01 March 2015

The keepers have to watch closely to ensure that Lentili and Embu do not bully poor Siangiki. This is strange as Embu is so lovely to Dupotto and Enkikwe, but Siangiki has been on the sharp end, but of course we are there as Keepers to ensure they do not get away with such behaviour. Just before public visiting time at 11 am, Siangiki was having fun with Kamok whilst they were waiting to go to the mudbath venue. Then Embu and Lentili pushed her away and she ran off into the thicket. It took the keepers a long time to persuade her to join the other elephants at the mudbath.

02 March 2015

Hamsini is not showing much improvement in his condition. He needs a lot of care, affection and love, much more than any other baby at the moment. It is especially important that he gets this attention from the other two small orphans - Lasayen and Ndotto, his older peers and his human family. However since Lasayen and Ndotto are still very young they do not realise the importance of being kind to him. Whilst they were at the forest this morning Hamsini was having a lovely time sucking the keepers’ fingers but Lasayen charged at him and tried to push him away because he was jealous of the attention Hamsini was receiving. Later in the afternoon Hamsini was having a cuddle with one of the keepers when Ndotto became jealous, but the situation was managed closely. These little babies have a tendency to get very jealous when too much attention is lavished on one.

03 March 2015

At the mudbath area today Murit and Mbegu were playing and having great fun. Mbegu was running up and down in the mud pool whilst Murit stood and watched on the side. They then joined trunks and Mbegu tried to pull Murit in, whilst Murit tried to pull Mbegu out. Roi became jealous of all the fun they were having and decided barge between the two pushing Murit away and then stood on the edge of the pool to stop Mbegu from getting out. Even though Mbegu tried many routes to get out Roi kept blocking her. Oltaiyoni was watching the proceedings from a distance and, seeing how naughty Roi was being, intervened to help her best friend Mbegu. Oltaiyoni drove Roi away and Mbegu got out of the water and ran to her little friend Murit to continue romping outside the mud. Roi is thriving, and is a very healthy looking robust little girl. Despite coming into our care after the harrowing loss of her mother who died on the plains of the Masai Mara, falling victim to a poisoned spear wound, she never dipped in condition and so is a very strong calf who can be prone to pushing the others around given half a chance.

04 March 2015

Very early in the morning, before the babies came out of their stables, Ashaka was playing with her best friend Kamok through the bars that separate their stables. Ashaka’s hind leg became stuck in between the bars and she squealed loudly in pain. Both the keepers from Mbegu’s and Kamok’s stables and the keeper from Ashaka’s stable were unable to pull her free. They were only able to rescue her when they managed to pull out one of the bars. This escapade left the little girl limping for the whole day. We gave her arnica and massage reprel gel to ease her discomfort. Poor Ashaka could not keep up with the others on the long walk in the park but, as she is so fond of the little ones, she had the chance to spend the time with Hamsini, Ndotto and Lasayen and remain with the baby group while her sprain heals.

05 March 2015

Today at the public viewing time the orphans decided to show off their football skills. Dupotto and Mbegu were playing football in the middle of the mud pool. They kicked the ball to each other running and fighting for it in the pool. It was great entertainment for the school children and all other visitors who were eagerly looking on that day. Our playful babies were full of beans. Boromoko and Siangiki were having some fun soil dusting with Pea and Pod, the ostriches, when Kauro arrived and caused trouble, trying his mounting games and then he pushed Boromoko away from Siangiki, who was lying on the ground. Then he mounted Siangiki who was not strong enough to push him away and had to squeal for help. Boromoko is a very sweet little chap whose gentle ways are a great comfort to Siangiki. She is playing now, which is always a good indicator to show that elephant’s psychological scars are healing.

06 March 2015

When the orphans walked out in the early morning they all greeted each other and played pushing games as they made their way out to the field. Sokotei, Enkikwe and Sirimon had a fun time chasing after each other, with Sokotei trying to mount Enkikwe. Enkikwe defended himself by turning against Sokotei and challenging him, and the sparring started. Sirimon joined Enkikwe in the challenge and they both managed to drive Sokotei away. Sokotei took his anger out on poor young Kauro, who was standing close by watching them, by giving him a head butt which made him cry out and run back to his keepers. Kauro is however a very strong baby who has exceptionally strong genes.

