The month began with a funny meeting-of-the-animals. It started with Notty — all of the sudden, zebra launched into a gallop, running up and down and round and about. Her rhino best friend joined her game and soon both were careering through the bushes for no reason at all.
The game carried on until Notty ran into Wamata and Talek behind some bushes. The little zebra got a fright, but the elephants got a much bigger fright. They trumpeted and ran with trunks aloft, upsetting the rest of the herd. It took us a long time to calm down 12 elephants, one zebra, and one rhino.
Taroha is the dominant bull at the Nursery, but he almost plays the role of mini matriarch. One morning, his maternal skills were on full display. As the herd padded through the forest, Taroha brought up the rear, guarding and making sure that no one wandered away. Later, he was being a discipline master. He is very caring to the others, but he also tells them off when they misbehave. When Daba tried to push Kipekee for no reason, Taroha stepped in to protect the little girl. When Olomunyak tried exactly the same trick with Alia, Taroha came to the rescue of the weaker elephant again and pushed away the naughty bull.
Surprisingly, our rogue Pardamat may be picking up cues from him. One memorable day, Pardamat was on his best behaviour. He was drinking from the puddles, hosing his body with dry soil, and looking after the younger orphans. Rather than pushing Arthi or Daba, he was trunk touching them gently while they picked up pieces of browse.
But with that said, Pardamat is still the naughtiest member of the herd. At the midday milk feed, he is sent down last in the last group due to his bullying character. One afternoon, he was the only one in the last group — and this made him very annoyed. He ran down the path for his milk, headbutting whoever he met along the way.
Talek has become a caring elephant but always defers to the older girls. One morning in the forest, Talek was delighted to be left on her own with Kipekee. When Muridjo and Mzinga went off to explore, Kipekee made no move to follow them and neither did Talek. The two younger girls browsed calmly next to the Keepers until their big sisters returned.
Arthi is such a little houdini, always pulling disappearing acts. Mzinga taught him how to sneak back to the stockades to root out extra rations. Sometimes they head back together; other times they are on their own mission. Arthi may be greedy, but he is a calm, obedient boy who does as he is told by the Keepers. Mzinga is greedy and not so obedient — she will happily ignore the Keepers and continue doing exactly what she wants. Arthi also loves to lead the way to the milk bottles. He is very food-motivated.
We had an interesting moment with Notty this month. One afternoon, while Tytan and Notty were grazing in the forest, a wild zebra approached the two friends. Tytan ignored her, but Notty was very interested. Our little zebra began nudging and chasing the adult female. The two zebras played for a long time before the wild zebra disappeared and Notty settled down next to Tytan again. While Notty will likely remain in our care for some time to come, it made us very happy to see her engaging with her own kind. But for now, Tytan and Notty remain the best rhino-and-zebra friends in Kenya.
Even though the morning was cool and overcast one day, Notty was in a hurry to get out of her stable. She ran out and straight to Tytan’s stable to touch his head with her head through the gaps in the gate. Tytan marched out of his room and ran at the Keepers in a mock charge. Then Tytan and Notty led their Keepers out to the forest. When they were younger, the Keepers often led them, but nowadays the rhino and the zebra usually lead their Keepers wherever they want to go. On some days, the animals run ahead and then come back to check on the human beings.
In fact, Notty is quite possessive of Tytan. One afternoon at the mud bath, when Tytan went to stand between two Keepers, Notty tried to block them from getting close to the rhino. She even kicked with her back legs when a Keeper came near. Notty was behaving as if she was a baby rhino too who did not want human beings getting close to her friend.
Mzinga was known for her special friendship with Raha. She is still a rhino-lover — and while young Tytan is not receptive to her friendship, Maxwell is. One morning on their way out to the forest, Mzinga and Talek stopped off to greet Maxwell. While the rhino stood very still on one side of the gate, the two elephants stretched their trunks through the gaps and laid them over his head. After a minute or two, they ran on to catch up with the herd, and Maxwell went back to grazing on pellets with his warthog friends.
Taroha is also a close friend of Maxwell’s. He has visited him in the mornings since he was a new rescue. While the others wander straight out to the forest, he still likes to stop off at Max’s gate to greet the rhino.
When Daba was first rescued, he was a quiet boy — but as he becomes stronger, he is changing. One morning in the forest, he was so playful, reminding us of Muridjo when she was younger. The little bull ran through the bushes with ears flapping and head shaking, mock charging the bushes while trumpeting in excitement. He is also learning wrestling skills from cheeky boy Pardamat. One day, the two bulls had some good times together. Pardamat was teaching Daba well, being careful not to knock him over, and Daba was happy to play with the older bull. When some impalas and baboons came close, the boys had fun chasing them away.
His rescue-mate, Alia, is also becoming less shy. However, she still likes to wander away by herself. One morning, rather than heading into the bush, she went to the mud wallow, where she browsed on supplementary greens while waiting for the rest of the herd to arrive. As soon as she heard the first group padding down the path, she ran to the wheelbarrow and demanded her bottles. After drinking her milk, she went back to enjoying lucerne — perfectly executing her little wander to maximise feasting time.
Kipekee is becoming less of a princess, but she still likes to assert her authority every so often. One morning, the naughty girl began trumpeting for no reason at all. Mzinga, Muridjo, Nyambeni, Taroha, and Talek rushed over and hovered around her stable door. Muridjo, the mini matriarch, asserted her authority and shepherded the baby up the path, with the others following in her wake. Everyone wants Kipekee time, but they know they must defer to Muridjo when she demands it.
Olomunyak is such a cheerful presence. One afternoon, as the others played in twos or threes, he strode around interrupting all the games, keen to prove he was the star. He started a pushing game with Mzinga, showing her how good he was at wrestling. When Taroha came over to play with Mzinga, he refused to let them go and instead took on both at the same time, pushing one in one direction and then the other in another direction. Watching from a distance, Nyambeni abandoned Talek and Kipekee to join the three older ones — but still Olomunyak carried on and challenged all three.
Wamata is as fun-loving as she is clever, and one incident this month put both qualities on display. Soon after the orphans settled to browse, she gave the others a fright when she began running through the bushes, trumpeting as if she was charging at something. When no one reacted, she carried on bush bashing. Arthi and Pardamat were the only ones who joined her game, and the three chased each other in the forest until Pardamat made the mistake of play-mounting her. She immediately stopped and walked over to stand next to Mzinga and Muridjo, where she knew he would not dare pester her.
Nyambeni and Mzinga are best friends. Really, only one thing can come between them — and that is Kipekee. One morning, as the orphans were milling around the compound, Mzinga and Nyambeni headed down to Kipekee’s stable to wait for her. When she walked out, the two big girls began challenging each other over who would lead her out to the forest. They blocked each other in turn, and the tussle for the baby carried on up the path and into the field. When Muridjo saw what was going on, she took charge, made them surrender Kipekee, claimed her for herself, and brought the custody battle to an end.
The month ended with Taroha showcasing his funny new trick. He drinks his first bottle and puts it down normally. But when he finishes his second bottle, he walks away with his trunk clasping the bottle and will not give it back to the Keeper. When the Keeper tries, he runs away, bottle firmly wrapped within his trunk. Several orphans, including Mzinga, Nyambeni, and Pardamat, can hold their own bottles — but only Taroha runs off with them.