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On an overcast morning, our 12 orphans padded out of their stockades and walked up the path to the forest. They soon spread out to browse on an abundance of grass. Taroha, Talek, Wamata and Olomunyak twisted up trunkfuls while Nyambeni and Mzinga stood tall to pull down tasty leaves from trees. Muridjo stood with Daba on one side and Kipekee on the other, while Arthi hung out with Alia and Pardamat.

Visiting the mud bath for a milk feed later in the morning, the herd ran down the path in small groups to Keepers waiting with bottles of milk. Ten ran quietly but two did not. Our current screamers, Arthi and Daba, can be relied upon to shout their way down the path, just in case no one has a bottle ready for them!

After drinking their milk, the orphans stood quietly around the wallow. Some drank from the troughs while others picked up pieces of lucerne — but no one opted to cool off in the muddy water.

Returning to the forest, the elephants gathered around an area of loose soil for a dusting session. Playful mini matriarch Muridjo lay down to rub her face and belly against the ground. Little ones Daba and Kipekee had lots of fun climbing onto her belly and sliding off. When Muridjo walked away, Nyambeni and Talek took her place and the two youngest members of the herd had two more play cushions!

Tytan and Notty visited the mud bath as usual this morning. After drinking their milk, as they were walking around the wallow, the rain began to fall. This made Tytan excited. Rather than plodding, the rhino was running. Ignoring the whistles of the Keepers, he completed a lap of the wallow and lumbered up the path to the forest with Notty in hot pursuit!

On their way up the path this morning, not only Taroha but also Daba stopped off to greet Maxwell. Daba arrived first at Max’s gate and then Taroha. They extended their trunks through the gaps and laid them, as usual, on Max’s head for a few minutes. Then the elephants carried on to the forest and the blind rhino went back to grazing on pellets.

In the afternoon the sun was shining and many orphans cooled off around the wallow. While some stood on the edge splashing, Daba, Olomunyak and Taroha lay on their sides in the mud. Daba rubbed his belly against the wall while Olomunyak climbed on and off Taroha.

Last night, at around 9:30 PM, a little hippo rescued in Naivasha was brought to the Nursery. His mother is suspected to have died from natural causes. The tiny hippo slept well in a stockade lying next to Keeper Simon. In the morning, Taru and Keeper Joseph flew up and took Bumpy, as he has been named, to our Kaluku Unit.

When the elephants heard the truck carrying Bumpy arriving in the evening, they probably thought that it was a rescued elephant rather than a hippo. Arthi and Olomunyak began rumbling quietly and then not so quietly, alerting the others that something was happening. Daba and Kipekee responded and then Muridjo, Nyambeni and Mzinga. It took time to calm the orphans and for them to lie down and rest.

In the morning, as soon as we opened their doors, Mzinga, Talek, Muridjo and Nyambeni made a beeline for the stable where Bumpy was sleeping to see if he was a baby elephant. Only when they realised that he was not, did the four girls walk out to the forest with the herd.

Later in the morning, Pardamat did a very good job for the herd in the forest. Sometimes, the babies will take advantage of loose soil dug up by warthogs for hide-out holes for dust bathing. They love rolling in the piles of earth and sucking up trunkfuls with which to dust their bodies. Pardamat found a patch of soil today and was about to start dusting when he saw a hyena hiding in the hole! Trumpeting loudly, our brave naughty boy chased the hyena away with Olomunyak joining him for reinforcement!  

It has taken Alia time to gain her confidence within the herd. When she first arrived at the Nursery, some of the bulls gave her a hard time. Pardamat was first to chase Alia and try to mount her but younger bulls Olomunyak and Arthi soon followed his example. (It is normal for younger elephants to mimic older ones.)

But this dynamic has shifted. Pardamat and Alia have become good friends who often browse in the forest together. This morning, when young Arthi made the mistake of pushing her, he was rewarded with a stern shove as she drove him away. We are happy to see Alia standing her ground.

Despite being just a zebra who is much weaker than a rhino, Notty has become Tytan’s security guard. And her defence mechanism is her hind legs! She is so protective of Tytan even when the threat is just a family of warthogs. In the afternoon, some warthogs trotted over to graze next to Tytan in the forest. Notty was standing a short distance away. As soon as she became aware of the pigs, she turned, cantered over, and drove away the innocent warthogs.

Later in the afternoon, there was a brief downpour of rain. It was so heavy that the elephants headed straight for the trees and took shelter under their canopies. Meanwhile, Max was enjoying the rain, first wallowing in the mud and then running around his enclosure.

The gentle boy of the herd was with Max again this morning. In a jovial mood, Taroha ambled out of his room soon after dawn and played a gentle pushing game with Alia. Then he walked over to Max’s gate, stood close and kept pushing the gate to attract the rhino’s attention. At first, Max ignored him and continued grazing on his pile of pellets. When Max finally walked over to his gate, Taroha laid his trunk along the rhino’s back while continuing to push the gate and rub his head on the ground. Max stood still enjoying the attention.