07 March 2015

The orphans were very quiet as they walked out of their stockades in the morning with only the big ones bumping into each other as they walked to the bush. They settled down to browse as their keepers enjoyed their morning breakfast. During the public visiting time it was extremely hot forcing the orphans into the mud bath to cool off. Mbegu, Dupotto, Roi, Enkikwe, Sirimon and Siangiki spent a long time in the mudbath, waiting and splashing around. Roi, Mbegu and Dupotto charged after Pea and Pod, but they ran away and the three little girls ended up back in the mud pool until the end of visiting time. Maxwell has been sensing building taking place as we are extending his boma so that he has more space. Solio has been spotted out in the bush by the Keepers and we receive reports of her whereabouts through the KWS rhino monitoring team of Nairobi national Park. She has an ear notch which makes her easily identifiable to them. Solio has been seen in the company of a bull rhino, and has been coming closer to home at night.

08 March 2015

The orphans walked out of their stockades in a playful mood. When they got to the browsing fields they scampered in and out of the bushes welcoming the new day. As they were playing in the bushes Kithaka, Barsilinga, Lemoyian, Arruba, Mashariki and Lentili encountered a lone male Buffalo. This frightened them and they charged around bashing the bushes and trumpeting as they made their way back to the keepers. Their rapid return alerted the whole orphan family, who all ran trumpeting back to the safety of the keepers, and when they arrived they fell silent with their ears spread, alert and listening for danger. They did not want to leave the keepers and spent a while crowding around in fear, but later they recovered their senses and returned to browsing.

09 March 2015

This was a very busy day with two new orphans arrived at the nursery today. The first had been identified a couple of days ago by the Samburu people, stuck down a well in the Wamba area. The little elephant had first been seen on the 6th of March but not rescued. On the 8th of March the locals returned to the well to see whether the little calf was still stuck there. It was still struggling to get out and the locals informed the Namunyak conservancy Rangers, who the next day informed KWS. Together they coordinated a rescue and stayed with the calf until the rescue team from DSWT arrived to pick it up. The team arrived back at the nursery at about midday with the little male calf who is approximately three weeks old. He was suffering from minor bruises to his back and chin and has been named Ngilai. Later in the afternoon DSWT received another call about an elephant calf that had been rescued by the Voi mobile veterinary unit. The calf had a nasty snare around its leg almost severing the leg entirely. The male calf, approximately 9 to 10 months old, finally arrived at the nursery at around 10pm and has been named Mwashoti. His injuries were hard to look at and our hopes for his recovery were guarded because it appears that the cable has severed through the joint.

10 March 2015

Little Ngilai spent a peaceful night in the nursery, enjoying special care and attention from his human family. He has fallen in love with the keepers and enjoys sucking their fingers and dust coats. He seems quite strong and walked out into the field this morning in the company of Ndotto and Lasayen. They enjoy touching him with their trunks trying to learn all about him whilst Ngilai just holds on tightly to his keeper. Kamok, Ashaka, Mbegu and Oltaiyoni all came and surrounded the new little boy, touching and smelling him to welcome him into the family. Mbegu and Oltaiyoni fell in love with him and did not want to leave him. Mwashoti also had a peaceful night despite Oltaiyoni, Suswa, Lentili and Mashariki, who kept bellowing when they learned of his presence. In the early morning when they left their stockades they went to greet and welcome Mwashoti. He was very happy to see them. Due to the horrible wound from the snare on his foreleg Mwashoti remained in his stockade, but he is drinking milk and eating greens well, and starting to settle in with his human family.

11 March 2015

When the orphans reached the field in the early morning Sokotei, Kauro and Enkikwe had a busy time thrashing around in the thickets, bush bashing and trumpeting before getting together for some pushing and strength testing games. Sokotei and Enkikwe had some pushing challenges and Kauro tried to mount Enkikwe. This annoyed Enkikwe and he turned around and head butted Kauro to the ground. Then he turned around and challenged Sokotei, trying to prove he is the strongest. However Sokotei won the challenge and Enkikwe felt obliged to reassert himself by picking on Kauro again. He pushed Kauro onto the ground and Kauro retreated to the company of Suswa and Rorogoi for protection. Little Ndotto is becoming quite a character, we think he will become our next Kithaka, a very naughty boy indeed.

