Kinyei were both full of energy rumbling and walking around their stockades. The orphans had had a wonderful day in the forest, so the Keepers wondered if they had leftover energy from the day. They would keep checking on their neighbours, trying to steal their greens and get their attention but eventually all the orphans fell asleep, and the two girls didn’t have anyone to interact with. With no one to tease, the two girls settled to browse and then fell asleep for the night.
Kindani continues to be very settled in her stockade between Bondeni and Kinyei and the Keepers have not had to settler her down once since she moved. In the evenings, she happily walks into her stockade and then quickly settles down once her friends are near her. Last night she was a bit distracted by Kinyei but as Bondeni was relaxed, she too settled and then took no notice of Kinyei.
During the orphans’ midday mud and dust bath, Bondeni kept trying to entice Esoit to join him in his games but Esoit was not interested today. Esoit was more interested in joining Oldepe on the dust mound. As soon as the big bull lay down on the mud bath, Esoit ran over and started to playfully climb on his back and then slide down. Bondeni eventually joined them and the three had a wonderful time together before heading back to the forest for their afternoon browse.
Kerrio and Naleku continue to have such a close bond. This morning as all the orphans had settled out in the forest, Kerrio stayed behind with some of the others, namely Kamili, Taabu, Choka and Lorigon. Naleku and some of the older orphans kept walking further into the forest. As Naleku was now some distance away, Choka decided to take advantage of the situation and began bullying Kerrio but he took it too far when he head butted the little girl, knocking her over and Kerrio yelled out in protest. This alerted Naleku and the others and Naleku came charging over to discipline whoever had hurt her little friend. Fortunately for Choka he has already left the scene as the Keepers chased him away when they ran over to help Kerrio.
Neshashi continues to be so stubborn about heading back to the translocation lorry whenever she gets a chance and refuses to listen to her Keepers. This afternoon, as the herd was browsing, Neshahi snuck off with some of the others, Kinyei, Roho, and Bondeni back to the stockade compound. As they got to the stockade compound Kinyei, Roho and Bondeni were all confused as they suddenly realised it was not time for bed and the three quickly made their way back to the herd. Neshashi on the other hand walked straight to the lorry and ate some of the Lucerne pellets before being ushered back by her Keepers.
Naleku was in such a great mood this morning as the orphans started their day, she came bouncing out of her stockade in excitement, trumpeting and rumbling. Sadly for her, none of the Nursery herd followed her as they were all too busy greeting each other and as a result she came charging back to the stockade. Suddenly a baboon troop appeared and they started running and jumping on all the stockade roofs and this caught Naleku’s attention who was now chasing after them. Eventually after several minutes, she and the Keepers managed to chase off all the baboons. Once she had settled down she ran back to the herd to look for her little girl Kerrio.
This morning, Taabu was being very naughty, constantly bothering Latika and pushing her around. The Keepers told him off but he was being stubborn and kept trying again. Eventually, Esoit came charging over and pushed Taabu away from her and drove him further into the forest and then Oldepe had to step in to stop Esoit from chasing after Taabu. Once Oldepe had separated the two bulls, the whole herd calmed down and started browsing once more.
The orphans had another exciting start to their day, with Bondeni and Esoit chasing after each other from the minute their stockade doors were opened. During their 9 o’clock feed, the orphans were led down to the mud bath but Esoit, Bondeni and Olorien were all being so naughty that they were sent to the naughty corner whilst the rest of the herd finished their milk bottles. As they were in the naughty corner, Esoit started a strength testing match with Bondeni, trying to prove his strength to his friend. This caught Olorien’s attention, and she came running over to join their game. Bondeni seemed to quickly get bored and he left Olorien and Esoit to engage each other.
The Nursery herd was once again disturbed by a troop of baboons who kept shouting and yelling around them. This saw Oldepe, Naleku, Roho, Bondeni and Kindani chasing after them as they wanted to chase them far away from the Nursery herd. They were soon joined by Esoit, and they were having the best time bush bashing and chasing after the baboons. Eventually the baboons grew tired of being chased and they disappeared into the forest. Once the baboons had disappeared the orphans settled back down to browse.
Lorigon continues to be hot and cold with his Keepers. When he is amongst the rest of the Nursery orphans, he is always calm and happy, and interacts with both his friends and Keepers. However, when the herd starts to disperse, the little guy will isolate himself and he then will grow weary of his Keepers, almost as if the change of environment makes him nervous and he then runs away. The Keepers have learnt that they need to approach him slowly and without causing too much fuss.
