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.
After the morning milk and supplements feed, the orphaned elephants played on the mound of dry soil. Ashanti lay down and invited Losoito to climb on top of her while Kenderi played with Manda. Cheeky Itinyi could not resist play mounting Hildana as he lay dusting himself and, not far away, Tamiyoi played with Juni, Baraka and Busara. After their dust bath, the herd headed out to the field at the beginning of a long day of browsing.
In the afternoon, Mbegu, Godoma, Murit, Tagwa and Ndotto joined our dependent herd. Matriarch Mbegu 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 an absence of over two weeks.
The two herds browsed together until later in the afternoon. When our herd wandered back to the stockades, the five semi-independent elephants walked away - but showed up at dusk to drink water from the stockade trough.
Big boys Murit, Ndotto, and Ngilai were the earliest callers at the stockades in the morning - but they arrived without Mbegu, Godoma and Tagwa.
After the morning milk feed, Sholumai, Mushuru and Sileita interacted with their Voi friends and played on the pile of red earth. Mushuru and Sileita climbed to the top of the mound, standing tall and looking ready to play. Lemeki, Losoito, Itinyi and Kenderi seemed keen to join them but instead nudged them down and walked away to the terraces with them. Their instincts were sound as the group avoided any risk of being play mounted by Murit.
The orphaned elephants soon walked out from the stockades and settled to browse over Msinga Hill for several hours.
In the afternoon, Sileita, Mushuru and Sholumai had a quick mud bath and then played on the dust hill. Losoito rolled around with them before itching her backside against a small rock close to the water hole. Sileita made a move to join Ashanti, who was lying down, but retreated when Ashanti lifted her head in welcome. In the evening, Ashanti took another break from browsing to play. She stretched out her trunk, inviting Sholumai to join her.
On a wonderful morning, the orphans sprinted down the path, gulped down their bottles of milk and joined Lemeki and Tamiyoi – the only two who are no longer milk dependent – at the range cubes feeding trough. After scooping up all the cubes in the trough, the elephants had an early morning dust bath and, led by Tamiyoi, walked out from the stockades to spend the morning browsing on Msinga Hill.
After intensive treatment and care from the Keepers for four months, Chapeyu – our most recent rescue - has made a good recovery from the spear wound on the lower joint of his left foreleg. This morning, we took Tamiyoi to his stockade in the hope of tempting him out to socialise with the herd. She was nervous of approaching him due to his age and the size of his tusks. In contrast, Lemeki and Thamana went inside the stockade without hesitation but Chapeyu backed up when they extended their trunks in greeting. Ignoring him, the two elephants instead feasted on his pile of fresh green Grewia. We ushered out our friendly elephants.
In the early morning, Mbegu, Godoma, Tagwa, Murit, Ndotto and Ngilai arrived just as our orphans were lining up at the feeding trough. The six visitors pushed their way in to enjoy range cubes.
Busara was being 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 leant against her, showing off her big sister to the newbies.
Our herd of 22 dependent elephants soon headed out to browse around Msinga Hill. Mbegu’s herd wandered away in a different direction. With Mbegu out of the way, Busara was far friendlier to Sileita. She browsed next to her and kept trunk touching her.
In the afternoon, the orphans spent only a short time at the baobab tree water hole, drinking milk and water and then leaving for browsing. No one wanted to wallow due to cold winds which are common in the cooler months of June and July.
After the morning milk feed, the dependent orphans began playing. Itinyi, our well-known water baby, 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.
Epiya was lying on the upper terrace, playing right at the edge. Itinyi and Hildana stood on the lower terrace, making sure that Epiya could not fall down and hurt herself.
The elephants headed out to the bush in single file and spent the morning browsing all over Msinga Hill. In the afternoon, they visited the mud bath for a brief wallow before moving back out to browse.
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. 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. He is getting to know his new family.
The orphaned elephants drank their milk, ate range cubes peacefully and rushed over to feed on fresh lucerne grass. Greedy 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.
Chapeyu was feeding on lucerne with the rest of the herd. Lemeki and Thamana were picking up pieces of lucerne next to him, extending their trunks to greet him between mouthfuls. These friendly elephants take his skittishness in their stride.
After feeding on grass, the orphans played around the dust hill before leaving for the field. Sholumai was happy to lead out a big herd of elephants as our new girl is now familiar with the browsing routes.