12 March 2015

Young Mwashoti is settling down peacefully and has learnt to enjoy the formula milk and 24 hour care and protection from his human family. He looks as if he will be a gentle and polite the elephant once he completely settles down. He really loves his milk bottles and human family. Due to his awful snare wound he is still not yet able to walk out with the others, but he loves to spend time with them. He seems to be happy and contented, especially when Sirimon comes back into his stockade in the evening and the two communicate together. The snare wound is very bad and is unlikely that Mwashoti will make a quick recovery. Wound cleaning is done when necessary, trying to avoid any extra stress to Mwashoti, allowing the wound time to recover. The magical green clay is applied and the Vets have confirmed that while the joint is severed through, the ligaments remain intact and the blood supply around the back of the leg to the foot remains good so the healing will come from the inside out and will take a long time. Infection is what we have to guard against most of all in this fragile time.

13 March 2015

Little Ngilai is doing well; this little boy really loves his human family. He had been suffering from diarrhoea, but now seems almost recovered, a good indication of stable stomach flora and that he is getting used to the new milk formula. When Ngilai comes out of his stable in the early morning he always attaches himself to Hamsini who is a very gentle polite little elephant who likes to be quiet, unlike tiny Ndotto and Lasayen who like to play rough pushing games. Hamsini always welcomes little Ngilai and they like to stay together out in the field. It looks as if this is the beginning of a lovely friendship. Hamsini is now also looking strong, solid faeces and stable blood sugar levels indicating healthy progress.

14 March 2015

As the orphan herd settled down at the browsing field in the early morning Ziwa and Balguda had a fun pushing game, indicating that Ziwa is now strong and fully recovered from the terrible illness that nearly took his life. Ziwa now seems happy and full of beans ready to bounce back into the wild again. The pushing game attracted the attention of Tundani; however his intervention led to the end of the game as neither of the others were interested in playing with such a large adversary. Tundani and Nelion, best friends who sleep next to each other sharing a stockade are lovely polite elephants who will be travelling soon to Tsavo to begin a new chapter, but of course will remain with us their Keepers for many years to come. They are ready for the move and this will probably happen in April.

15 March 2015

The orphans settled down to browse out in the field early in the morning. Arruba, Rorogoi, Lentili, Oltaiyoni, and Embu had a busy time charging and bush bashing as they rumbled about looking excited. It seemed as if they already knew that a rescue would take place today, even though the call from the Voi stockades only came in an hour later. The elephant calf was rescued yesterday, late in the evening, by one of the de-snaring teams having been alerted by visitors. The calf had been seen by tourists as it followed them near the salt lick area within Taita game sanctuary. The whereabouts of its mother remains a mystery and the calf was taken to Voi stockades where she spent the night. The calf was flown back to Nairobi early this morning arriving at around 11 am. She is a young female, about 2 to 3 weeks old, and has been named Chumvi, a Swahili word for salt. She is feeding well on milk and has become immediately attached to her keepers. She has her umbilical cord still and is newborn, whether she has had her mother’s colostrum we do not know. She is extremely sweet but we have the worrying sign of an upset stomach which is very quickly life threatening with babies if one cannot get control of the stomach.

16 March 2015

Ndotto and Lasayen were very playful early this morning. Soon after getting to the field they had a fun time charging and chasing after a female warthog and its young ones. Tiny Ndotto looked very funny chasing them as he kept falling down when he attempted to head-butt the baby warthogs. The warthogs led Ndotto a merry dance as they twisted and turned within the bushes leaving Ndotto tripping over his own feet. Feeling frustrated Ndotto diverted his attention to Pea and Pod, the ostriches, who were busy feeding. He charged after them but did not have a chance of getting close as they sprinted away, leaving him behind with no other option but to just spread his ears and try to look fierce. Ndotto went back to join his best friend Lasayen, who had also given up the chase and was happily playing with sticks. These two little babies are simply enchanting with their fuzzy bodies and fat little cheeks and are real characters.

17 March 2015

There was another baby elephant rescue today, this time from the Maasai Mara conservation area. The calf was discovered all alone, the fate of its lovely mother and family unknown. The calf had been badly injured by hyenas, her tail completely bitten off and her genital area mutilated. It is a miracle that she has escaped with her life. She is a young female, approximately 14 months old and still strong despite her nasty injuries. She has been named Alamaya, a Maa word meaning brave one. She is a lovely, gentle and polite young girl who arrived at the Nursery after dark. We spent a long time with Robert treating her wounds, but thankfully none of them look life threatening and her chances of survival are good.

