May began with an unexpected addition to our Voi herd. On the afternoon of the 1st, we received a call that an orphaned elephant had been found near Lake Jipe. The Keepers rushed to the scene and brought her to the nearby Voi stockades, where she received urgent care. Because she was on the older side and in very precarious condition, the decision was made to keep her at Voi and bypass the Nursery stage altogether. Juni, as we named her, spent much of the month recovering in the stockades and regaining her strength.
The orphans were outside of their night stockades bonding, playing and feeding on the lucerne pellets after their morning milk feed. Pika Pika and Arruba stayed behind picking up every last lucerne pellet they could find, as the rest of their friends started to leave the compound to begin their day in the bush.
While out browsing the orphans meet up with a herd of buffaloes and they browsed alongside one another for some time. Pika Pika, Arruba, Ngilai, Tagwa and Tamiyoi enjoyed a dust bath and all rolled around on the ground in a small erosion gulley. Ngilai and Pika Pika later struck up a sparring game while still inside the gulley, until Ngilai withdrew from the sparring game to go and climb on Tagwa instead. Suswa spent a lot of time with little Thamana playing and hugging her little favourite boy.
While the orphans browsed along the foot of Msinga Hill, Mbegu stopped to scratch against a rock just as Lasayen and Murit started their own wrestling games. It was quite a surprise to see these usually subdued bulls enjoying a pushing game. Rorogoi and Suswa lay in an erosion gulley, relaxing. Thamana stood next to a rock with Mudanda and Suswa came over to scratch on the rock next to them; both Mudanda and Suswa like to spend time bonding with Thamana and looking after him.
Just as the orphans were getting ready for their noon milk feed, Tagwa and Emoli started a sparring match.
Down beside the baobab tree after the milk feed, Suswa was blowing water in the trough with her trunk and playing while posing with her left foot up on the trough. Lemeki rolled in the loose soil as her friends slowly started to make their way back out to the bush to browse.
Later in the day we received a call that an orphan elephant had been spotted alone in the Mkwajuni area near Lake Jipe, and needed to be rescued. We rushed to the area to rescue the orphan elephant and brought her to the Voi stockades where she is recovering.
After finishing their usual breakfast routine of milk bottles and lucerne pellets, the orphans made their way out to the Park to browse. Arruba and Pika Pika browsed side by side on the rocky side of Msinga Hill as the orphans spent the morning hours calmly munching all the green vegetation they could find. Mbegu, Emoli and Godoma started to lead the way slowly downhill towards the noon milk feeding area. Murit was left behind as he was calmly munching away on a bush at the foot of the hill, and he had to run to catch up with his friends.
Pika Pika and Arruba, who spent much of the day together today, enjoyed playing and rolling on the ground in an erosion gulley, before proceeding to the feeding area.
After the milk feed, the orphans walk down to the baobab mud wallow to refresh and drink water from the trough. Arruba picked up Ndotto for a quick sparring game but when the orphans were done cooling themselves down, they soon resumed browsing along the rocky side of Msinga Hill throughout the afternoon.
Rorogoi chose to have an evening dust bath under the shade of an acacia tree shade and a few minutes later Tagwa joined her. Slowly, the orphans made their way back to the safety of the stockades for the night.
It was a bright sunny morning and the orphans were enjoying their breakfast milk, lucerne pellets and grass. Juni, the new orphan, is recuperating well in the stockades.
Thamana and Tamiyoi touched trunks affectionately as they made their way out with their friends towards the browsing fields. Murit, Emoli and Tagwa all chose to browse together. Arruba played a wrestling game with Murit at the foot of the hill, which came to an end with Murit turned and tried to climb on Arruba.
Embu lay down to relax in the open grass and she looked quite content basking in the sun. Mbegu was rolling in some dust not far away, and Tagwa came over to climb on her tummy. Ngilai and Murit were enjoying a wrestling fight, Mbegu was still lying down and Thamana was scratching on a rock. He spotted Mbegu and went over to play with her and climb on her tummy, before she got up to initiate a gentle sparring game with him as well. Emoli played off to the side with Tamiyoi.
Ngilai and Tagwa decided to take a break from browsing to spar with one another on the hillside. Ndotto and his friend Mudanda also decided to wrestle while Embu and Pika Pika lay down to rest. Ndotto climbed on Arruba but Embu either felt jealous, or she didn’t want Ndotto climbing on Arruba, so she came over to push Ndotto away. Mudanda and Suswa spent the day co-parenting again as they both shared the responsibility of looking after Thamana, particularly when he decided to lie down on the ground to take a nap. When he awoke he seemed full of beans, and even started trying to climb on Tamiyoi at one point, which he failed in doing.
