The highlight of the month was undoubtedly the arrival of little Zuri, the newest addition to our Nursery family. This young elephant was rescued on 20th May after she was discovered inside a septic tank. Her herd had long since abandoned her, and she was completely trapped. Because the rescue unfolded long after dark, Zuri overnighted at our Voi stockades and was flown to Nairobi the following morning.
The arrival of a tiny new baby sent all the older girls into a frenzy of excitement. We gave Zuri a few days to settle in her stable, but that decision left us with some very unhappy nannies. Mzinga, Nyambeni, and Muridjo were obsessed with the new girl and could think of little else. They kept trying to sneak back to the stockades to be with her and became very disgruntled when their efforts were thwarted.
After three days of rest, Zuri had settled very well, so we gave in to the nannies' demands. We gathered Mzinga, Nyambeni, Kipekee, Wamata, Daba, Muridjo, and Arthi to escort her out to the forest. Everyone was trumpeting and rumbling, trying to touch and smell the new baby, who could hardly walk because she was surrounded by elephants. Eventually they allowed her to walk up the path to the forest, where she browsed in the midst of her new, very protective family. From that day forward, Zuri was part of the herd.
Predictably, the arrival of Zuri left Kipekee rather out of sorts. She is no longer the youngest, most spoiled baby of the herd. When she sees the nannies clustering around Zuri, she does her very best to muscle in between them. But when her jealousy doesn't get the better of her, the two girls have a wonderful time playing together. We even moved Kipekee to the stable next to Zuri's so they could be night-time neighbours.
The younger elephants learn from and imitate the older elephants. When rascals Nyambeni and Pardamat do not want to do what the Keepers are asking, their two favourite tricks are either to kick out with their back legs or to reverse as the Keepers walk past. One morning, we witnessed Wamata, Daba, and Kipekee copying these behaviours: Kipekee and Daba kicked their legs, and Wamata did a sudden backwards move.
Alia is a clever girl. Sometimes she browses at a distance from the other orphans, but she always monitors wherever they are heading. Some of the Keepers joke that Alia has a GPS in her head because, even when she is far behind, she never loses track of the herd. She is a gentle, quiet girl who likes to do her own thing but also enjoys playing with Daba, Arthi, Talek, and Kipekee.
Tusks are important in elephant families for many reasons, one of which is as visual displays of size and power. In our herd, we have one bull whose tusks are erupting late and one whose tusks have erupted early. Pardamat may be close to four years old, but he does not yet have any tusks. He has two large swellings where his tusks will one day be, but they are taking a long time to break out. Daba, meanwhile, is just over a year old and already has two tiny tusks. He loves to show them off and feels confident enough to challenge his buddy Arthi to wrestling games — although Arthi is several months older, he has no tusks.
He may not have tusks yet, but Arthi is learning lots of good techniques. We often find him practising with Taroha, the oldest bull in the herd, who is loved by all the youngsters because he is never rough. These lessons often turn into a play pile, with Taroha laying down on his side and all the babies clambering over him.
Olomunyak is still very young, but he is shaping up to be a big, strong bull. He has always been playful and determined, but having tusks gives him even more confidence. He is happy to challenge Pardamat to a strength contest — and sometimes he even wins!
Talek has such a soft character towards the younger babies and will put up with any of their nonsense. Olomunyak or Kipekee can pester and push her, but she will always tolerate their behaviour and never retaliates. The older orphans are a different story: if Pardamat pushes her, she stands her ground and pushes back!
Mzinga and Nyambeni are full of confidence and cheek. The two girls were rescued around the same time, as tiny babies, and have grown up together as sisters. Sometimes they disobey the Keepers at the mud bath; sometimes they sneak away from the herd in the forest. When we whistle to call them back, they blithely stroll onwards. They certainly feel like they're the "big girls on campus"!
Muridjo is a good mini-matriarch and takes her responsibilities seriously. She never walks far from the herd and can usually be found close to Kipekee, and now Zuri. When she does wander off, at least one other nanny — Mzinga, Nyambeni, Alia, or Talek — steps over to take her place. As she settles completely into her new family, Alia is showing a nurturing streak.
Young Wamata is also showing signs of becoming a very good junior nanny. One morning towards the end of the month, she exited her stable, popped next door to pick up Daba, and led him over to the stables where Kipekee and Zuri sleep. Wamata knocked on Kipekee's door, alerting her that it was time to go. When we opened the two doors, she walked in to collect Zuri and led the three younger orphans up the path behind the others. Not so long ago, Wamata was the jealous, spoiled baby of our Nursery herd — so there is hope for Kipekee yet!
We had a funny moment with Muridjo this month. As is his habit, the big black rhino was standing by his gate in the morning so he could greet the orphans as they headed into the forest. Muridjo, Taroha, Pardamat, and Talek were competing over who could trunk-touch Max's ears, while he stood stock still and enjoyed all the attention. The mini-matriarch turned her backside to the other three elephants in order to block their access to Max, so she could have him all to herself.
Tytan enjoyed the dramatic storms that dotted the month — a rhino's dream! Whenever he felt raindrops, Tytan would start celebrating. Rather than his usual plodding pace, he would break into a lumber, with Notty the zebra in hot pursuit.
On 25th May, Tytan underwent a procedure to remove a growth from the inside of his mouth that was causing discomfort. Tytan was sedated, and the KWS veterinary team, led by Dr Mijele, and our on-call veterinarian, Dr Sanjay, went to work. They are optimistic that it was a granuloma, likely caused by food getting stuck within the gum.
In the days following the operation, Tytan rested up in his stockade to limit his diet to milk and soft greens as his mouth heals, punctuated by short sojourns outside. He seemed very content with his situation — rhinos are very good at taking it easy — though Notty was eager to have her sidekick back.