18 March 2015

It was another busy day, with yet another elephant rescue, this time from Laikipia near Nanyuki town. This elephant calf had been separated from its mother through human-wildlife conflict having become involved with a fracas when his mother killed some of the communities livestock. It became a very heated situation and the Kenya Wildlife Service had to intervene and discovered this little calf abandoned. KWS Rangers were contacted to deal with the problem and their solution was to drive the elephant away from the area, unfortunately this caused the separation of mother and baby. KWS Rangers managed to rescue the baby and waited for the mother to turn back and reclaim it. Sadly this did not happen given how volatile the whole situation was, coupled by the added complication that it appeared that this little calf could not see. The baby was taken to the Oljogi airstrip to be collected by the DSWT rescue team and brought back to the safety of the Nairobi nursery. The tiny elephant calf is a new born, he is a lovely little boy and very affectionate despite showing signs of poor vision. His eyes could not fully open, as would be normal, but we hope that with time and medication this situation will improve. He is responding well to the change in milk. He has been named D'o'l'd'o'l after the area he was rescued.

19 March 2015

Lovely Alamaya is settling down and enjoying the 24 hour care and protection of her human family. She is taking milk well and eating greens happily. She still spends her time in the stockades due to the nasty wounds inflicted by the hyenas, which need to heal a little more before she can join the other elephants, but it is clear that she will be out with the rest soon. Her face looks very like Boromoko with her prominent eyes. Mwashoti is also still doing well and looking strong despite the terrible snare wound on his leg. He loves his milk, and is quite greedy, and also loves his human family very much. We are hopeful that eventually he will recover from the horrendous wound, although it is inevitable that there will be last damage to his leg and his healing will need good time.

20 March 2015

Poor little Chumvi has been suffering from persistent tummy problems. These have been uncomfortable and have left her lacking in energy and needing to take frequent rests. She has had recurrent loose stools, which is a worry, and blood analysis was carried out to try and identify the problem. The analysis revealed low blood sugar levels but no infection, her stomach appears unable to handle the milk and she is constantly scouring. She was treated for the diarrhoea, trying to stem the loss of fluids, and put on a drip to alleviate low blood sugar and dehydration. Her appetite has decreased and she only drinks her milk very slowly. By the end of the day the diarrhoea was still very bad. The prognosis for this little calf is poor as we simply cannot control her stomach. We think she may never have had her mothers colostrums which is why she cannot process the milk.

21 March 2015

Poor little Chumvi woke up looking extremely weak and was immediately given a drip infusion to boost her lost energy and body fluids. Mbegu and Murit waited in vain by Chumvi’s stable for her to come out. Mbegu knocked on the door of the stable but poor Chumvi could not even hold herself upright. Mbegu and Murit had to leave her behind and walked away rumbling as they looked for Kamok, Ashaka, Dupotto, Boromoko and Lasayen, who had already left the stockades and gone to the field. Chumvi spent the rest of the day indoors on a drip infusion without regaining any strength. She remained recumbent; breathing heavily and hardly drank any milk. This is very difficult for everyone, the feeling of hopelessness, the feeling of failure, and knowing that our best was not good enough to save her life. Raising elephants is so very difficult, the most challenging of all species, and the answer for one is never the answer for the next. Each has an individual set of challenges.

22 March 2015

It was a very sad morning as poor little Chumvi died at around 1.15am. Everything possible had been done to try and save this precious little elephant, but without success. She will be greatly missed by the others in her peer group as well as by her human family. It has been a terrible blow to everyone who loved and cared for her. We concentrated our efforts on the little success stories that were begging to suck our fingers, and looked at little Ndoto, Lasayen, Barsilinga, Murit, Mbegu, Kamok; the tiny babies that came into our care that we managed to steer through the tough times. We thought of the ones we failed with, their little spirits up there somewhere, with their tiny graves scattered throughout the forest. It is difficult and incredibly sad always, but then we looked at Alamaya and Mwashoti and blind little Dooldol, fighting through their pain and suffering and doing so well and we all realised that we still have an important job to do with so many that there is no time to mope. We must continue, and learn from each lesson.