Naleku was in a bad mood today as she kept picking on some of the younger orphans, especially Mukutan and Choka. Every time the two boys would come near her, she would grumpily rumble at them and push them aside, the two boys eventually kept their distance as they didn’t want to keep being told off. At one point, Naleku even seemed to notice that she was being unnecessary so she distanced herself from the Nursery herd and would only spend time with Kerrio.
Sileita is quite a jumpy, shy elephant and she will often get scared by the smallest of things. This morning, as the orphans were running down for their milk bottles, she was in the first group, and she suddenly got a fright and then refused to run down. The Keepers were so surprised to see her running off and one of them started to walk after her. Sileita seemed to quickly realise that she was in fact running in the opposite direction to her milk bottle and she quickly did another 180, running straight past the Keeper and down to the mud bath.
Once done with their milk bottles, Sileita, Lorigon and Latika all settled to browse on some of the greens around the mud bath. Mukutan on the other hand, was being so noisy, trumpeting and yelling at his Keepers for more milk. The Keepers had such a hard time ushering him away as he would try to steal milk from Taabu, Kerrio, Choka and the milk wheelbarrow. Eventually one of the Keepers ushered him to the naughty corner but this made him yell out in huge protest. Kerrio grew tired of his noisy ways, so she then began to chase after him which caused such a scene at the mud bath as they charged around and around disturbing the rest of the Nursery herd. It was only when the orphans were making their way back to the forest that they both settled down.
It was another early morning start for the orphans as they were all awake and ready to set off around 6am. As the Keepers were getting all the orphans ready to head out to the forest, they were struggling to keep Kinyei with the others as she kept trying to sneak past them to steal some of the greens from her neighbour’s stockades. Every time the Keepers were ready to set off, they kept seeing her sneaking round the corner. Eventually they managed to usher her along with Ziwadi, who was finishing up her drink of water at one of the water troughs.
As the orphans were now settling down in the forest, Esoit and Bondeni were busy chasing each other around, bush bashing and wrestling one another. Their game continued for some time, before they were abruptly intervened by Roho who wanted to challenge Esoit. Roho and Esoit’s game, however, did not last long because Esoit quickly lost interest in challenging someone who was so much bigger than him as he wouldn’t stand a chance.
Later in the afternoon, Esoit challenged Olorien to a wrestling match and the two were having a wonderful time pushing each other around the forest. Oldepe appears to have taken on Maktao’s role of being the gentle uncle. Every time the orphans are wrestling each other or pushing each other around the forest, he will come over to check on them and make sure they are not being too rough. This afternoon, he stood watch over Esoit and Olorien.
Kamili continues to be such a gentle and quiet girl, much like Ziwadi. She is probably the most well behaved in the Nursery as she is always so cooperative with her Keepers and other orphans. Today, however, the Keepers saw a completely different side to her as she kept trying to bully Sileita. Sileita is the newest member of the Nursery herd so she is still getting used to the orphans in the Nursery herd and she was very unhappy with Kamili’s behaviour. The Keepers quickly stepped in ushering Kamili away and comforting Sileita.
It was quite warm during the orphans’ midday milk feed and as a result some of the orphans were braving the mud bath. Olorien, Naleku, Esoit and Bondeni were right in the middle of the mud bath, rolling around and climbing on each other’s backs and then sliding back into the muddy water. Ziwadi was even stood on the side of the mud bath, splashing mud all over the place and hitting her body in certain places. They all had such a wonderful time before heading back to the forest.
Once back in the forest, Kerrio began to chase after the baboons that were foraging on the ground. Her little trumpets and rumbles could be heard as she excitedly ran around them. She was soon joined by her nannies, Kindani, Olorien and Naleku who all helped her chase the baboons far away. Once the baboons were gone, they all settled to browse together.
This morning, after Roho, Neshashi and Oldepe finished their training on the translocation lorry, they all ran over to Maxwell’s top gate to greet the large rhino who was standing by for any visitors as the orphans were heading out. Max was very happy to greet the trio and he stood there happily interacting with them. After some minutes, Roho and Oldepe noticed that there were some spilt Lucerne pellets on the ground, and they began to pick at them. This really upset Max who now began to knock at his gate to scare them away, but the two bulls took no interest and kept reaching for his pellets. Neshashi headed off but the boys kept bothering Max until the Keepers ushered them off to the forest.