In the afternoon, the orphans headed down the hill for another milk feed. As they padded on to the baobab tree mud wallow, we noticed a leopard lying nearby. As the water bowser approached to refill the wallow, the leopard darted out, grabbed a tortoise and dragged it up an acacia tree. Our elephants did not react, and either wandered into the wallow or drank from the trough.
Soon after dawn, the orphans emerged from their shared night enclosures and gathered in the area in front of the stockades. Best friends Itinyi and Kenderi played an early morning wrestling game; Kilulu and Hildana chased after each other, warming up for a sparring game; and Dabida rolled around on the ground, showing off her stretches.
One by one, the orphans wandered up the path leading out from the stockades. The last to leave walked more quickly than the others and soon the straggly line turned into a bunch of backed up elephants. Some headed up to the top of the hill while others remained at the bottom.
It was a wonderful afternoon of mud bathing with most of our herd plunging into the pool. Kilulu, Losoito and Ashanti were the star swimmers, rolling around in the middle and climbing on and off each other. Sileita, Mushuru and Sholumai stood on the edge enjoying the show. When Mushuru decided to join the swimmers, Losoito stood up to welcome her into the water.
Later in the day, the orphans crowded under the shade of a group of trees to shelter from the scorching sun.
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 – who rumbled as they padded down the path. Losoito burst into lots of loud trumpets, warning the three newbies not to touch her milk bottle. Somehow, she had overtaken them on the path and arrived first for her milk.
After the milk feed, the orphans settled at the range cubes trough and around the pile of fresh lucerne grass. Thamana rubbed his face and belly against the pile of dry soil with Epiya and Baraka standing next to him while he played. Rokka invited Mushuru for a soil bathing game.
The herd headed out and settled to browse on the slopes of Msinga Hill. Later in the morning, there were some light sprinkles of rain. Juni, Akina, Dabida, Kilulu and Hildana ran here and there playing a chasing game in the cooling rain.
On a cool morning, the milk dependent orphans emptied their bottles and joined their friends at the range cubes trough. The elephants love pellets and were coiling up their trunks to scoop up as many as possible. Ashanti prefers the ones inside the trough rather than those on the ground - because of her short trunk, she kneels and uses her mouth to feed.
Greedy Kilulu pushed away Dabida when she tried to stand next to him. He almost knocked her down but she regained her balance. Sholumai, Sileita and Mushuru, who were close to her, were upset by the incident but the Keepers reassured them that all was well.
Ndotto, Murit, and Ngilai visited us this morning but Lasayen, Mbegu, Godoma and Tagwa did not. The three boys stayed behind when our herd left for the field before disappearing into the bush.
Mbegu, Tagwa, Godoma, Ngilai, Ndotto and Murit - and Emoli – arrived at the stockades this morning! 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 that now she has done the same for Emoli.
Emoli looked very well, but older and quite reserved – he did not want to play sparring games with the babies. Thamana, his former best friend, was happy to see him and kept touching Emoli’s mouth with his trunk. Lemeki also greeted him.
Independent and dependent orphans set out together, heading in the direction of Msinga Hill. They soon separated with the older elephants walking off to the bushy northern side of the hill.
In the afternoon, there was a leopard at the mud wallow. She ran away on seeing the Keepers and orphans approaching. After drinking and wallowing, a herd of wild elephants was relaxing under two big trees close by.
Busara and Baraka had a happy start to the day with the arrival of Mbegu, Godoma, Tagwa and Ngilai at the stockades. The two younger girls greeted their big sisters with rumbles and trunk touches. Meanwhile, Thamana was hosing himself with dry soil while lying on his side. As Thamana rolled around enjoying a dust bath, Hildana rested his large rump on his friend. When Seri lay down to play next to Thamana, Kenderi play mounted her, forcing her to climb to her feet and walk away.
Lemeki, Tamiyoi, Losoito and Rokka were keeping Chapeyu company this morning. As he was in his enclosure, the orphans browsed on lucerne on the other side of the fence. Tamiyoi kept trying to give her new brother trunk hugs over the gate!
All the elephants wandered out from the stockades in a long line. Out in the field, Mbegu’s herd walked away to browse around the water trough on Msinga Hill before moving on towards the river.
In the afternoon, the leopard was again hunting at the baobab water hole. The big cat grabbed another tortoise and ran away into the bush with her prey.
After feeding on milk and range cubes, the dependent orphans gathered around the pile of red earth to play.
