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The orphans started their day as normal, leaving the stockade compound around 6am and making their way out to the forest. A number of the orphans have recently begun their training to be translocated to one of our Reintegration Units in Tsavo National Park. Musiara, Luggard, Tamiyoi, Tagwa, Dololo and Enkesha had their first training session this morning, during their 9am feeding time. 

With every training session some of the orphans will enter the translocation lorry immediately and without hesitation whereas other will be more reluctant. Tagwa, who knows all too well how the training goes, was amongst the first to refuse to step onto the translocation lorry and she was soon followed Musiara who refused to even come near the lorry. The rest of the orphans were all too happy to receive their milk bottles that they took very little notice of the lorry especially Tamiyoi and Enkesha. 

As this was day one, the Keepers are confident that the orphans will get used to the translocation lorry and will eventually easily walk into it. 

As the orphans continue to be trained on the translocation lorry, they have been coming back to the stockade compound several times a day to have their milk bottles at the translocation lorry, teaching them how to get onto the lorry and be comfortable with it. Most days when the orphans make their way down to the lorry, they will walk past Maxwell’s stockade and this seems to always catch his attention. As the orphans walk past, Maxwell can be seen standing at his gate smelling and listening to what is happening and when he appears to notice that it is some of the orphans, he returns to his pellets or greens. 

Tagwa was a bit more relaxed today, and happily walked up to the lorry but was still apprehensive about stepping into the lorry. She quickly finished her milk at the edge of the lorry and then started walking back to the forest. Musiara, however, still had no interest in getting anywhere near the lorry and stayed far away, waiting for his Keeper to eventually come over and give him his milk. Enkesha, Dololo, and Tamiyoi all happily walked onto the lorry to have their milk and when they were done, they calmly walked back to the forest, joining Tagwa and Musiara who were already on their way. 

As the orphans re-adjust to a new herd without Tagwa and Tamiyoi, Maisha seems to be taking over as new matriarch even though Enkesha could also assume this role. When the older orphans graduate to one of our Reintegration Units, the orphans know that the herds dynamic will now change and that the role of some of the younger orphan will change too, as they assume the roles of the older orphans. In addition, some of the orphans graduate from the smaller stables to the larger stockades. 

As Dololo is now older and getting ready for his translocation to one of the Reintegration Units he has been moved to one of the larger stockades and Maktao was moved to Dololo’s old stable. Dololo showed no protest to his new room and settled quite quickly but Maktao was not so happy with the change. In the middle of the night he became quite restless and kept trying to get to Mukkoka so the Keepers felt it be best he move back to his old room. 

Enkesha continues to be independent and she has formed her own little group with Mukkoka, Naboishu, and Naleku. She is often happy to do her own thing and is always happy to have some of the orphans from the Nursery herd with her. 

As Maisha continues to learn about being the matriarch with the support of Kiasa and Nabulu, the younger orphans will now look to them for help and protection. When the orphans are out in the forest, as soon as something frightens them the orphans all charge to Maisha’s side, and often she and Kiasa will go to have a look what is wrong and what has scared them. Enkesha, however, seems to be in her own little bubble and doesn’t always notice when the younger orphans are in a panic. 

Musiara has become very protective of the herd, which is an important role of the bulls when they are living wild and following a herd. This morning, once the orphans had all calmed down, Musiara could be seen checking the parameters and chasing the baboons away that had frightened the herd.

This afternoon Luggard didn’t seem to be in the best of moods and didn’t really want much company. At one point he even began pushing Ziwadi and Naboishu away. As he has long sharp tusks, Enkesha quickly ran over to help them, but the Keepers were nearby as well and managed to calm Luggard down before Enkesha arrived. The orphans then all resume their browsing activities. 

Most mornings, Maxwell can be seen waiting to greet the orphans at his lower gate. Some mornings if it is cold or he is still sleeping, he will remain in his bedroom and won’t come out to see the orphans head off into the forest. This morning, Maxwell was up well before the orphans eating his greens, when he heard the orphans starting to move around and come out of their stables. As soon as he heard the orphans he walked straight over to his gate to greet them. As soon as Enkesha saw him, she came running over to say hello. As soon as they had greeted each other, they started to play a game where Enkesha would charge up to his gate, and then slow down as she got closer to him. It was so nice for the Keepers to watch them both have fun with one another. As soon as the elephant orphans were all out of their stables Enkesha ended her game and ran over to join them as they all walked out to the forest together. 