Ndotto and Mudanda were enjoying their usual morning sparring game after having their milk bottles. Murit and Mbegu were also holding trunks in a sparring mood while Lasayen scratched on the orphans’ favourite rock in the compound. The new orphan Juni is doing great in her stockade. The Keepers checked on her and made sure she had everything she needed while the rest of the orphans finally left the stockade compound for their daily bush walks.
Suswa scratched on a tree on her way out to the bush while Ndotto and Pika Pika browsed on some young acacia trees together. Tamiyoi leant against some rocks as she maneuvered her way to the browsing fields.
Later in the morning one of our vehicles informed us that a pride of sixteen lions had set up beside the baobab mud hole laying in ambush, so the orphans turned back and had their noon milk bottles in the stockade compound.
Suswa enjoyed bonding with Thamana in the compound while Tamiyoi relaxed against the stockade terraces. Mbegu had a wrestling match with Ivia the buffalo, but Ngilai, Ivia’s oldest friends, felt jealous and came over to try and interrupt their game. Mbegu has always been a good motherly role model and she just walked off to avoid any confrontation, leaving Ivia and Ngilai playing. Lasayen was the last to leave the stockade compound as he enjoyed a quick soil dust bath, while his other friends walked out to continue their afternoon of browsing.
It was a bright morning today and the orphans were excitedly running around the stockade compound after having their milk bottles. Tagwa climbed on the rocks beside the water trough and scratched against them. The orphans were busy feeding on the supplements that the Keepers put out for them. Tagwa and Ngilai were sparring next to the water trough while Arruba and Pika Pika rolled on the loose soil pile and cuddled up next to one another. Ndotto and Mudanda were enjoying a morning sparring game but eventually Mudanda walked off to scratch on the rock next to the water trough. Suswa was hanging out with her favourite little Thamana. Tagwa and Ngilai wrestled with one another next to the twin trees as if they were both vying for the best scratching position there.
Lasayen and Murit also had a morning warm-up exercise in the form of a pushing game before leaving the stockades for the bush along with their friends. Later on Rorogoi decided to lie down at the foot of the hill and Arruba came over to play with her and use her as a scratching post. Suswa found an erosion gully to have a dust bath as her friends were busy browsing at the foot of Msinga Hill.
The orphans were feeding on the supplements of lucerne pellets and dairy cubes that the Keepers put out for them this new bright morning. Thamana and Lemeki were busy feeding on the range cubes alongside Suswa and Rorogoi. Mbegu posed on the terraces as Ndotto and Mudanda had their usual morning sparring games. Tamiyoi, Tagwa and Sagala led the orphans out to the bush towards the northern side of Msinga Hill.
The orphans settled to browse and play throughout the morning. Lasayen and Godoma decided to wrestle with Thamana but they did so gently as he was always under the watchful eye of Suswa and Mudanda. Ngilai and Ndotto decided to maneuver their way up towards the top of the hill, munching as they went, in search of fresh foliage. Mbegu stayed with Tagwa, Tamiyoi and the others browsing at the foot of the hill. Pika Pika browsed side by side with her big sister Arurba.
In the afternoon the orphans walked down to the usual milk feeding area beside the baobab tree and later down to the mud bath.
Pika Pika, Thamana, Lemeki and Tamiyoi all lined up at the feeding area eagerly waiting for their morning bottles. Once they arrived they downed them in a matter of seconds before heading to the supplement feeding area, and making room for the next group of orphans to come for their milk bottles. Ngilai decided to take on Emoli in a wrestling game. Suswa, Rorogoi, Embu, Lasayen, Murit, Mbegu, Sagala and Godoma all lined up along the terrace feeding on the lucerne pellets. Some baboons watched on from a distance, looking forward to the moment the orphans would leave for the Park so they could come and pick up the leftovers!
Tamiyoi was the leader this morning and guided the orphans out to browse, choosing to lead everyone right out towards the savannah grasslands. The orphans spent the whole morning munching calmly without being distracted by any fun and games.
Just before noon, the milk-dependent Voi orphans walked down for their milk feed and then proceeded to the baobab mud hole. There they had an interesting interaction with some wild elephants visiting the baobab tree water trough. Suswa and Rorogoi were very excited during the mud wallowing session, running up and down in the water trumpeting. Mbegu was spotted keeping to herself and quietly enjoying her own game of digging at the banks of the mud bath with her tusks.