Lately, the resident warthogs have been joining the orphans down at the mud bath, either foraging or rolling around in the mud. Today, they joined the orphans midway through their midday milk feed and the orphans were still all busy browsing around on the fresh greens. Sadly, they didn’t enjoy much of a peaceful moment as Esoit quickly spotted them and then began to chase after them. The warthogs quickly ran off today, disappearing into the long grass. Once they had run off, Esoit settled back down.
This morning, as all the orphans were all starting their days and coming out of their stockades, Bondeni was charging around and not paying any attention to his Keepers or their instructions. At one point he even ran straight into Rama’s stockade, and the Keepers were worried he would try to push the gentle bull around but to their surprise he did the complete opposite. When he waled into Rama’s stockade, he greeted the bull gently by nuzzling his trunk and rumbling at him.
Elephants are so intelligent and have such a unique way of communicating with each other, one which we do not have full understanding of and which we continue to learn so much about each day. Bondeni and all the Nursery orphans appear to know that Rama is in so much pain, and when Bondeni was greeting him, he tried to nuzzle Rama’s legs to show him comfort and care but being so sensitive Rama did not like this and rumbled loudly. Naleku and Kinyei then came running over to see if he was okay, but Rama did not want much company anymore and walked off to his own corner where he started to browse. Naleku, Kinyei and Bondeni all realised that he wanted to be left on his own, so they led the Nursery herd deeper into the forest leaving him in peace.
Olorien was in such a great mood this morning as the orphans were waking up. As the Keepers opened her stable gate, she came charging out of her stockade and ran over to greet the rest of the Nursery herd. She joined Mukutan and Kamili who were enjoying some of the greens at the back of the stockade compound and then came barrelling round to see who else was up and about. She charged over to greet Naleku, Kindani who were already doting upon Kerrio and then walked over to the boys Taabu and Choka, before following Mukutan and Kamili out to the forest.
Ziwadi, Latika and Kamili have been spending some time together recently, browsing near one another and keeping each other company. The three girls are all so gentle and rarely get involved in all the commotion and excitement with the other orphans. Latika and Kamili are, however, slightly more milk greedy than Ziwadi who is still as obsessed as ever with her greens. It is wonderful to see the Latika and Kamili spending so much time with Ziwadi as they have all become so close.
Maxwell had a very busy morning today, chasing off some baboons who had snuck into his stockade to steal some of his Lucerne pellets. In the early hours of the morning, Max was up and about enjoying his acacia brunches and walking back and forth to his bottom stockade gate to greet some of the orphans that were coming over to his gate. The likes of Bondeni, Taabu, Choka, Esoit, and Tingai all came over to greet him. It was a rare sighting to see Tingai over there greeting the large rhino because this is not something he has ever done before and as a result he didn’t spend much time there with Max and the others.
After the orphans headed off to the forest, Max’s top gate was opened for him to go an enjoy his Lucerne pellets that had been freshly laid out by his Keepers. Max quickly realised that he was not alone, as he could hear the baboons running around on the top of his walls. He immediately huffed and puffed and started kicking his back feet throwing dust everywhere. He would charge after any of the baboons on the ground and they would quickly flee the scene. Eventually, one of the Keepers saw the baboons disturbing Max and he came over to assist him, chasing them far into the forest.
This afternoon, Lorigon, Ziwadi, and Sagateisa were being very anti-social and kept their distance from the rest of the herd for most of the afternoon. The Keepers were happy to leave them be and not constantly usher them back to the herd. They were all so involved with their browsing that they didn’t even notice the herd getting ready to run back to the stockade compound for the evening.
Ziwadi was in a very sweet mood this morning, wandering around the stockade compound and greeting all the younger Nursery orphans. She then went about her morning routine of drinking from the water troughs and then following the herd out to the forest. This morning, she was accompanied by Mukutan who was peacefully walking beside her. Once he’s had his milk, he can be very quiet! Once they got to the forest, they greeted Rama who was browsing to the side and then continued on their way to catch up with the rest of the Nursery herd.