In the afternoon, as the orphans were busy browsing, Sattao was walking around looking for some long and soft grass. When he eventually found some, he began to grab the grass to eat. As he was busy cutting the grass, he came across a tortoise that was well hidden in the long grass. This gave him a huge fright and he let out a loud trumpet which alerted Maisha and Kiasa. They both came running over to see what had given him such a fright but when they could not find anything they returned to their browsing. 

Naleku spent most of her day in the company of Enkesha, and is really making great strides in the Nursery, growing so much confidence amongst the Nursery herd.

As the orphans continue to adjust to their new herd, they seem to be spending their days very close to their Keepers, getting lots of scratches and cuddles. For most of the morning, if even one of the Keepers would walk off in a specific direction, they would have a trail of orphans behind them checking out where they are going. It is always common for the orphans to take a few days to adjust to their new dynamics. 

In the afternoon, however, the orphans seemed to relax and Maktao was even trying to engage Kiombo in a strength testing match. Before long, Mukkoka came charging over to join them and he eventually took over from Maktao and began his own game with Kiombo. 

Nabulu and Enkesha were happily leading the orphans through the forest today. With all the rains, there are several small mud baths throughout the forest and the two girls were eager to lead the orphans to one. Enkesha was the first to find the perfect mud bath and as she was busy wallowing, Nabulu and the rest of the herd came over to join her. Naleku, Maktao, Larro and all the orphans could be seen having the best time in the mud before resuming their browsing activities. 

Sunshine is also important to the orphans, just as the mud and dust baths are too. With the current cold brisk mornings, the orphans are just as eager to get out into the forest looking for their fresh greens and warmth. This morning, the orphans were led by Enkesha who walked them straight into the forest to look for some greens. As they arrived in the forest, Maisha, Enkesha, and Nabulu began to grab at the freshest of greens right at the top of the branches. The smaller orphans would then grab what they dropped down, however Nabulu was not so eager to share and kept trying to keep her branches to herself.

As the orphans were busy eating their greens, Enkesha seemed to notice the sun coming up and she immediately started to make her way to the open fields to catch some Vitamin D. She was soon followed by the rest of the Nursery herd and they could all be seen enjoying the warmth of the sun for a few minutes. Once they were warm enough, the orphans resumed their browsing activities, Larro amongst the first. 

The Nursery herd has now begun to settle and Ziwadi has returned to her normal way of remaining with the herd some days and then wandering off on others. Nabulu and Maisha have started playing their own wrestling games as well as Kiombo and Mukkoka. The orphans had a fun day out in the forest before heading home in the evening. 

Since Tagwa and Tamiyoi were translocated to the Voi Reintegration Unit Maisha has fully assumed the role of matriarch and she appears to be enjoying it. She gets assistance from all the older girls in the Nursery such as Kiasa, Enkesha and Nabulu, although Nabulu is not always so eager to watch over the younger orphans. Even younger girl Larro has assumed her role as nanny and can often be seen assisting Maisha with little Roho and Naleku. 

Roho completely adores Maisha and is always by her side, following her as if he was her shadow. Kiasa will often assume the role of nanny should Maisha be away browsing and little Naleku will often be in the company of Enkesha, Larro, and even Naboishu. Naboishu seems to have also bonded with Enkesha, Larro and Naleku and will often be by their side, browsing near them. The Keepers are confident that when Enkesha and Luggard graduate, Naleku, Ziwadi, and Naboishu will be happy to spend time with Larro. 

Today, Luggard and Enkesha resumed their training in the translocation lorry. Both showed tremendous courage and very little hesitation when approaching the lorry and both walked onto the lorry to have their milk. 