After all the usual different breakfast routines, Rorogoi was relaxing beside the stockades, Mbegu lay down posing on one of the terraces while Ndotto scratched against a large rock in the compound. The eventually orphans set off to the bush and settled to browse at the foot of the hill overlooking the baobab tree water trough.
All through the morning the orphans browsed quietly before walking down to the milk feeding area for their noon milk bottles, and later the mud wallow. A family of wild elephants arrived at the baobab tree water trough and interacted with the orphans as they mingled together, bonding and making friends. Ndotto was having so much fun splashing at the edge of the mud wallow, as Rorogoi, Embu, Pika Pika and Arruba all decided to properly swim right inside the mud wallow. Suswa joined them and excitedly ran up and down, splashing and trumpeting. Mudanda stayed outside of the water and chose to scratch against the baobab tree next to the mud hole, as another group of wild elephants joined the orphans at the water trough.
Pika Pika and Arruba were having a great time together after they finished mud wallowing; Pika Pika was rolling on the ground as Arruba stood guard next to her. Later the orphans walked back out across the grasslands and up the Msinga Hill where there is good browsing vegetation to be found, for the rest of the afternoon.
The orphans were feeding on the pellets after the morning milk feed. Ndotto stood over by the terraces munching on his own pile of pellets, as Sagala started to lead the herd out of the compound for the day.
Tamiyoi, Tagwa, Lemeki, Thamana and Sagala were at the front of the herd as they maneuvered their way along the side of Msinga Hill in search of fresh foliage. Embu, Rorogoi, Ndotto and Ngilai worked their way up to the top of the hill as Arruba, Pika Pika and the others settled at the base, browsing in the direction of the baobab tree water trough.
Godoma and Lasayen were chatting while browsing side by side, sharing vegetation.
Sagala kept Lemeki and Thamana company and Mudanda came to join the small group as well.
When it was time the orphans came down the hill for the noon milk feed and walked straight to the water trough and to mud wallow afterwards. Pika Pika, Arruba, Embu, Rorogoi and Godoma had a good time in the mud wallow and the orphans were later joined by a wild elephant herd. Both the orphans and the wild elephants spent time together at the water trough bonding and interacting. Ndotto was playing with Arruba and decided to try and climb on her while they were playing in the water. Tamiyoi was standing at the edge of the mud bath deciding if she wanted to get in the water or not, when Tagwa came up behind her and forcefully pushed her into the mud hole so that she would have a swim with the others. Embu cuddled up next to her friend Rorogoi. Murit chose to stay outside of the water and scratched on the baobab tree, as slowly the orphans started to exit the water and dry themselves off before walking off across the grasslands to continue browsing. As the orphans left, more wild elephants arrived to have some water from the water trough.
It was another bright morning today which meant we wouldn’t receive any rain today. Tamiyoi was enjoying a good scratch on the big rock. Mudanda seemed to be in a charging mood as she was standing with her ears held open and very alert, while the others seemed in a much more relaxed mood. Tagwa was scratching on the terraces while Godoma took over from Tamiyoi to scratch on the orphans’ favourite rock in the compound. Arruba, Suswa Rorogoi and Pika Pika were lying down and rolling in the loose soil; Pika Pika was enjoying scratching against Suswa. When they were done Emoli and Tamiyoi came to roll as well and had a light wrestling game on the soil piles. Emoli and Sagala went for a scratch against the big rock one after the other, with Sagala waiting patiently for Emoli to finish. Ngilai decided to start a sparring match with Arruba at the stockade water trough while Ndotto took on Mudanda for their own wrestling game. Mbegu was posing over by the terraces as Ndotto then took on Rorogoi for a sparring match, playing by the twin trees, as Embu had a dust bath along the terraces where she found some soft soil.
The orphans left for their daily bush walks but spent the morning hours browsing on Msinga Hill just above the stockades, as a pride of over 20 lions had been spotted at the baobab tree watering hole. Later the orphans returned to the stockades for the noon milk feed and a mud bath before going back up the hill to browse for the rest of the afternoon. While in the stockades Lasayen posed on the terraces relaxing, as Mudanda had a great time rolling on the loose soil dusting, before going to scratch on the twin trees. Ndotto and Embu had a sparring game in the stockades before following their friends out for the afternoon.