Sholumai and Mushuru played together, with Mushuru stretching out her trunk to welcome Ushindi to the game. Lemeki squatted on top of the mound, waving her trunk as she watched her friends playing. Ashanti and Hildana were having fun, hosing red soil in every direction while rolling around and rubbing faces.
The herd headed out and settled to browse all over Msinga Hill. Rokka and Manda climbed to the top while Lemeki, Thamana and Losoito were happy to stay on the lower slopes.
In the afternoon, the orphans padded down for another milk feed in groups of five with Sholumai, Sileita, Mushuru, Losoito and Busara in the first group. Afterwards, some of them cooled off in small pools of standing water, avoiding the main wallow as it was a windy day. Soon after they left, a herd of wild elephants with two little calves took their place to drink and wallow.
As our herd browsed on range cubes and lucerne, Mbegu and Godoma wandered in to join them. When Busara saw Mbegu, her adopted mother, she rumbled loudly many times and made a big commotion. Tamiyoi, Godoma. Sholumai, Sileita and Mushuru stood watching the two elephants and then went back to browsing on pellets.
The orphans were in playful moods and many enjoyed an early morning dust bath. Lemeki and Losoito rubbed their faces against the ground while Manda play mounted Rokka with trunk twirling.
When the herd headed out to Msinga Hill, Mbegu and Godoma, tired after a night browsing in the bush, stayed behind to rest. Baraka and Busara were reluctant to leave but eventually were persuaded to follow along behind the others.
It was a cool afternoon and the orphans did not wallow in the mud bath. Itinyi lay down in a small hole and invited Akina to join him while the rest of the herd drank from the trough or massaged their backsides against trees.
On another happy morning, the orphans played in the stockade compound after downing their milk and scooping up range cubes. Thamana and Hildana played pushing games on the terraces while Tamiyoi, Epiya and Juni massaged their backsides against the boulders at the entrance.
Soon Mbegu, Godoma and Tagwa arrived with a teenage wild bull, but without Ndotto, Ngilai and Murit. Newbies Sholumai, Mushuru and Sileita were being 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.
When the orphans moved over to the water trough, the wild bull retreated and ran away from the Keepers. Mbegu, Godoma and Tagwa followed after him as our herd wandered out to browse over Msinga Hill.
As several rolled around on the mound of dry soil in the early morning, Epiya, Losoito and Seri stood next to each other while massaging their bottoms from side to side on the terrace wall. Rokka was trying to adopt one of the new girls from the Nairobi Nursery but Sholumai, Sileita and Mushuru are always together, making her task very difficult. Mbegu, Godoma, Tagwa and Ngilai soon ambled up the path to join the dependent herd.
As usual, the orphans settled to browse over Msinga Hill for the rest of the morning before visiting the baobab tree wallow on a sunny afternoon for a milk feed and a mud bath. Tamiyoi, Ashanti, Kenderi and Epiya plunged into the pool but Lemeki had another plan. She decided instead to jump into the water trough, interrupting Thamana who was enjoying a peaceful drink. We moved her out immediately - but not before the cheeky girl had made the clean water muddy!
Mbegu strode into the mud wallow, splashing water in every direction. She lay down for a quick swim and then lay on the edge to roll into the water, clamber out, and roll in again. Kilulu squatted on the opposite side of the pool, slapping the water with his trunk while rubbing his bottoms.
Later in the day, Mbegu, Godoma, Tagwa and Ngilai visited the stockades again. They browsed with the babies in the evening for half an hour, escorted them into their stockades, and disappeared into the bush. Before she left, Mbegu made a beeline for Chapeyu’s stockade. She stretched her trunk through the fence to greet him. When he took a few steps to the right, our matriarch walked with him on the other side of the fence, continuing to touch him in a friendly way.
After the morning breakfast routine, Ashanti walked over to the mound of red soil on her own, stood on the top, picked up a chunk of red soil, and tossed it skywards. Akina joined her, squatted on the soil next to her and waved her trunk in excitement. Losoito paddled in the stockade water hole. When Itinyi climbed onto her back, she found it difficult to push him off as she was standing in water. At last, she succeeded and took refuge with Tamiyoi on the terraces.
Watching on from the sidelines, Sholumai, Sileita and Mushuru followed after Losoito and stood close to Tamiyoi, not wanting to run any risk of being mounted by Itinyi.
