After intensive treatment and care from the Keepers for two months, Chapeyu — our most recent Voi rescue — has made a good recovery from the spear wound on the lower joint of his left foreleg.
Chapeyu does not yet walk out with the herd. Although he is making a good recovery, he is not strong enough to wander a long distance, and we don’t want to rush things. Instead, we make sure that he walks around his enclosure, as movement is good for healing. In the evenings, Juni, Ashanti, Baraka, and Manda, who sleep in the neighbouring stockade, often stretch their trunks through to greet him.
This month, Chapeyu even welcomed some visitors into his stockade — our friendly trio Tamiyoi, Lemeki, and Thamana. He wasn’t sure about having other elephants in his space, but the orphans took his skittishness in stride and were unfazed. He is getting to know his new family.
It has taken a long time, but Chapeyu has also learned to trust his Keepers. However, this trust does not extend to all humans. If he sees anyone who is not wearing a dust coat, he mock-charges at them.
Our new girls — Sholumai, Mushuru, and Sileita — are settling in well. Sholumai and Mushuru had almost no adjustment period, while Sileita took a bit longer to warm up to her new home. But now all three seem perfectly at ease. Rokka is trying her best to adopt one of the trio, but they are always together, making her task very difficult!
After an absence of more than two weeks, Mbegu, Godoma, Murit, Tagwa, and Ndotto visited our dependent herd. Matriarch Mbegu immediately noticed new arrivals Sholumai, Sileita, and Mushuru. After welcoming the new girls with trumpets and trunk touches, she walked over to spend time with adopted babies Busara and Rokka, while Godoma stood close to Baraka and Tagwa trunk-hugged Juni. Our babies were very happy to see their big sisters after such a long spell away.
Mbegu’s reappearance brought out some jealous feelings in Busara. She was very protective of Mbegu, not allowing the new arrivals from the Nursery to come close to her. She would only allow Rokka to greet her big sister! Sileita protested, trumpeting loudly because she was determined to greet Mbegu. As usual, Baraka was very happy to see Godoma. She leaned against her, showing off her big sister to the newbies.
Itinyi is our well-known water baby — but everyone knows that wallowing is more fun with friends. One chilly afternoon, he lay down close to the stockades’ mud wallow, thinking about climbing into the cold water. He stretched out his trunk to touch Losoito’s legs in a bid to persuade her to get into the water first. When Losoito avoided his advances and walked away, Itinyi decided against a morning mud bath.
There is always plenty of food for everyone, but that doesn’t stop the orphans from being quite greedy. One day, Juni grabbed a big bunch of lucerne and held it tight with her trunk rather than sharing it with Ashanti, who was standing close to her. Only when Ashanti moved away did Juni put down her stash.
Another day, Sholumai, Sileita, and Mushuru — who are sharing a stockade — ran down the path in the early morning for their milk feed, followed by Rokka, Baraka, and Losoito. Losoito erupted into lots of loud trumpets, warning the three newbies not to touch her bottle. Somehow, despite her stout little legs, she overtook them on the path and arrived first for milk!
On 10th June, we were treated to a visit from Emoli. He arrived at the stockades in the company of Mbegu, Tagwa, Godoma, Ngilai, Ndotto, and Murit. We had not seen Emoli for over two months and welcomed him back to his old family. Some of us believe that, when Mbegu went wild, she encouraged Lasayen to visit the stockades — and with this visit, she has now done the same for Emoli.
Emoli looked very well, but he was a bit standoffish and did not want to play sparring games with the babies. It was as if he felt he had graduated from their juvenile games — never mind that he was the prime instigator of them just a few months earlier! Thamana, his former best friend, was happy to see him and kept touching Emoli’s mouth with his trunk. Lemeki also greeted him.
Mbegu and co. continued to be regular visitors throughout the month. One morning, she, Godoma, and Tagwa arrived with a teenage wild bull. Newbies Sholumai, Mushuru, and Sileita were very cautious, staying away from the wild elephants with their long tusks and watching from a distance. Mbegu introduced her new friend by leading him into the midst of our dependent orphans.
Lemeki is shaping up to be a wonderful nanny, but she is still mischievous at heart! One afternoon, the orphans plunged into the pool for their usual mud bath — but Lemeki had another plan. She decided instead to jump into the water trough, interrupting Thamana, who was enjoying a peaceful drink. We ushered her out immediately — but not before the cheeky girl had made the clean water muddy!
As our older girls continue to explore their wild lives, we have had a reshuffling in designated nannies. In the absence of Godoma and Mbegu, Juni has become closer to Baraka, and Ushindi has taken on Busara. However, it is Tamiyoi who holds ultimate authority as the new matriarch of the dependent herd. One morning, to Juni’s great disappointment, Tamiyoi pulled rank and shepherded Busara away so they could browse together.
Ngilai, who is famous for his crushes, has a new love. We saw this unfold one morning, when Mbegu, Tagwa, and Godoma visited the stockades. Ngilai — the only boy — was tagging along. He seems to have separated himself from Ndotto, Murit, and Emoli so that he can court Godoma. He was following along behind her and trunk-touching her at every chance.
The month ended with a kidnapping. As the herd was walking back to the stockades, Manda started trumpeting and running around. He shot straight into a herd of wild elephants, led by a very fiery matriarch we have become familiar with. We quickly drove towards the herd, calling to Manda, but it was too late to retrieve him — the herd had taken Manda to an area of thick bush, where we could not follow.
We will continue our search, but in the meantime, we feel confident that Manda is in good care. This matriarch has decades of experience and will look after him.