Later in the night around 7:45pm, after all the dependent orphans had gone to bed, ex-orphan Nguvu visited the stockades with his with his wild family friends! Nguvu rumbled and greeted his friends in the stockades before leaving with his wild family, seemingly quite content with his wildlife. It was wonderful to see him looking so well.
The orphans all lined up at the milk feeding area ready for the morning milk feed. When he was done Ndotto went straight to feed on the supplements over at the terraces. Pika Pika, Rorogoi and Arruba followed him and were also busy feeding on the supplements.
When they were done the orphans left the stockades for their daily bush walks on the northern side of Msinga Hill, where they all settled on the open grasslands.
After the milk feed Suswa, Rorogoi and little Thamana all decided to lie down and roll in the water in the mud bath, while Mudanda, Mbegu and Sagala stood over Thamana to protect him. Arruba, Pika Pika, Suswa, Godoma and Rorogoi came over to join those already in the waterhole. One by one they started to get out of the water to dry off, all except for Godoma who was still having a lot of fun and stayed behind in the water by herself. While the others fully submerged themselves in the water, Ndotto decided to stay and roll in the mud just on the edge of the mud bath.
The Voi dependent orphans went back to browsing in amongst the thick shrubs and spent the rest of the day browsing until late in the afternoon when they returned to the stockades for the night.
The stockade dependent orphans were having their breakfast consisting of morning milk bottles, lucerne pellets and dairy cubes. They were fully focused on their breakfast and filling up their tummies as much as possible before commencing for their daily bush walks.
Pika Pika and Arruba decided to browse in the opposite direction to the other orphans. Lasayen and Murit were having a good time together browsing and holding trunks.
After the noon milk feed near the baobab tree waterhole, the orphans went for some fresh water from the water trough and returned to browsing almost immediately. After the orphans left some wild elephants came to drink from our water trough too. Ndotto led the way out to browse across the grasslands with Lasayen, Tamiyoi and Mbegu following behind.
Later in the evening another wild elephant herd, who had been browsing throughout the day on Msinga Hill just above the stockades, came down to drink from the stockade water trough as well. Tagwa led the orphans home for the evening and the Voi orphans socialized with these wild elephants for a short while before going into their stockades for the night.
All the orphans were having their breakfast this morning. Rorogoi, Embu, Suswa and Pika Pika were all lined up along the terrace having their morning lucerne pellets. Mbegu decided to wander over and browse on the acacia tree branches that hang over the electric fence. Mudanda invited Ndotto to a sparring game before all the orphans left the stockades for the bush.
Mudanda and Suswa are spending more and more time with little Thamana these days and each one wants to spend as much time with him as possible. Sagala on the other hand is trying her best to look after Lemeki, which isn’t always easy as Lemeki is such a free-spirited little elephant!
The orphans spend the morning hours browsing far across the open grasslands, munching as they walked along and slowly made their way towards the baobab tree where they would have their noon milk feed. A group of wild elephants joined and browsed together with the orphans for a while.
Eventually the orphans went for their noon milk feed and proceeded to the mud wallow to cool off, before going back to browsing and this time they chose to walk up the Msinga Hill in search of fresh foliage. Most of the orphans made their way up the hill for the rest of the afternoon, except for Mbegu, Tagwa, Tamiyoi, Thamana and Lemeki who chose to browse at the foot of the hill.
Tamiyoi, Thamana and Lemeki all passed by to greet the new orphan elephant Juni in her stockade this morning. Juni is still recovering well and putting on condition.
When the orphans had finished their breakfast it was playing as usual, with Ndotto lying on the ground and inviting one of his best friend’s Arruba to play. Mudanda played and scratched herself on the big boulders in the compound as all the orphans started to leave and make their way out for the browsing grounds.
Mudanda browsed with Lemeki and Thamana. Sagala was following behind as she was jealous of Mudanda and the attention she was giving Lemeki and Thamana, but she followed cautiously as she didn’t want to upset Mudanda.
Just before noon the orphans made their way down the hill to have their milk bottles, before moving down to the water trough beside the baobab tree. It wasn’t long before a wild elephant herd arrived for water too, and the orphan elephants moved aside in due respect to give them a chance to also have a drink. Godoma went to lie on top of the red earth piles, showing off her rolling games to the wild elephants present, before joining her friends who were leaving the waterhole to continue browsing for the rest of the afternoon.
Lemeki yelled the whole way as she ran from the stockades to the milk feeding area, intent on safeguarding her milk bottle. Pika Pika was right behind with Arruba, giving her no chance to interact with Lemeki and Thamana and making sure that Arruba’s attention remained fully on her.