Rama continues to have very swollen back legs and he seems to be in more and more pain as he is grumbling more often throughout the day. He continues to stay close by to the stockade compound and won’t walk long distances and remains in the company of his Keepers and when the Nursery herd walk past, they always come over to greet him. When the herd, comes back after their 3 o’clock bottles of milk, they will spend the rest of the afternoon with him before heading back to the stockade compound for the evening.
It was another chilly day in Nairobi as we continue to experience our winter months. As a result, the Keepers are letting the orphans out of their stockades and stables slightly later, waiting for the day to warm up slightly. This morning, the orphans were being led out to the forest by Kindani, who has pretty much been Naleku’s right hand in looking after Nursery herd. All the orphans happily followed her, with none of them rushing past her or charging off to play; even the boys Esoit, Bondeni and Roho, weren’t interested in playing. Suguroi remained with Olorien, her special friend.
Once the orphans were out in the forest, they started to disperse in their own little groups to browse. Mukutan went off with Tingai, Choka, and Kamili, and they were all peacefully browsing near one another, while Ziwadi kept Sagateisa company and showed her some of the best browse. Sagateisa continues to gain condition, and the Keepers are always happy to see her browsing with the avid green eaters such as Ziwadi.
With it being so cold, the orphans had a very quiet day browsing and breaking for their milk feeds.
Neshahi continues with her morning routine of dashing off to the translocation lorry to have her morning fill of Lucerne pellets before heading off to the forest. Once in the forest, she tries to sneak off with some of the orphans. Today, she tried to sneak off with Oldepe, Roho and Lodo. Lodo is one of our quieter members of the Nursery herd, but he does enjoy spending time with the older orphans, such as Neshashi and Oldepe. Today, he was happy to follow Neshashi as she led them a bit further into the forest away from the Nursery herd. The Keepers kept a close eye on them, making sure she didn’t lead them too far away.
Naleku spent quite a lot of time with Latika, Choka, Taabu, Lorigon, and Kamili today, browsing and wandering around the forest with them. She would continuously check on Kerrio, but she was quite happy to keep them company and lead them to some of the nicer browsing spots within the forest. She would even let them share some of her branches that were fresh from the top of the bushes. Latika, who has the shortest trunk in the Nursery herd, does not struggle with her browsing but she does enjoy getting some assistance from the older orphans such as Naleku.
Mukutan continues to be the greediest and noisiest member of the Nursery herd. Lately, he has been so unsatisfied by his one bottle of milk, and he is continuously yelling at the Keepers for another bottle of milk. He will even disturb all the other members of the Nursery herd, trying to steal their bottles and get that extra sip of milk. The Keepers often have to feed him last so he doesn’t disturb the others too much but then they have to guard the milk wheelbarrow so he doesn’t grab another bottle. Once all the milk is finished, he does settle down as he realises he can’t get any more milk.
There were a couple of rays of sunshine today, which warmed up the day a little bit and the orphans all seemed much happier about this. Rama hasn’t been enjoying the colder weather, as it seems to make his legs a bit more sensitive and painful when he is walking around. The Keepers continue to walk with him slowly, and they let him choose his own pace as he heads out for the day. This morning, he was kept company by Lodo, Latika, and Choka. Lodo was standing close to him, keeping him warm and browsing alongside him, while Latika and Choka were happily following them both around. Later in the morning, the three were led back to the Nursery herd so they could go for their milk bottles as Rama’s bottle was brought to him.
Smaller orphans such as Choka enjoy feeding on the greens that the bigger orphans drop as they cannot always reach as high up in the bushes to get the freshest branches. Rama was dropping quite a number of branches which he and Latika were picking up and enjoying. They will also feed on the longer grass as it easier for them to get to and they are learning the skills of how to pull the grass with their trunk and then cut it with their feet. All these are such important skills for the orphans to learn so they can survive in the wild.
This morning, Kerrio and Naleku were happily leading the orphans out to the forest as they have done in the past. Naleku loves to spend time with Kerrio and she is always so pleased when the little girl is ready to lead with her. Once in the forest, they settled in one of the orphans’ favourite areas to browse as there are so many green shrubs and plenty of long grass.
Olorien was in one of her moods again today, and she had no time to entertain any of the younger orphans apart from Kerrio. No matter her mood she will always be peaceful around Kerrio and comfort her as they browse together. She can even be a little too protective over her as whenever any of the other orphans such as Lodo try to approach her she rumbles at them and chases them away. The bulls such as Choka, Lodo, Taabu and others know to keep their distance from Olorien when she is like this because she pushes them around. The Keepers will often also keep the orphans away from her when she is like this as they don’t want her upsetting them.