The orphans spent the morning on the slopes of Msinga Hill and visited the baobab tree mud wallow in the afternoon. Only Juni got wet, choosing a large puddle rather than the main wallow, while Lemeki scratched her bottoms on the baobab tree, Manda opted for the delonix tree, and Tamiyoi rubbed her body against Baraka’s back.
A refreshed herd ambled back out to browse some more before returning to the safety of the stockades for the night.
Emoli visited his old human-elephant family again this morning! He arrived on his own with no other ex-orphans following him into the stockades. He padded over quietly to join the others at the feeding trough.
Young girls Dabida and Seri were enjoying their pellets on the upper terrace and did not allow any of the boys to share their space. When Hildana climbed up the terrace, Dabida pushed him firmly down. When Manda did the same thing, Seri shoved him away.
Many of the orphans were happy to see Emoli. Hildana and Seri sandwiched him between them for many trunk touches and hugs. Afterwards, Emoli played sparring and chasing games with best friend Thamana.
Later in the morning out in the field, Emoli wandered away from the herd to browse on his own. Our dependent herd ended up browsing close to a herd of wild elephants. They did not stay near them for long, instead walking away quickly in a cluster. Perhaps they were scared by the wild matriarch who had very long tusks, even though she seemed peaceful.
As the orphaned elephants gathered in the lucerne grass feeding area, Mbegu, Tagwa, Murit, Ndotto, Ngilai and Godoma arrived at the stockades. Busara, Baraka and Rokka began the welcome charge towards Mbegu. They ran to their old matriarch, rumbling and streaming from their temporal glands. Many followed their example and soon Mbegu and the visitors were surrounded. Busara pushed her way to the middle of the group where she received some wonderful hugs from the ex-orphans. Others reached out with more trunk touches, ear flappings, rumbles, and trumpets. Mbegu and Godoma responded with resounding rumbles of reunion.
The semi-independent orphans walked away in another direction when Tamiyoi led the dependent herd out to the field. Baraka looked in the direction that Godoma had taken and then hid her face under Juni’s ear.
Meanwhile, Chapeyu, as usual, remained at the stockades with two Keepers. It has taken a long time but he has learnt to trust the Keepers but not strangers. If he sees anyone who is not wearing a dust coat, he charges at them.
Ndotto and Murit visited the stockades this morning without their friends. While the big bulls browsed on lucerne, our orphans played around the mound of dry soil. Kenderi climbed onto Ashanti’s back and clung on tight while Ashanti continued hosing herself with dust. An apprehensive Losoito nipped away from the group and hid behind big sister Lemeki.
As the herd headed out for their daily browsing adventures, Ndotto and Murit walked away in the opposite direction. The elephants spread out over the hill and settled to browse. While the herd ambled around him, Thamana rested on his backside to show off his trunk twirling skills. Not to be outdone, Kilulu did some impressive head shaking and twirling of trunk around tusks.
In the afternoon the weather was cool and the orphans paddled and splashed in the small water pools instead of the main wallow. Kilulu, our showboating champion, squatted in a puddle while splashing water with his trunk. Lemeki was rubbing her side against the baobab tree and Epiya was sitting on the earth with her trunk stretching up to the sky. Not far away, a herd of wild elephants stood resting under some trees quite close to the wallow.
As the dependent orphans enjoyed their breakfast in the early morning, Itinyi kept sneaking up on Kenderi, trying to mount her. Well aware of his tricks, Kenderi kept darting away from him. Minutes later, Ndotto and Murit arrived and joined the others around the pile of lucerne. Sholumai, Sileita and Mushuru stood staring at the big bulls from a distance.
When Lemeki lay down for a relaxing roll around on the dry soil, Ndotto wandered over to join her. Lemeki aimed several kicks in the gentle bull’s direction and he moved a few steps away - just as Ashanti arrived to check that her friend was not in need of assistance.
The herd ambled out to the slopes of Msinga Hill where they spread out and settled to browse. Cheeky Itinyi began trunk touching Sileita’s back and then attempted to play mount her. Sileita took a step forward to get rid of Itinyi and walked away to stand close to Tamiyoi. In the absence of Godoma and Mbegu, Juni has become closer to Baraka and Ushindi has taken on Busara. Today, the two big sisters spent the whole morning with the younger girls.
The rest of the day was peaceful with Ndotto and Murit browsing at a distance from our orphans.
