As we are always reminded, rewilding is sometimes a winding journey — one that unfolds entirely at an orphan’s chosen pace. Some orphans go wild for a bit, then become nostalgic for home and return for a spell, before venturing back out again. Such was the case with Tamiyoi this month.
Early one morning, ex-orphan Tamiyoi arrived alone and rumbled to alert the herd of her arrival. She has been away for almost a month, after last being seen with Rorogoi and Naipoki. Our dependent orphans welcomed their big sister with rumbles and trunk touches, with Seri, Busara, Akina, and Hildana clustered around her.
The herd soon ambled out to the bush for their daily browsing adventures, and Tamiyoi came along with them, spending the day browsing with the orphans over the grasslands. In fact, she repeated this join-the-orphans-for-the-day routine several times throughout the month: arriving alone, spending the day with the dependent herd, and wafting off into the bush come nighttime.
One evening, however, she lingered outside. We showed her into her old stockade, as we could see that she did not want to head out on her own. In the morning, she padded out with the herd. Everyone was happy to have her back — with the possible exception of Lemeki. Since Tagwa, Tamiyoi, and Mbegu left, Lemeki has stepped into the role of mini matriarch, and Tamiyoi’s return changes the dynamics, as she is now the senior female.
March marked Serenget’s first full month out with the Voi herd. She has slotted right into the routines, seamlessly moving from stockades to bush to mud bath to bush and back to the stockades in the evening, with all the milk feeds in between. It’s hard to imagine that she spent nearly seven months on bed rest, healing from her bullet wound. She can now move normally and quickly, just like any other elephant.
Rokka looks after Serenget most days, and the two girls are developing a strong bond. We often find Rokka and Lemeki standing on either side of Serenget while she browses, while Ushindi is showing interest in adopting her but remains respectful of Rokka, knowing that he must defer to the older female.
Lemeki and Rokka aren’t only focused on Serenget; they do a great job of looking after everyone. The big sisters are particularly protective of Ashanti. She lost the tip of her trunk to a snare and sometimes has to kneel down to scoop food into her mouth, and they seem to understand that she could use the extra support.
Spoiled, stout Losoito is still working through some jealousy regarding Serenget. She begrudges her for replacing her as the baby of the herd and for stealing attention away from Lemeki and the other big girls — two unforgivable offences. When she thinks no one is watching, we often catch Losoito trying to give Serenget sneaky pushes and shoves. Fortunately, Serenget is hawkishly supervised by her many nannies.
Losoito isn’t alone in this disgruntlement — Busara and Baraka are also very upset to be dethroned as babies of the herd. With time, they will adjust to their new status.
Serenget seems to understand the complicated dynamic. One afternoon at the water hole, we noticed that she was playing it safe. She chose to play with new friend Busara in the mud and did not risk getting close to Lemeki and Rokka, lest she upset Losoito. Only when Lemeki and Losoito moved away did she walk over to be with Rokka.
Our Voi herd is unique in that it has many orphans of a similar age. Most of the Voi Kids — Akina, Ashanti, Baraka, Busara, Dabida, Epiya, Hildana, Itinyi, Juni, Kenderi, Kilulu, Losoito, Seri, and Ushindi — were rescued during the drought, while Mushuru, Sileita, and Sholumai, who graduated to Voi from the Nursery last year, are also their peers.
Everyone gets along well, although certain personalities gravitate towards each other. Showboaters like Kilulu and Hildana are always together, while quieter girls like Akina and Sholumai prefer to keep to themselves. Little Sileita remains the mini matriarch of her Nursery group of three, which is sweet to witness. Thamana, the eldest bull at Voi, is a gentle soul and an excellent big brother.
One day, 9th March was an exciting day — Lumo, who was rescued last month, finally accepted a milk bottle. The newbie had been drinking milk from a bucket in his stockade but, after several more tries in the morning, he allowed a Keeper to pour milk into his mouth. His injured leg is recovering well, and accepting a bottle brings him a step closer to joining the herd out in the field.
Meanwhile, Serenget resolutely will only accept milk in her unique way — no bottle required. She insists that a Keeper pour milk into her trunk, which she then pours into her mouth. This is a time-consuming method, for both the milk feeder and the milk drinker, and the other orphans have cottoned onto this, realising it might present an opportunity for stealing. One afternoon, Epiya and Losoito did their best to disrupt the peace by hanging back in the hope of pinching Serenget’s milk. We kept guard over her and shepherded the two greedy elephants away.
Later in the month, ex-orphans Mbegu, Godoma, Tagwa, and Ngilai wandered into the stockades after not visiting for several weeks. Baraka and Busara were happy to see them, but Tamiyoi seemed not to have missed them as much. The two groups shared range cubes and lucerne before heading out in different directions, with Tamiyoi going with Mbegu’s herd.
As the month ended, Tamiyoi made her stance clear. On the last day of March, Mbegu, Ngilai, Tagwa, and Godoma arrived to join our orphans. Having spent the night at the stockades, Tamiyoi moved to the middle of the dependent herd, seemingly in a bid to hide herself from Mbegu’s herd. We encouraged her to join the ex-orphans, but she sneaked away from them later in the day and returned to the stockades in the evening. For now, she has decided she is stockade-dependent again.