Suguroi, like Olorien, is another feisty girl who can have her towering moods. She really doesn’t suffer fools gladly and if any of the orphans overstep the mark, she is quick to let them know. While she is not the most nurturing female, she is young yet, so that quality may develop. Everyone knows to watch out when they see her ears flared — which is a daily occurrence!
It was a calm morning, and not as cold as other days as there was some sunshine peeping its way through the clouds. Roho was the first out of his stockade so he started to make his way out to the forest, and this caused the other orphans to follow him and not spend much time in the stockade compound. Roho led the herd deep into the forest when he finally settled to browse.
As the orphans were finally stopping to browse, Bondeni and Esoit started chasing each other around the forest, bush bashing and trumpeting. This caused excitement amongst some of the other orphans, such as Taabu, Choka, Oldepe, Kindani, Kinyei and Oldepe who also started charging around and trumpeting in excitement. Naleku and Olorien remained calm and stuck by little Kerrio who was excitedly watching them charge around and occasionally trumpeting at them. Kamili and Latika were enjoying rolling around on one of the dust mounds, happily covering themselves in dust.
Roho in the meantime was just focusing on his browsing, chewing on the branches around him and munching away. He was soon joined by Neshashi and Oldepe who also had no interest in running around. The three quietly browsed as they were waiting for their next training in the translocation lorry.
We lost dear Rama today as his condition continued to worsen and he was in increasingly more pain. The orphans all spent some time with him this morning. It is as though they all knew it was time, and so too did Rama. He was such a special boy and will be dearly missed by all the Nursery herd and Keepers.
The orphans had a quiet morning before it was time for them to head off for their 9 o’clock milk bottles. As the Keepers were gathering the orphans to run down for their bottles, they noticed that Ziwadi wasn’t with them. Two of the Keepers went off to look for her and they found her happily browsing not too far from the rest of Nursery herd. Her head was so buried in the bush that she didn’t even notice that the rest of the herd had walked so when the Keepers called her she realised it was time for them to have their milk and happily followed them.
It was a beautifully warm afternoon as the orphans ran down to the mud bath for their 3 o’clock milk bottles. Once they downed their milk bottles most of the herd, apart from Ziwadi, Naleku, and Bondeni, ran straight into the mud bath and started to roll and splash around. Bondeni was too busy keeping the impala and warthogs at bay. The warthogs were waiting to mud bath, whereas the impala were just passing through as they grazed. Bondeni gave them no peace, so they all quickly disappeared back into the park.
The orphans only had a short mud bath before getting out. As soon as they were out, Roho and Oldepe started charging through the bushes, chasing each other and trumpeting in excitement. Kindani was busy on the dust mound scratching about and covering her entire body in dust. Kerrio once out the mud bath was not as playful so she just stood by and watched as the other orphans were dust bathing and charging around.
Ziwadi was full of energy this morning as the orphans arrived in the forest. As soon as the Nursery herd settled in the forest to browse, she walked over to one of the dust mounds and began to spray dust on herself and around her. She was having the best time dust bathing as the rest of the herd were already settled browsing. She was eventually joined by Neshashi and Lodo who also enjoyed a short dust bath with her. Once they were all finished they went back to their browsing.
Later in the day, it was Roho, Naleku and Kinyei who all enjoyed a dust bath. They were all happy rolling around and play mounting on each other. Roho was the most playful out of the three, play mounting on Naleku and Kinyei and the two girls were happily rolling around near each other. Although Roho is not as playful as he used to be he does sometimes have his hyper moments again. Once they were done dust bathing, Naleku and Kinyei returned to Kerrio’s side once more and accompanied the young girl to a new browsing area.
As the orphans were running down for their 3 o’clock milk bottles, the race was on between Kamili and Mukutan to get to their milk bottles first. Although quiet, Kamili is very fast when it comes to running down for her milk and she quickly caught up with Mukutan, overtaking him. This caused Mukutan to yell out in protest and he began to trumpet and rumble trying to catch up with her. Unfortunately for him, today was not his lucky day as Kamili beat him to the milk feeding point.