23 March 2015

D'o'l' -d'o'l' is troubled by his bad sight. When out in the field if a branch or bush touches his body he gets very agitated and scared and screams out for comfort. We wonder whether he remembers being separated from his mother and being unable to see her. Mbegu cares very deeply for the little elephants, especially little D'o'l -'d'o'l' and despite being pocket sized herself impart tender love and affection all the time. She keeps running to check on him when he is upset. Once when he called out she ran to his aid and blindly attacked Kamok, who was standing close by, thinking that Kamok had hurt D'o'l' -d'o'l'. The keepers had to intervene before the fight got out of hand. At the foster parent’s visit this evening Maxwell put on a great show. He had fresh lucerne in his stockade and some uninvited warthogs entered through the bars of the gate and began to help themselves. Max was not happy about this and kept chasing them around the stockade, they seemed unable to find their way back out. The foster parents enjoyed taking photographs and filming the funny scene. It was only after a long chase that the warthogs realized there was another gate they could exit through. It was hard to believe that Maxwell is blind as he was doing so well keeping up with them. He knew exactly where they were and navigated his boma without once losing his way, despite not seeing a thing. The warthog finally escaped, exhausted by their ordeal.

24 March 2015

The weather was rather inclement this morning as the orphans left their stockades and went out into the park. The little ones, Dooldol, Ngilai, Hamsini and Ndotto, remained behind in their stables until the sun came out as it was rather cold and damp. Lasayen accompanied Dupotto out to the bush, but it was not long before he came running back to find his best little friend Ndotto. Lasayen joined Ndotto in his stable and the two snuggled up. Out in the field playful Kithaka was trying desperately to find someone who would play with him. No one seemed to be interested. First he was ignored by Lemoyian and then by Barsilinga his best friend as both just walked away from him. The mud and recent rain certainly spurred him into action and he was full of beans. Trumpets and charges, bush bashing and generally trying to appear threatening and fearsome! Mashariki was not interested either so Kithaka decided to stir things up a bit by mounting on her. Mashariki kept running away as Kithaka chased her. Arruba, who will not tolerate Kithaka’s rough games, came over to rescue Mashariki from him with Rorogoi in hot pursuit. Embu and Suswa were also not prepared to allow him to harass the ladies.

25 March 2015

Since Alamaya arrived at the nursery the older females will always go to her gate to say hello before proceeding out to the park for the day. Mashariki, Arruba and Oltaiyoni seek to reassure her and the others stretch their trunks out to touch and smell her all over. Today was a special day for Alamaya as she was let out to join the others in the park despite her injuries. She is such a gentle loving elephant we felt sure it was the right things to do, as clearly she missed the others so much during the day. After the public visiting Kamok, Ashaka, Embu, Siangiki and Roi were brought back to the stockades to escort her out. As Alamaya came out of her stockade she was surrounded by the other elephants as they jostled to touch her and escort her out. As they went further into the park the older ones, Arruba, Lentili, Suswa and Oltaiyoni, took over. Barsilinga, Kithaka and Tundani also quickly came over to find out what was going on. Olsekki, Enkikwe, Sirimon and the naughty boys looked on from a distance, as their pushy behaviour would not be welcomed by the girls. However the elephants all understood that Alamaya was fragile and she was enveloped by the love and care emanating from her peers as she started feeding on the park’s fresh vegetation. Alamaya behaved very well out in the bush and was escorted back to the stockades by Mbegu, Murit, Ashaka, Roi and Kamok. She returned to her stockade quite happily for the night. It has been a great success and she was settling in extremely well. Little Boromoko was interested in her too while out there, and we are sure they might be related because she looks so similar.

26 March 2015

At 6.30am it was still dark and drizzling and no one was keen to leave the stockades. However, the older ones have to browse and all the elephants must get used to being out in such conditions as they grow up. Mwashoti pushed at the gate as he watched the others going out into the park, he would love to join them but his foot is too badly injured and would be too painful for him to walk very far. Lentili and Rorogoi were up to their old tricks, this time attempting to bully Alamaya. Suswa drove them away, but it was not long until Sokotei moved in to push her around. Barsilinga and Nelion saw what was happening and quickly put a stop to it. Barsilinga can be very protective and caring of new arrivals and these two with their lovely nature are very respected by the others so when they put a stop to things they are listened to. As Roi and Ashaka were having some rough games with Kauro, Ashaka was knocked to the ground hurting her knee. This was very unfortunate as she had just healed from her previous sprain. She was left limping and could not even join the others out in the forest or at the public visiting time. She remained with the babies, Dooldol, Hamsini and Ngilai for the whole day.