Mudanda has really changed these days and her whole life is different now that she has adopted Lemeki and Thamana and enjoys spending time with them. Ndotto doesn’t even invite her for sparring games in the morning now, to allow her exercise her new responsibility and roles.
The browsing was peaceful along the western foot of Msinga Hill throughout the morning, until the orphans made their way to their noon milk feeding area. Today Sagala was at the front of the first group, running at a terrific speed, followed by Tamiyoi, Tagwa and Emoli. It was unusual for Tamiyoi to be outcompeted and she ran as quickly as she could, but she resulted to yelling out in protest when the going got too tough and she realized what stiff competition Sagala was! Mbegu heard the yelling and took off with Thamana and Lemeki, and stayed guarding them throughout their milk feeding time.
The rest of the browsing day went on well to the south of the water hole.
The orphans were in an excitable mood this morning, running out of their stockades to gulp down their morning milk bottles before proceeding for the supplement food the Keepers were putting out for them.
When the orphans arrived out in the bush to browse, they browsed in single file, with Mudanda sticking close to Lemeki and Thamana, while Tagwa, Sagala, and Tamiyoi were together seeking to make their own browsing alliance.
The Voi stockade morning monitoring patrol team spotted some lions lying in ambush close to the baobab tree water hole again, so the orphans returned to the stockades for their noon milk feed and mud bath. All the orphans chose to play in the compound for a while after having their milk, with Mudanda introducing a scratching game at the twin trees which Tamiyoi and Sagala copied, and then Mbegu came along to do the same too.
Lasayen was busy trying to climb up onto one of the stockade terraces with no meaningful success. Sagala, who was below the terrace, invited Cheza the buffalo, who was standing on top of the terrace, for a sparring up match, but Cheza is still very reserved and didn’t show much interest in such games which are more familiar to Ivia, her male buffalo friend.
The rest of the browsing day took place along the southern side of Msinga Hill.
The milk dependent orphans woke up early in the morning, stretching and stretching in preparation of having their morning milk bottles. They later settled down for some lucerne grass pellets before leaving for the browsing grounds.
The orphans browsed their way at a slow pace arriving at the water hole for noon after milk feeding close by. The orphans found several wild elephant herds also at the baobab tree waterhole, and one of the herds had a number of babies with them. As their friends were busy trying to penetrate through the wild elephants to join them drinking water from the trough, Sagala, Tamiyoi and Suswa were busy moving around instead trying to introduce themselves and play with the wild babies. Soon the older wild sisters to the babies had enough of the orphans following them, and started trying to chase them off; one of them managed to push Tamiyoi hard, who staggered for a distance before gaining her footing and managing to run away from the agitated older siblings. The orphans decided it best they leave to browse for a while until the wild elephants left and then they returned to have a drink of water before continuing with their day of browsing and playing.
The sun rose bright in the morning as the milk dependent orphans awoke and prepared themselves for their milk feeding routine. There were only brief games in the compound today, before the orphans left for the bush. Emoli browsed quietly with Murit while Ndotto and Ngilai started a morning sparring match to warm up and stretch their bodies.
Later on at the waterhole, Ngilai found Thamana busy drinking and attempted to climb on his back, but Thamana managed to get away from the mischievous older bull. Ndotto even took on Lemeki for a sparring game when he realized that Mudanda was busy scratching on the baobab tree. Mudanda then noticed Thamana lying in a small hole and playing with Rorogoi, and she went charging over very quickly, jealously pushing Rorogoi away and staying with Thamana while he rolled in the small erosion trench. She then spotted Ndotto and Lemeki playing however and went over to intervene in that game as well! She diverted Ndotto’s attention by starting a pushing game with him instead, until he wandered off to roll on the soil pile, leaving Mudanda to finally take full control of her adopted babies Thamana and Lemeki. The rest of the days browsing day took place to the west of the baobab tree until the orphans returned to the stockades in the evening.
The milk and supplement feeding was done and the orphans were settling down to play.
Pika Pika took up position at the big rock close to the stockade water trough to scratch while Sagala kept herself busy over at another large rock enjoying a scratch too. Ndotto took Mudanda head on for a sparring match but Mudanda wasn’t concentrating as she was worrying too much about Thamana and Lemeki, so she eventually sneaked off to go and catch up with them. Tagwa had moved over to lie against the rock next to the water trough where she was stretching her trunk into the trough to drink and scratching at the same time.