On a wonderful sunny day, the dependent orphans mingled peacefully with visitors Ndotto and Murit, enjoying breakfast of pellets and lucerne grass. On the upper terrace, where we put an extra pile of pellets, Ushindi was protecting Busara and Juni was protecting Baraka from any feisty friends.
After browsing in the field for most of the morning, Juni and Ushindi took newly adopted babies Baraka and Busara towards a wild elephant herd that was browsing nearby. The two girls were pretending to be their mothers. We called them back before the wild females were tempted to kidnap them!
In the afternoon, the herd visited the baobab tree water hole for another milk feed and mud bath. The sun was shining and many of the elephants paddled or wallowed in the muddy water. Thamana climbed onto Ashanti’s back again while Hildana and Itinyi rolled in the water next to him. Ndotto and Murit joined them for a mud bath and then disappeared into the bush.
Ndotto and Murit visited again this morning but without Tagwa, Mbegu, Godoma and Ngilai. After a time outside the stockades, the dependent herd walked out to browse around Msinga Hill and the two bulls went off on their own.
The orphans spent the morning browsing in the direction of the baobab water hole. In the afternoon, they waited patiently for the milk truck to arrive. Sholumai, Sileita and Mushuru stood close to the Keepers, hoping that they would be sent down first for a milk feed.
The weather was cool and most chose not to get wet in the wallow. Water baby Itinyi was an exception. He lay on the edge of the pool, slapping his trunk against the water and stretching it in invitation to Kilulu. She stepped into the water to paddle but refused to lie down and play. Rokka and Tamiyoi enjoyed a lengthy dust bath, rolling around on the mound of soil while hosing their bodies with dust.
One wild elephant approached the wallow but turned around when he saw the Keepers, waiting for us to leave before ambling in to drink from the trough.
In the early morning, the dependent orphans gathered in their shared enclosures, waiting for us to open the gates so they could sprint out for another milk feed followed by lots of range cubes and lucerne. The ex-orphans did not visit today and so our herd had the whole area to themselves.
After a brief dust bath around the mound of red soil, the elephants moved out to the field to browse.
At the water hole on a cool afternoon, none of the orphans were interested in mud bathing except for Manda. He plunged into the water and invited Itinyi, who was walking along the edge, to join him. Itinyi ignored him.
When Ashanti saw a herd of wild elephants strolling by, she ran over to join them. The wild elephants walked on towards the thick bush to the north of the wallow with our pick-up in pursuit! We rescued Ashanti, who is still milk dependent, from her possible kidnappers and brought her back to her herd.
On another wonderful cool morning, the orphans were full of excitement. They rushed out of their stockades, finished breakfast quickly and headed out to the browsing fields.
To Juni’s disappointment – as she has chosen Baraka as her adopted baby - Tamiyoi pulled rank this morning – as the matriarch of the herd. She shepherded the little girl away and browsed with her for a long time.
In the afternoon, the elephants visited the baobab mud wallow. As the others drank from the water trough, Busara, Kilulu and Epiya found their own large puddles that were perfect for mud bathing. Before long, the herd wandered out in a long line to browse some more on their way back to the safety of the stockades for the night.
On their way up the path, Epiya and Juni stopped off to extend a trunk into Chapeyu’s enclosure, greeting the older elephant before ambling into their shared enclosure.
The orphans gathered in front of the stockades before going out to browse. Kenderi and Kilulu were enjoying a sparring and pushing game. Itinyi tried to join the game but the two friends carried on, ignoring the interruption.
The herd soon headed out to the southern side of Msinga Hill. As most of the herd browsed, Baraka lay down on a slope and rolled down the hill! Impressed big sister Juni walked over to join the game, lying down next to her on the hill.
Later in the morning, some rain sprinkles touched the ground. Kilulu chose his favourite boulder for an all-over scratch. Dabida and other friends joined him and each elephant found their own massage rock. Seeing that his friends were copying him, Kilulu went one better – he squeezed his body into an overhang under the rock. The orphaned elephants enjoyed browsing on moist grass before visiting the mud wallow for another milk feed in the afternoon.
In the evening when our orphans were in their enclosures, Ndotto, Murit and Emoli showed up without Ngilai – we think he is choosing to stay with the ladies of Mbegu’s herd!
It was a sunny morning and the dependent orphans enjoyed their breakfast before setting out for their daily bush walk. They settled to browse in the open grass fields to the north of the stockades.