After their early morning training, Roho, Oldepe and Neshashi once again rushed over to Maxwell’s top gate to steal some more spilt pellets. This morning, however, Max was not up and about, as he was still all tucked away in his bedroom, so they were free to eat as many pellets as they could grab before the Keepers ushered them away. Most mornings, the whole Nursery herd will stop at Max’s leftover pellets which are left in the forest for other animals to enjoy before heading off.
Ziwadi was in a bit of a quiet mood this morning, and after the orphans had finished their 9 o’clock bottles of milk, she started to wander off on her own. She hasn’t wandered off for quite some time now, so the Keepers kept a close eye on her, making sure she didn’t go too far away. Bondeni, Lodo, Suguroi, Kinyei, Kindani, Naleku and Kamili all spent the morning together browsing not too far from Ziwadi and slowly following her from afar.
After the orphans downed their 3 o’clock bottles of milk down at the mud bath, Kerrio wandered over to the dust mound and started to roll around, enjoying a dust bath under the watchful eyes of Kinyei and Naleku. The two older girls didn’t partake in the dust bath, but they stood over the small girl making sure nobody else disturbed her.
This evening as the orphans were headed back to the stockade compound, it was not Neshashi that charged off to the translocation lorry for pellets but rather Oldepe. He snuck past all his Keepers and refused to go into his stockade until he had had several trunk fills of pellets and then he dashed into his room for the evening.
This morning, the Keepers were ushering the Nursery herd down to the mud bath for their 9 o’clock bottles of milk. As the orphans were getting ready to run down, Neshashi once again charged off back to the stockade compound to go onto the lorry. She is so stubborn about running back to the lorry for Lucerne pellets and her milk and the Keepers have such a hard time stopping her as she dashes through all the bushes to sneak past them.
Tingai and Kinyei continue to be close friends, although Tingai is still a very shy boy. He will rarely engage the other bulls in any wrestling matches, but perhaps this is because the other boys are a bit rougher and broad and he is still growing. He will spend time with the bulls but when they start charging around, he will often come and spend times with orphans such as Kinyei and others.
It was a very cold day today, so none of the orphans enjoyed a mud bath after their midday bottles of milk. Instead, Kerrio was bothering Taabu, pulling at his tail and shoving him. Taabu eventually grew tired of her antics and walked all the way to the other side of the mud bath which is when Kerrio went to dust bath. Bondeni was causing his usual mischief of charging around and playfully trying to sneak under the rope or even pull at it. Tingai and Choka on the other hand were just peacefully browsing near Latika and Kamili. Once they were all done at the mud bath, the orphans were led back to the forest for the remainder of the day.
Latika is a bit of a quiet girl too and much like Ziwadi, she also enjoys wandering off on her own doing her own thing. This morning after the orphans finished their 9 o’clock bottles of milk, she wandered off further into the forest. She didn’t disappear, so the Keepers let her enjoy her browse quietly before she would return to the herd on her own accord. She is a very observant little elephant, and the Keepers are confident that she will become more involved in the Nursery herd’s antics as she gets older.
As the orphans were settling down in the forest once more, the two old boy buffalos came waltzing past the herd. Although not scared of the orphans, these big boys do not particularly enjoy the company of elephants so they quickly moved on, walking further into the park. Oldepe, Roho, Neshashi, Naleku and Lodo all wanted to follow the buffalos, but the Keepers quickly stopped them, as the buffalo would not have appreciated being disturbed. Sagateisa, Kamili, and Ziwadi took absolutely no interest in the buffalos, as they were all too busy browsing on the fresh greens. They didn’t even seem to notice Neshashi and the others protesting to the Keepers when they weren’t allowed to run after the buffalo.
Once the buffalo disappeared, the orphans had a quiet day in the forest.
As the orphans were lining up to run down for their 9 o’clock bottles of milk, they were joined by the resident warthogs who were all foraging nearby. The warthogs will often hang out with the orphans throughout the day, either down at the mud bath or in the forest and today they wanted to escort them for their morning milk bottles. All the orphans apart from Naleku and Kerrio were happy to have the warthogs accompany them. Naleku and Kerrio on the other hand kept charging after them and trying to chase them away.
Later in the morning, when the orphans were getting ready to run for their midday bottles of milk, the warthogs were still accompanying them. As the first group was let down, some of the warthogs ran with them and this upset Kerrio who was trying to run down as well as chase after them. Unfortunately, this morning, the warthogs managed to outwit the little girl as they kept ducking and diving through the bushes, evading her every move.