It was Tamiyoi who left the stockade first and led the herd out to the bush, making her way around the rocky boulders on the slope of Msinga Hill to eventually settle on the open grasslands overlooking the baobab tree mud wallow.
The orphans quickly drank their noon milk bottles and walked down to the baobab tree mud wallow. The scorching sun was high in the sky and it was very hot. The orphans made sure to get a drink from the trough before going for a mud wallow. Lemeki, Mbegu, Rorogoi and Murit all line up drinking on the trough, while Godoma rolled about in the waterhole surrounded by Arruba and Pika Pika. Tamiyoi played out on the edge of the mud wallow and Suswa also had fun rolling at the other end of the mud wallow. Rorogoi sometimes likes to have her alone time and she only chose to go in the water once everyone else had left; only this time Pika Pika walked right back in to join her and the two had much fun in the mud bath together.
It was a bright morning and the sun was out, and so were the Voi orphans who had come out of their night stockades to begin their day. They lined up at the usual feeding area and downed their milk bottles as fast as possible. Thamana and Lemeki were last and quickly guzzled their milk bottles before joining their friends for some lucerne pellets. Mudanda walked over to the terraces and joined Thamana where he was already scooping up lucerne pellets with his trunk, Mbegu, Emoli, Ngilai Lasayen and Godoma walked to the other end of the stockade compound to enjoy their pellets.
Pika Pika and Tamiyoi spent some time together bonding, until Pika Pika walked away to meet up with her big sister Arruba, leaving Tamiyoi posing against one of the big rocks by herself. Mbegu was busy browsing on some of the vegetation in the compound, while Embu spotted Tamiyoi and went over to keep her company. Murit later on invited Mbegu to a sparring game and she accepted the challenge. At the stockade water trough Pika Pika and Emoli were having a wrestling fight and Lemeki and Thamana were climbing on the orphans’ favourite rock. Mudanda tried climbing up the same rock just to check on Thamana. When they moved off, Murit and Tagwa also came over to enjoy a scratch there.
The Voi orphans eventually left the stockades after all their fun and games and settled at the foot of Msinga Hill, browsing and slowly making their way towards the baobab tree waterhole. After the noon milk feed the orphans interacted and mingled with the visiting wild elephant herds who had also arrived there for a drink, before resuming browsing across the open grassland.
Murit, Ndotto, Sagala, Suswa and Emoli were busy enjoying the supplement pellets this morning as the rest of the herd tucked into some lucerne grass. When the orphans were content they left the stockade compound and settled on the Msinga Hill just above the stockades. A pride of over 20 lions had been spotted earlier in the morning at the baobab tree water trough area, hunting the buffaloes in the area, so the orphans and Keepers decided to stay well away from there.
Just before their noon milk feed the orphans made their way down the hill and hung around the stockade compound playing and having a mud bath. Sagala and Tagwa enjoyed wallowing in the mud to cool off while Tamiyoi scratched on the rock just next to them. After splashing, Tagwa went to the soil pile to dry off and dust herself, and later joined Emoli scratching on the terraces.
The orphans left the compound to continue browsing for the rest of the afternoon and they chose to remain on the hillside. They spent the whole afternoon maneuvering their way around the hill and munching on all the vegetation they found there, coming down later in the evening for their milk feed and to finally settle in for the night.
It was a nice beginning to the day with the orphan elephants enjoying their milk and lucerne pellet feeding routine in the morning in preparation to head out to the browsing grounds. Soon after all the supplement feeding was over, the orphans assembled around the stockade water trough drinking water before starting their journey for the browsing grounds.
Ngilai saw the day might soon become very boring without any games and went up behind Lemeki who was busy drinking from the water trough, and started engaging her in a sparring game, before joining their friends who were walking out of the compound.
Later in the morning the SWT/KWS Tsavo Vet Dr Limo called the Voi stockade to assist in the rescue of a male orphan elephant that was hanging around some bull elephants but who was obviously without his mother and family. There was a pride of ten lions nearby who posed a serious threat to the survival of this orphan elephant for another night and he looked already in poor condition. Upon seeing the Keepers approaching him however he picked up momentum and a surprise reserve of energy and it took around one full hour for the Keepers to catch and rescue him. The orphan elephant was brought back to the Voi stockades and he immediately calmed down upon seeing Juni, the other new orphan elephant in the stockade compound. The Keepers called him Jaba, from the Orma tribe, the name for something strong.