27 March 2015

Boromoko has made a new friend in Alamaya. The two of them looked very alike and are both polite quiet and gentle. They spend their day together, browsing and entwining trunks as if communicating and chatting. It is like they speak the same language. Kamok, who is usually best friends with Ashaka, behaved very roughly today. She charged and head butted Ashaka on her sore leg for no apparent reason. Ashaka fell to the ground with a painful cry as Kamok ran away and the keepers had to come to her assistance and help her regain her feet. Kamok was duly disciplined. Sokotei was playful today, recruiting Olsekki to join in which he duly did. Balguda is another very quiet elephants, and we think he and Ziwa will be candidates for Umani rather that Voi or Ithumba. He is old enough now to make the journey and the time has come. This will happen in the coming weeks.

28 March 2015

D'o'l'-d'o'l has finally started to understand and follow the keepers’ instructions. It has been very difficult for the keepers to control him and lead him due to his bad eyesight. At the public viewing time Sirimon, Enkikwe and Olsekki were almost uncontrollable. Olsekki and Enkikwe started to fight for the bottle of milk Sirimon was drinking and then turned around to wrestle each other. Sirimon turned as if to try and separate the two but instead he teamed up with Enkikwe to fight Olsekki. The keepers had to drop everything to go and calm the situation down. Oltaiyoni, who is usually the one who fights Olsekki, later attacked Sirimon, maybe because Sirimon had joined forces with Enkikwe in fighting Olsekki instead of initiating peace. Hamsini who was doing so well has taken a turn for the worse. His condition remains poor, despite feeding well.

29 March 2015

All the elephants have their role to play within the orphan herd. Kithaka is especially naughty but he has his own special role to play. He is very playful and perhaps this helps to keep the very relaxed elephants a little more active. Balguda, a very polite and quiet boy, is not usually very playful but today Kithaka enticed him into some long and fun filled games. They played mounting and wrestling games together from the time they left their stockades until morning milk at 9am. Mwashoti finally got his chance to go out into the park with his peers. This was a big decision given how bad his wound it is, but a healthy happy mind is just as important to ensure the healing process continues. At 2pm Kamok, Ashaka, Dupotto, Mbegu and Murit returned to the stockades to collect the wounded limping boy. He was very happy to be going out with them, and loved being out but remained close to his Keepers. He fed well and was clearly very happy with this development. Mbegu and Dupotto took great care of him although Kamok, Ashaka and Murit did not show much interest. Mwashoti behaved very well out in the park and was escorted back by the same group of orphans in the evening.

30 March 2015

Mwashoti had his second day out in the park today, although he did not venture far from the stockades. Today he was with Ashaka, Ndotto and Lasayen. Lasayen paid him the most attention, seeming to want to get to know him better. Ndotto and Ashaka kept to themselves. Siangiki joined Boromoko and Alamaya and they separated from the rest of the herd to browse and play out in the forest. Kauro, Ziwa and Tundani had lots of fun together and the two older boys indulged Kauro in a gentle wrestling game. They rolled in the long grass and allowed Kauro to climb and roll on their backs, one of his favourite games. The big boys were extremely tolerant of the little one in their midst and so this was a big day for Kauro who loves these interactions with his bigger heros. It is lovely to see Ziwa strong once more. He was rescued from the brink of death when he fell so ill while at Ithumba. His months of healing while back at the Nursery have been long, but thankfully with good results which is very encouraging.

31 March 2015

Enkikwe and Dupotto are very fond of Embu and like to spend lots of time with her out in the bush. Today however Embu seemed to be fed up with them and kept pushing them away as they sought her out. In the end she resorted to head-butting them to keep them away, perhaps just wanting a break from babysitting for a change. Mwashoti accompanied Ashaka and Lasayen out into the bush quite early this morning. Lasayen still seems to like him the most and wants to interact and play with him. This makes them both happy. Despite his damaged leg still looking far from satisfactory, Mwashoti seems to have got into a happy routine; enjoying his time out with the others when he can and lying next to his keepers and resting his leg whenever he feels it hurt Hamsini was looking a little dull this morning even though his blood sugar and other statistics seem to be fine. Another very exciting development is Dooldol seems to be regaining some of his vision and, although it is still very early days, everyone is hopeful that it will gain his sight in the fullness of time.