Keepers' Diaries, March 2005

Nairobi Nursery Unit

This month’s Diary for the Nursery elephants portrays graphically, not only the sensitivity, intelligence and caring elephants possess in abundance, even in infancy. This encompasses those smaller, or in trouble, and a sense of personal sacrifice also becomes evident. Galana, for instance, who is by far the largest, but also the greediest of the Nursery elephants, (having been a near-dead starvation case when she first came in, unable even to stand unaided), will remain behind with the baby of the group, tiny Nalitu, who suffered a leg injury that left her with a serious limp trailing far behind the others at noon milk feed time, when all the elephants usually sprint ahead excitedly for their ration of milk before taking their daily mudbath. As the oldest, Galana has gradually taken her place as the Nursery Matriarch, sharing a deep and all consuming love of little Nalitu whose other adoring little “mother figure” is Naserian. Both are recorded as walking slowly one on either side of the injured Nalitu when the young bulls race excitedly ahead in the mornings, whilst Sunyei, who although also classified as a Nursery Matriarch but, according to the Keepers, not so keen on “baby-sitting”, returns periodically just to check that everything is O.K. On a cold day the Diary explains that Galana and Naserian crowd close to Nalitu to impart body warmth, leaving her side only when the suns warms things up enough for the Keepers to remove the babies’ covering blankets.