The sun was already rising at 6am in the morning as the orphans knocked against their stockade doors to be let out for the milk feed which was almost ready. Thamana and Lemeki were the first to come rushing out of their stockades to the feeding area where they were joined by Pika Pika, Tamiyoi, Tagwa and Emoli. After the milk feed the orphans settled to feed on the lucerne pellets as usual. Ndotto and Mudanda started their morning sparring game but Mudanda broke off to check on Thamana who was being bullied by Pika Pika. Suswa came running over to help as well but Pika Pika ran off to Arruba for protection, who was still enjoying some lucerne pellets. Godoma scratched on the rock next to the stockade mud wallow. Lasayen and Murit were having a wrestling game and Mbegu was hanging out with Tamiyoi and Tagwa in the lucerne feeding area.
The orphans then set off for the bush where they settled on the open grasslands again, browsing in the direction of the baobab tree water trough.
After the noon milk feed the orphans rushed to the mud hole for a quick mud wallow before resuming browsing, making their way deep into the shrubby vegetation for the afternoon.
Later in the evening when the Voi dependent orphans were in the stockades, a female wild elephant with her single calf came to drink water from the stockade water trough. They enjoyed picking up the leftover range cubes before leaving the compound again.
The orphans were playing in the morning as usual after the milk and lucerne pellet feeding. Godoma went to lie and roll on the ground in pure happiness. Rorogoi was jealous of her game and came over to interrupt her game. Ndotto invited Mudanda for a sparring game and Suswa took advantage of Mudanda being occupied with Ndotto and went and held Thamana back with her long tusks to make him stay with her. Mudanda was certainly preoccupied with her game with Ndotto and was very excited, running here and there, charging and trumpeting. Emoli and Murit had a deep conversation, holding each other by the trunk.
The orphan elephants later left for the bush and had a lovely peaceful morning browsing, before turning and heading back to the stockades for the noon milk feed again. They didn’t spend long in the compound and soon went back out to the bush to spend the rest of the afternoon browsing.
The orphans enjoyed some games in the compound this morning. Thamana was scratching his itchy bottom on one of the stockade terraces when Ngilai approached him.
Thamana decided to sneak away slowly, suspecting that Ngilai had potentially bad intentions like trying to climb on his back. Ngilai moved forward and decided to catch up with his old Nursery friend Emoli and they had a short pushing game. Mbegu stood tall on one of the stockade terraces, cheering Emoli on below in his contest with Ngilai.
The orphans then left for the bush and they all enjoyed their peaceful morning of browsing. The new orphan elephant Jaba isn’t feeding very well and his stools are full of a black substance and very loose, meaning he sadly ingested a lot of mud before his rescue. He was given all the necessary injections and treatment.
After their morning milk feed the orphans hung around the stockade compound playing sparring games before finally leaving for the bush. Juni was fed her morning milk bottles by the Keepers as usual and we are delighted that she has fully accepted the bottle now.
The orphans came back to the stockades for their noon milk feed again today. Suswa went to the mud wallow and then scratched against the twin trees. On the other side of the mud wallow Sagala came out and went for a dust bath on the pile of loose soil. She was replaced by Ngilai who had come to have a dust bath too. He dug down at the soil mound with his massive tusks, rolling around and showing off. When Murit came over to take his place Ngilai made way for him and walked off. Murit then got in the mud bath again with Mbegu and the two had a lot of fun in the mud hole splashing around, before Murit left to dry off on the loose soil and have a proper dust bath again. Mudanda joined him there and the two, the last to leave the compound, ran to catch up with their friends who were walking out to continue their afternoon of browsing.
Early in the morning the orphans were gulping down their milk bottles before they proceeded to the lucerne pellet feeding area. Ndotto and Mudanda were wrestling as Godoma enjoyed a good scratch. Ngilai picked up his friend Emoli and they ran off to the lucerne feeding area together. Arruba was busy at the feeding trough with her adopted baby Pika Pika feeding on the range cubes, but Pika Pika started bullying Tahri to keep her away from Arruba so Arruba decided to move away with Pika Pika to avoid any further trouble. She and Pika Pika walked over to a large rock next to the stockade entrance where Arruba settled to scratch. Mbegu was enjoying what has become a rare sparring game with Ivia these days, as the rest of the orphans focused on eating up the lucerne pellets.
Sagala sweetly went to check on the new orphan Jaba inside his stockade as he is not feeling well, before following the rest of the orphans who were making their way up Msinga Hill in search of fresh foliage. Jaba wasn’t eating at all and later in the day Sagala, Tamiyoi, Thamana and Lemeki were brought down to the stockades to join Jaba for reassurance and comfort and to try and encourage him to browse on the fresh green branches but sadly he barely ate anything the whole day.