After the first group of orphans finished their time down at the mud bath, they started to make their way back to the forest and once again they were followed by the warthogs but now Kerrio had some assistance in chasing them. Taabu and Choka joined forces with Kerrio and were running after the warthogs all over the place. The three were having the best time but the warthogs were always that little bit too fast and they managed to escape.
We lost dear Lorigon this morning. For the last couple of days, Lorigon's health seemed to have taken a turn for the worst and he began collapsing, a condition which is all too common in severely emaciated rescues. Despite the Keepers best efforts, they were not able to get him back on his feet and he went peacefully in the early hours of this morning.
As the orphans were arriving in the forest, Naleku, Roho, and Olorien all enjoyed a playful moment together. They were running after each other and bush bashing as they would try to catch one another. As they were dashing around, Roho then suddenly changed the game when he kept trying to climb on Naleku and Olorien’s backs. The two girls were not fond of this new game and they both quickly turned on him rumbling and flapping their ears at him. Roho quickly realised that the game was now over, and he walked off to join the boys Oldepe, Lodo, and Tingai that were browsing nearby.
Later in the morning, Roho challenged Bondeni to a wrestling match and they were having the best time chasing and pushing each other around the forest. These two bulls seem to be quite evenly matched as neither of them want to back down or quit their game. After several minutes, Oldepe came over to join them and he too wanted to play but both Roho and Bondeni seemed apprehensive as Oldepe is bigger in size than both. Oldepe is also a very good wrestler so Roho and Bondeni know that they are no match for him, and they will often back down very quickly. Once their games ended, they all returned to their browsing activities.
More and more these days, the bigger boys, Roho, Oldepe, Bondeni, Esoit, Tingai, Lodo, Taabu and Choka will engage each other in a wrestling match, evidently not all competing against each other as some of the bulls are far too big and strong to challenge the smaller bulls. This morning, Roho and Bondeni were the first to start off the games as they immediately challenged each other when they got to the forest.
As soon as their game started, Tingai and Lodo began engaging each other. These two boys are very evenly matched, so their games continue for quite some time. Next to challenge one another was Taabu and Choka, who are also evenly sized, and they were having the best time chasing after each other in between the bigger bulls and then challenging one another near the bigger boys.
Oldepe tried to get involved but he was being quite rough with the other bulls and pushing them aside as opposed to engaging them. The Keepers wandered if perhaps he doesn’t realise his own strength and as a result, he is far too rough with his opponents. He first tried with Roho and then Tingai who both tried to wrestle him but then grew scared and their games were ended. The bulls then returned to their browsing activities.
Sileita continues to be the shyest member of the Nursery herd. She will keep herself all safely tucked away between the rest of the Nursery orphans whilst in the forest and even when down at the mud bath. Despite being so shy, she has been making lots of friends amongst the herd and she is closest with Sagateisa, Kamili, Taabu, and Choka. Although Taabu does try to playfully chase her sometimes, most of the time they are all very nice to her. If he is too naughty, Sagateisa will step in to protect her.
Latika has a unique style of browsing. She will go down on her front legs and then position herself comfortably to start pulling at the long grass and perhaps pick up some of the fallen branches from the other orphans. As she has a short trunk all these methods will help her to browse efficiently, and she will continue to master the skills as she gets older.
Recently, Maxwell has been enjoying the company of the resident warthogs and has not been so grumpy with them. Most days he will allow them to share his Lucerne pellets with him and when he has had his fill he will go and lie down and leave them in peace munching away. Sometimes he will chase them away but lately that has been less frequent.
Much like humans, the orphans will have their good and bad days and you never know what kind of mood they are going to be in when they wake up. This morning, Neshashi seemed to have woken up in a very bad mood and as the orphans were settling down in the forest, she did not want any of them near her. She kept chasing Taabu, Choka, Tingai and Lodo whenever they would walk past her, so the boys kept their distance for the whole day.
Olorien, on the other hand, was in a good mood today and when the orphans settled back in the forest after their midday bottles of milk, she even engaged Roho in a wrestling match. It was very rare to see these two playing as Olorien is not the most playful of the orphans and will often keep to herself, but they were having the best time. Their game continued for quite some time before they both settled back down to browse.