Itinyi was at his most feisty today. First, he clambered on top of Ashanti in an attempt at mimic mating. Akina, who was browsing nearby, came to her friend’s rescue and pushed him firmly off Ashanti. He fell over, stood up and challenged Akina to a sparring up game, to cover up his wrongdoing. His next target was Thamana. Seeing the older bull lying down, Itinyi climbed onto his stomach and pinned Thamana to the ground. Thamana is stronger than Itinyi and pushed him off, even though he was lying down.
In the afternoon at the water hole, he was misbehaving again. Itinyi climbed on top of Ashanti, trunk hugging her while she wallowed. This time, Tamiyoi came to her rescue and chased the bull out of the water.
Mbegu, Tagwa, Godoma – and Ngilai – visited the stockades in the morning. Ngilai 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.
Busara, Rokka and Epiya were happy to see Mbegu. The three gathered around, rumbling and trunk hugging their former matriarch. Meanwhile, Ngilai was trying, without success, to mate with Godoma.
Our herd headed in one direction and Mbegu’s mini herd walked off in another direction. The dependent orphans spread out over the hill to browse. Sileita was sticking to Mushuru and keeping her from the other elephants whereas Sholumai was in the midst of her new herd. Nonetheless, all three Nursery babies have settled well and are enjoying their new home.
Thick clouds were covering the sun in the early morning hours, creating a cool breeze. The dependent orphans filled their bellies and engaged in amazing games on the mound of soil in front of the stockades.
The orphans headed out to the western foothills of Msinga Hill, with Ndotto (who arrived at dawn) ambling along behind the herd. As the elephants settled to browse, Ndotto massaged his backside against a boulder. Kilulu watched the older bull and then rubbed his backside against a large tree next to the rock. After Kilulu had finished, Akina took his place at the tree and then Baraka took her place. They all wanted to show off to Ndotto! Rokka walked over to watch Ndotto, Sileita watched on from a distance, and Sholumai lifted her leg while rubbing her body against a tree stump.
In the afternoon, the herd visited the mud bath but without Ndotto. Epiya began sparring with Ashanti while she was resting on her bottoms. Thamana chased Kilulu and then the two friends had a wrestling match. Thamana has found a new best friend in Kilulu since his former friend Emoli went back to the wild.
Mbegu and Ndotto were the earliest callers at the stockades but they arrived without the others. The dependent orphans were happy to see the two seniors who are always calm and friendly. Baraka and Busara immediately abandoned Tamiyoi and clustered around Mbegu.
The two visitors followed the herd to the field, browsing at a distance, and catching up with them at the water hole in the afternoon. The elephants did not go mud bathing due to the cold weather but Ashanti and Seri played in a puddle of mud. Mbegu and Ndotto stayed with their old herd for the afternoon and followed them to the stockades in the evening.
As the herd was walking back to the stockades, a trumpeting Manda was playing a running around game. Unfortunately, he ran into a herd of wild elephants with an aggressive matriarch that sometimes visit the mud wallow. We quickly drove towards the herd in our pick-up calling to Manda, but it was too late to rescue him. The herd headed for an area of thick bush where we could not follow, taking Manda with them. We returned to the stockades as darkness had already set in.
Mbegu and Ndotto joined the dependent orphans in the early morning for range cubes and lucerne grass at the stockades. Rokka, Dabida, Baraka and Busara gathered around Mbegu, rumbling in welcome.
After filling their bellies, the elephants headed out to browse on the southern side of Msinga Hill close to the stockades. They spread out in small groups, browsing with their friends. Tamiyoi was with Lemeki and Losoito, while Juni was next to Rokka and Baraka.
Mbegu and Ndotto followed the herd out to the hill but went off on their own for the rest of the morning before rejoining the orphans at the mud wallow in the afternoon.
The sun was shining and many orphans enjoyed a cool down. Itinyi moved from one puddle to the next, splashing in them all. When he found Ashanti wallowing in the muddy water, Itinyi trunk hugged and play mounted her in the mud. Ashanti pushed off the annoying bull and climbed out of the wallow. Seeing what was happening, Mbegu stood guard over Busara as she rolled in a patch of thick mud, protecting her from playful orphans like Kenderi and Kilulu.
We searched for the herd that kidnapped Manda yesterday from early in the morning until late in the evening without finding them. The search will carry on tomorrow and we hope to find Manda soon.