The Voi orphans woke up excited for the milk feed today, before proceeding to the area where they have their supplement food. Mbegu decided to snub her milk bottle this morning and was the first the lucerne feeding area. Ndotto and Mudanda were enjoying their usual morning wrestling game while Tamiyoi and Tagwa were on the soil mound seemingly deep in conversation. Emoli was hassling Ngilai for attention but Ngilai seemed uninterested and he continued with feeding on the range cubes. Pika Pika went to check on Juni who was also having her breakfast and minutes later, Arruba came to collect her so that they could leave for the bush together.
After the noon milk feed Lasayen and Murit started wrestling on their way down to the baobab tree water trough. Ndotto became jealous and pushed Murit to the side so that he could have a wrestling game with his best friend Lasayen.
There was a large herd of wild elephants at the water trough and they all had good time interacting with the orphans.
When the orphans came back to the stockades in the evening the Keepers supplied them with some extra lucerne pellets. Ndotto wasted no time and quickly started a wrestling game with Ivia the buffalo, while Mbegu posed by the electric fence and Lasayen lay on his belly by the terraces. Jaba is still not browsing and is fast losing condition. He lost strength to even stand and although we supplied him with drips he sadly passed away at 7pm.
Tagwa and Lemeki were sparring in the stockade this morning as the rest of the herd were busy having the morning breakfast pellets. Tagwa patted Lemeki with her trunk trying to get her attention but she walked off uninterested. Ndotto came over and begged Lemeki to play with him, but she once again walked off and joined Thamana at the feeding area. Mudanda doesn’t seem to be as preoccupied with Thamana and Lemeki in the morning at the moment so Ndotto is taking advantage of that and invites Mudanda to a wrestling game every morning. They carried on wrestling throughout the whole entire morning today! Ngilai decided to take on Murit for their own wrestling game, and Lasayen and Godoma the same. Lasayen then went to pose on the terraces and he was left behind by the Voi herd as they started to walk out to the bush for the day.
Pika Pika and Arruba settled at the foot of Msinga Hill, while Embu, Rorogoi and friends maneuvered their way up to the top of the hill to browse. Lemeki, Thamana and Tamiyoi joined Mbegu halfway up the hill to browse, but they all came down eventually for the noon milk feed.
Lasayen and Murit enjoyed an early morning sparring game as Godoma scratched on the rock next to the stockade mud hole. Ngilai enjoyed an early morning dust bath just next to the mud wallow, as he pondered the idea of having an early morning mud wallow as well. Arruba took on Murit for a wrestling game as soon as he was done with Lasayen, as Ndotto took on Mbegu for yet another exciting sparring fight. Eventually the orphans seemed to make a unanimous decision and they all took off from the compound to the browsing grounds where they settled in single file, enjoying the vegetation they found. Ngilai approached his favourite girl Tagwa and tried to climb on her back but Tagwa just moved away from him. We’re not sure why Ngilai has chosen Tagwa as his favourite girl but at the moment his advances don’t seem to be reciprocated. Ngilai closed his eyes and bit his trunk in frustration and in deep thought of what to do next.
Juni is still doing well in her stockade and recovering well, successfully drinking milk from a bottle. Her swollen umbilical cord area is slowly healing and decreasing in size with the continued medicine she is receiving.
The sun rose and shone some beautiful rays of light into the stockade compound as the orphan elephants were coming out of their stockades for the beginning of a busy browsing day. They concentrated on their usual feeding activity before engaging in some amazing hide and seek games in the stockade compound. The recently returned Tahri loved lying on the soft soil piles rolling and having fun, before sprinting to join up with her friends leaving for the bush for the day.
The orphans bypassed some lions hunting to the north with the help of the morning monitoring team of Keepers, and they spent a very peaceful morning browsing halfway up the Msinga Hill.
After browsing for more than five hours on the hill, the orphans came down in preparation to move towards the water hole. Mudanda found herself held hostage by Ndotto, caught up in a wrestling match, and they later came slowly to catch up with their friends at the water hole.
After the noon milk feeding the orphans went to drink clean water from the trough but were reluctant to take a bath due to the prevailing cold and cloudy weather. Embu broke the silence however and plunged into the water for a swim. Her friends chose to settle at the edge of the water and just splash themselves with a bit of mud using their trunks. Soon after the orphans left to continue browsing, a wild elephant herd arrived to drink water too.