As the orphans were waiting for their 9am bottles of milk this morning, Enkesha, Kiombo, Maktao and Nabulu all kept themselves busy with a small game of rolling in the mud. As they were all busy rolling around, they could be seen bumping into one another, and pushing each other all around. Nabulu was even getting involved in the fun and could be seen bumping against Maktao, having the best time. Enkesha and Kiombo were even having their own game, which was a rare sight as Kiombo was always shy to play with the girls and would more likely choose a male opponent. Today, however, he seemed full of confidence and was happily bumping against Enkesha. 

As they were busy playing, little Naleku could be seen watching them from the side-lines, amused by their games. Funnily enough, when Roho saw them all rolling around, especially Enkesha, he quickly came running over to try and climb on their backs. Little Naleku at this point took it upon herself to protect Enkesha from Roho and she kept chasing him away when he tried to climb on her back. Eventually Roho gave up and walk back to Maisha, and not long after, the orphans were called to go and get their milk bottles. 

Luggard and Enkesha are still going through their translocation training and the Keepers were happy to see that it was going well. Both orphans easily walked onto the translocation lorry without any hesitation and eager to have their milk. Enkesha seems to be a very relaxed little elephant, as she is often unperturbed by any changes to her environment and is happy to be on her own in the forest. She is always calm and collected. 

Luggard too is a gentle young elephant, but he does like to have a good look around the lorry after he finishes his milk. He seems to be curious about what the large object is and about the hay bales in his room, placed there to help support him when the move comes. 

Ziwadi has become so accustomed to following Luggard wherever he is going, that she has even started following him down to the translocation lorry. Like Enkesha, she too does not mind the lorry and will happily have her milk outside the lorry as Enkesha and Luggard finish their training. When they are all done, they happily walk back to the forest together, Ziwadi grabbing greens from every bush that she can reach. 

Kiasa seems to be constantly changing her moods recently, from one day to the next she can change from a caring nanny to a greedy and naughty girl. This morning, as she was finishing her bottle of milk she suddenly decided to chase after Naboishu’s bottle, pushing at him and his Keeper trying to get any extra bit of milk. The Keepers had to chase her away and move her from the group. As they told her off, she pretended as if she was moving away and then quickly headed towards Naleku who was coming down for her milk, trying to steal her bottle now. She then got a stern warning from her Keepers which caused her to quickly run away before she got into more trouble, leaving all the orphans still drinking in peace.  

This morning, the orphans seemed to divide into two groups. On the one side was Maisha with Kiombo, Roho, Maktao, Luggard, Ziwadi, and Nabulu and on the other side was Kiasa with Mukkoka, Naleku, Larro, Enkesha, and Naboishu. Maisha remained with her group close to the Keepers whereas Kiasa led her group further afield to find some other shrubs to browse on. It is common to see the orphans sometimes split up like this as they often have different ideas of what they would like to do. However, they all came back together when it was time for them to have their midday bottles of milk. 

Maxwell seemed to be rather tired today and wasn’t very eager to eat his greens. He did, however, spend most of his day in the long grass on the other side of his stockade, walking slowly through the small bushed and enjoying the sun, taking a nap every now and again. 

Today was a big day for Luggard and Enkesha as they graduated to the Umani Reintegration Unit, within the Kibwezi forest. As expected, they both walked onto the lorry smoothly and were ready to begin their journey around 3am. They had a safe journey and arrived at the Umani Reintegration Unit early in the morning, with all the Umani orphans and Keepers awaiting their arrival. They were warmly welcomed by all the orphans, and were dotted upon by the older girls Murera, Sonje, Lima Lima and even Mwashoti was excited to meet the new arrivals. 

It was a beautiful moment to see Luggard being followed and cared for by Murera and Sonje and him excitedly walking around and inspecting his new environment. Enkesha was so happy that she immediately went off on her own adventure, greeting all the older Umani orphans and leading them out to the forest. It was great to see Luggard and Enkesha in such high spirits walking through the Kibwezi forest and being followed and watched over by all the older orphans who just could not get enough of their new herd members. The Keepers from the Nursery could not have been happier for them, and those at Umani were so excited to have two new babies join the herd.