The month began with an exciting night out in the wild for our two young boys, Kapei and Maktao. They were escorted by their ‘big brother,’ Mwashoti, who looked after them on their nocturnal safari with the ex-orphans — or, as we have nicknamed them, the Nightclubbers.
Early the next morning, Mwashoti brought Kapei and Maktao back to the dependent herd. Upon seeing her neighbour, Kapei, Amali stopped eating her breakfast and went to welcome him back. Mwashoti handed the two boys over to the orphan herd before walking off to rejoin Sonje and Lima Lima’s teams, who had not yet arrived. They had only sent him to bring the boys back to the dependent herd.
While Mwashoti is happy to babysit the junior boys, he finds baby Lenny a bit too much to handle. One morning, Lenny latched onto Mwashoti and started following him around. After a short while, Mwashoti brought the little baby to Quanza — he was clearly getting tired of taking care of Lenny. Relieved to be free of him, Mwashoti left to join Kapei and Maktao.
It was a rainy month in the Kibwezi Forest, and our young girls were not happy about this. On one particularly rainy morning, the Keepers found Mwana trying to sneak back into her sheltered bedrooms. Amali, meanwhile, flatly refused to come outside until it cleared up.
We had a lovely run-in with Ziwa this month. While the herd was browsing around the Kenzili area, Ziwa was spotted with his wild family. The Keepers called him and Ziwa just acknowledged the greetings, then left and joined his herd. They were waiting for him very patiently, not leaving him until he was satisfied greeting his former Keepers. His Keepers just waved him goodbye as he was leaving with his friends.
Murera is the matriarch of Umani, but Kerrio is the mini matriarch of the ‘Nairobi Girls.’ In the morning, Latika and Kamili have their bottles, then immediately go to Kerrio, who waits for them. They follow Kerrio’s direction, for she is their trusted head girl. Kamili and Latika never overturn Kerrio’s decisions; she has the last word on everything.
We believe that Lima Lima is training Kerrio to be a scout just like her. One morning, the Keepers heard noises in the bushes — and then, from a distance, saw Kerrio and Lima Lima raising their trunks towards them. Lima Lima was teaching Kerrio to be on high alert and make the Keepers aware of any wild animals in the forest. We believe that Lima Lima knows she cannot be relied upon to join the dependent herd every morning, so she is training Kerrio as her deputy.
Enkesha is an easygoing elephant. The same cannot be said for Zongoloni, who can be rather mercurial. One morning, she was in one of her moods, — and Enkesha was her target. For whatever reason, Zongoloni didn’t want her to spend time with her baby, Zigi. The moment she saw Enkesha trying to get close to him, she would chase her away. When Kiasa approached Zigi, however, Zongoloni had no issues — in fact, she happily allowed Kiasa to stay with her baby. Zigi was satisfied with this arrangement; he loves Kiasa so much.
12th March was a very special day — Mwana’s third birthday. The Keepers came out in the morning with a happy birthday song for Mwana. After singing, they distributed extra pellets and lucerne so everyone could celebrate. In the evening, the party continued back at the stockade, where the Keepers brought more pellets to Mwana and her mother to enjoy as a family.
Our big bulls, Faraja and Jasiri, stopped by mid-month. It was not a great visit, but they learned an important lesson — that while they may be living wild, they are still expected to uphold a certain level of decorum with their old orphan family. The trouble started when they were pestering Quanza, smelling her in an invasive manner. Their actions angered Quanza, who could not believe they would behave in such a disrespectful manner.
Quanza reported the boys to Murera and Sonje. After she filed the case, Murera and Sonje considered their response. They were not impressed by the behaviour shown towards their nanny, who takes care of the little babies and is very helpful to the mothers. Zongoloni also joined Sonje and Murera, and together they reached a decision to move away from the two boys. Faraja and Jasiri were not allowed to bother Quanza again.
Sulwe is a plucky little girl. One morning, Sulwe tested Zigi by trying to pull his tail. However, she did not secure the easy victory she expected. Zigi pushed Sulwe back with force, proving that he may be the youngest, but he is not the weakest. He then ran to hide under his mother Zongoloni, who was watching the situation closely. Sulwe learned an important lesson about bullying.
Sulwe and Lenny have started to become very curious about the milk bottles. In fact, the Keepers call them notorious. Whenever they see their mothers being bottle-fed, the two little ones try to grab the bottles from the Keepers. One afternoon, Sulwe was persistent and managed to pull a bottle from a Keeper’s hand to have a taste. After reaching a bottle, Lenny kicked it with his foot.
Kapei can be a rogue, but he can also be very sweet. One morning, Kapei walked behind Latika’s stockade and stopped by the gate, waiting for her to come out after taking her bottle. As soon as Latika finished, she came out and placed her trunk on Kapei as a way of acknowledging him for waiting. She was then escorted out of the gate and joined the others who were already outside.
The month ended with a welcome visit from wild elephants. This herd included little babies, which made Amali very happy. She briefly joined the group, enjoying being around so many tiny elephants, but returned to Kerrio and the others when she realised that the wild herd was moving on. Meanwhile, Murera ensured all the orphans stayed close to the Keepers.