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Ex-orphan bull Taita arrived at the Ithumba compound before dawn and joined Mutara’s herd who had spent the night just outside the stockades. Taita is 19 years old now and becoming a big and handsome bull. Lenana and Lapa, who have been away for sometime too, were also present for the morning lucerne feeding time. Yatta and Nasalot’s families arrived later, as the dependent orphans were preparing to leave. Maramoja and Sana Sana interacted briefly with Lapa before moving on to join Mteto and Esampu who were playing with Noah and Yogi. Mutara and her herd led the orphans out to browse. Ambo teamed up with Rapa to browse as Sapalan and Wanjala settled for a morning soil dusting exercise. 

Siangiki and her small team of rebels parted ways with the other orphans and left to an undisclosed location. Enkikwe, Sapalan and Wanjala, who appear to be liking the company of Siangiki’s group, dodged the Keepers and also left to join the other group. Ndiwa and Jotto took sometime off from feeding to warmup by having a pushing game. Dololo and Musiara, who always have to push one another the moment they meet, had a pushing game after accidentally bumping into each other. Over the many times they have had their pushing games, no clear winner has ever emerged, and this is bound to continue until one is evidently stronger than the other – if that ever happens! Rapa and Kuishi carried the branches they were enjoying on the way to the mud bath. The weather was chilly, and the orphans only had their milk bottles and some water before returning back to the bush, led by Sana Sana. Only three wild bulls joined the orphans for water this morning. 

In the afternoon, ex-orphans Kibo, Chemi Chemi, Kandecha and several wild bulls including Dad showed up at the stockades for water. The orphans had a quiet afternoon and returned home safely later in the evening. Olsekki, Roi, Oltaiyoni, Naseku, Galla and Tusuja didn't return on time but came back shortly after midnight. 

Kithaka, the naughty boy, was around the compound this morning and was up to his usual mischief. He was climbing up the terrace wall to the inner-compound area and causing trouble. At the same time, Kibo and Wendi were also there and were trying to use the same route to trespass! All three have been very naughty recently and don’t even listen to the Keepers. Sweet Mutara was also around with little Mambo who is still doing well and gaining weight everyday. A big group of wild elephants also arrived with their young babies too. They had some water and walked to the lucerne feeding area to interact and share lucerne with our orphans and ex-orphans. The dependent orphans never like it when it is too crowded with elders, so they decided to walk out and begin their day of browsing out in the Park.

While walking out, Sattao and Malima started playfighting. We came across the same pack of 16 wild dogs along the Kone road. Pare and Mteto were playing in some loose soil, scooping and tossing soil in the air and some on their backs. Sattao, Malima and Dololo were browsing together in the bush, until it was time to walk towards the mud bath area for their next milk bottle.

There were some huge wild bulls who came to drink water at the mud bath today. Jotto, Ambo and Nabulu got to interact with one of the big bulls beside the water trough, while other bulls were busy enjoying the waterhole. 

The orphans were browsing in the afternoon when Pare took a break to interact with his friend Karisa. We watched Malkia stretching high to reach some leaves high up in the trees. It was Kuishi who led the herd back home in the evening for their milk bottles and to go to bed for the night.

The stockade compound was very full this morning with ex-orphans, wild elephants and all the milk dependant orphans of course. The milk dependant orphans had their milk and walked out to join their older friends. Mutara and her baby Mambo were there, along with Yatta, Wendi, Nasalot and Lenana and their babies too. As there were so many elephants, eventually the dependent orphans decided to walk out to the bush to browse, leaving behind the ex-orphans and wild elephants.

Out in the bush Dololo and some of his friends like Musiara and Sattao started playing by scooping and tossing some soil chunks in the air and some their backs. The rest of the orphans browsed and just before 11am, Larro led the herd to the mud bath for their milk bottles. It was a very hot day again and today the orphans decided to all wallow in the main mud bath after having their milk. Malkia, Kuishi, and Sana Sana all kept a close watch on Larro, Mukkoka and Naboishu. All the orphans were really enjoying the water. Nabulu was the afternoon’s leader, and directed everyone in the direction they would take to browse for the rest of the day. Pare took a break from browsing to play fight with Jotto. 

Mutara and her small group arrived at the compound in the early afternoon and the Keepers gave them some lucerne to feed on. Lualeni and Naserian also arrived with their babies. It was very interesting to witness that both Lulu and Lexi were breastfeeding from their mum Lualeni at the same time. We were surprised to see Lulu still breastfeeding now she is older and Lualeni has another baby, but Lualeni must not let Lulu suckle too much, or there wouldn’t be enough for Lexi. 

This morning was quite different to yesterday, as there were very few other wild elephants in the compound. There were a few ex-orphans and only a small number of wild bulls that we could see. The dependent orphans had their morning breakfast bottles and then walked down to the lucerne feeding area for their supplement food. They enjoyed their morning slightly more today as only Mutara and Yatta’s herds joined them. In fact, Mutara and Yatta decided to join the orphans out in the bush when the orphans decided to leave for the day. Sunyei with her babies Siku and Saba were with them too, along with naughty Wendy and her baby Wema. A bit later in the morning, the ex-orphans separated from the youngsters and walked off into the bush. Enkikwe and Sapalan decided to follow them, but they arrived back at the compound later in the evening after the others had finished their bottles and gone to bed. 

While out in the bush, Pare was playing in some soil which he scooped and tossed in the air, before walking off to greet Karisa. Musiara and Larro were socializing with one another as Kuishi stood close by, watching over them.

When the orphans arrived at the mud bath there were a few wild bulls there. The orphans decided not to mud wallow today, and just had their milk bottles and some water, before going back to browsing. Sana Sana decided to have a quick dust bath before rejoining her friends.

Malkia was seen breaking big branches off trees for food, and as a result a few of the youngsters like Larro, Mukkoka, Ambo and Sattao were around her to share her bounty. It was very hot and some of the orphans were hiding under whatever shade they could find. Later, Mukkoka and Roi led the herd back home in the evening for their milk bottles and to go to bed for the night. We had a large group of wild bulls who came to drink water at the stockade water troughs this evening.

Mulika, Mwende, Mkuu, Taita, Chemi Chemi, Naserian, Njema, Mutara, baby Mambo, Sities, Turkwel, Suguta, Chaimu, Galana, Gawa, Yatta, Yoyo and Yetu joined the dependent orphans to feed on lucerne this morning. Sattao and Musiara tried to play with Mkuu but his older sister Mwende wouldn't allow it and pushed the two boys away. The two young boys fled but they decided not to give up. They waited nearby, keeping an eye on Mwende's movements so that they could jump at the opportunity to play with Mkuu as soon as Mwende’s back was turned. This never happened however as Mwende was too smart for that and had anticipated Musiara and Sattao’s next move, and she stuck very close to her little brother! 

The dependent orphans headed southeast while the ex-orphans headed west. When a male lesser kudu emerged from the thicket, Mundusi, Pare, Jotto and Dololo were the first to spot it and decided to show the kudu that they rule the bush. The four boys charged in unison and drove the kudu out of their way. The kudu disappeared the moment it saw the boys approaching however, bringing the drama to an abrupt end. 

Later in the morning, Pare engaged Jotto in a strength testing match. Pare won and decided to demonstrate his victory in the usual manner by climbing on the back of the looser, who in this case happened to be Jotto. Challa joined the orphans at the mud bath around noon and had water with them before parting ways. Several wild bulls attended the mud bath and the number kept on growing while the orphans were there; eventually they decided to walk to the roadside mud bath instead, to give enough space for the wild bulls at the main waterhole. 

The orphans spend the rest of the afternoon west of Ithumba Hill. Kuishi, Malkia and Sana Sana teamed up to browse while Esampu, Malima, Mteto and Musiara moved a distance away from their friends and settled to browse there. The rest of the group took a break from feeding and only resumed later on when the temperature dropped to a more favourable level. 

In the morning, a wild baby was in the water trough with her mother standing by its side. It appears the rest of the group had left in the early hours, but the mother refused to leave her baby behind. Using a tractor and a truck, the mother was moved a distance away so the baby could be pulled out. The Keepers acted as quickly as possible and the baby was safely retrieved from the water trough. The tractor and the truck drove off, allowing the mother to reunite with her baby. 

A crazy wild bull emerged from nowhere and without any reason started nearly kicking the baby. Suguta tried to intervene, but the wild bull was very strong. The Keepers decided to step in and drove the wild bull away. The wild mother was provided with some lucerne which she was very grateful for. Sapalan, Mukkoka, Kithaka and Sities walked down to join the wild mother. Later, Yatta and her herd showed up and joined the wild mother – this is clearly her first baby and she is a little inexperienced so perhaps our ex-orphans, who have quite a number of babies between them now, imparted some wisdom with her. 

The orphans settled to browse in the Kone area where Musiara and Ambo engaged in a strength testing exercise that ended in a draw. Karisa had a brief meeting with Kuishi, but no one had any idea what they were discussing. Later, Karisa decided to have fun by rolling on the ground. Kauro took advantage of this and decided to climb on Karisa’s back. Kithaka played with Jotto while Dololo challenged Mundusi. The temperature was moderate as the orphans made their way to the mud bath, so they had their milk, some water and shortly afterwards returned to browsing. A buffalo who was wandering in the bushes got the attention of the orphans. Rapa, Nabulu, Sattao, Pare and Esampu ganged up and decided to charge at it! The buffalo decided to avoid all this drama by opting to run away, so the orphans quickly got bored and went back to browsing rather than pursuing the buffalo. Yatta and her herd showed up again in the evening at the stockades, but and left shortly after having enough water.