Pardamat arrived a few minutes later and challenged Taroha to a wrestling match. The bulls clashed heads and pushed back and forth. Olomunyak then joined them and the three friends strolled out to the forest together.

Later in the morning, the elephants visited the mud bath for a milk feed. Arthi and Daba were in the last group sent down the path. Arthi jogged down in front of Daba who was trumpeting in protest as he did his (unsuccessful) best to overtake his friend. Arthi was also shouting. Only Nyambeni responded to the shouting by running over to greet the boys. The other older females ignored the trumpets, knowing that it was lots of noise about nothing.

As the others drank from the troughs or browsed on supplementary lucerne, Taroha engaged Pardamat and Nyambeni in a wrestling game. Pushing games at the mud bath are usually half hearted in contrast to games in the forest. But today, the three became so excited by the game that they were running all over the place.

Today, Kipekee was looking good and was back to her normal cheeky self. She has had an upset tummy for the past couple of days and hasn’t been feeding well either on milk or greens. Mzinga, Muridjo, Nyambeni and Talek have played a big role in her recovery.

Every morning (including today), Talek has been waiting outside her door for Kipekee to toddle out of her stable. Talek begins walking her up the path to the forest and the older girls join them along the way. But, as soon as Muridjo, Nyambeni or Mzinga arrives, Kipekee pushes away Talek who is younger than them.

Talek has such a soft character towards the younger ones and will put up with any nonsense. Although Olomunyak is younger, he is a strong bull and can be rough towards Talek. Sometimes he runs at her; sometimes he pushes her. Talek tolerates his behaviour and never retaliates. The older ones are a different story. If Pardamat pushes her, she stands her ground and pushes back!

So, when Kipekee pushed Talek this morning, the older girl just walked away and left her in the care of the older girls. Out in the woods, Kipekee fed well with at least one nanny in attendance. If all three older girls moved away, sweet Talek took their place.

As usual, the orphans returned to the stockades at around five o’clock in the afternoon. Wamata, Daba, Arthi and Kipekee ran down the path rumbling for their bottles. Kipekee won the race from the forest back to the stockades, overtaking the boys on the corner, in case confirmation was required that she is 100% back to normal!  

Mzinga loves pellets so much and, because she is a clever girl, has worked out that the rhinos’ pellets are her best bet! On her way out to the forest in the mornings, she is always on the lookout for extras. Mzinga knows where Tytan’s bag of pellets is kept (in case he gets hungry at nighttime) and that there are often a few to be found on the ground under the bag.

In the early morning, Mzinga headed for Max’s gate on two missions — to greet the rhino and to share his pellets, as sometimes there is a pile close to his gate. She trunk touched Max and swept her trunk over the ground around his feet. Finding no pellets, she headed for Tytan’s stable — with a Keeper chasing her as the rest of the herd was already in the forest. In one moment, Mzinga had sucked up a trunkful of pellets from under the bag and was speeding out to the forest, without dropping a single one along the way!

As she ran out, Nyambeni and Muridjo were padding back to find her in case something was wrong. Catching sight of her sisters, Mzinga came to a halt and popped the pellets into her mouth. She was not in the mood for sharing. A few pellets, however, fell on the ground and Nyambeni picked them up before Muridjo had a chance. Her two friends realised why Mzinga was running from the Keepers and the three girls strolled back to join the herd.

In the afternoon, we spotted a black rhino and her male calf on the rocky area near the mud bath. The calf was smaller than Tytan. We wondered if the rhino could be Solio but the Keepers who raised her confirmed that she was not. The mama rhino and her baby enjoyed the salt lick and disappeared into the bush.

When we opened the doors this morning, Muridjo and the rest of the herd headed straight up the path towards the forest but had to stop at the wooden barrier which was still in place because it was very early. Our mini matriarch stood by the barrier looking around for for a Keeper to open the gate. When one did not immediately appear, the leader of the herd took matters into her own hands. One after the other, she removed the two poles with her trunk. First, she pulled out the upper pole. After glancing around to check that a Keeper was not coming, she started on the lower pole. She held one end of the pole with her trunk while Taroha twisted his trunk around the middle to help her. They succeeded! Trumpeting in triumph, Muridjo then led the others out to the forest while Taroha stayed back, holding onto the pole to make sure that no one tripped over it!

As the elephants settled to browse in clearings in the forest, Wamata and Arthi played chasing games with the impalas. Every time the antelopes came close, the two elephants chased them away with trunks aloft and ears flared. Tiring of the game, Arthi engaged Daba in a pushing contest but it was not long before Nyambeni strode between them and brought the game to an end.

It has rained a lot recently and so the babies have not been wallowing in the mud bath. Muridjo did not wallow during the public visit today, but she did stand on the edge splashing the muddy water with her trunk. When the visitors cheered, she responded by splashing more and more, bringing her show to an end with a quick roll around in the mud. Following her lead, Mzinga and Talek then climbed into the wallow, lay down and had a proper mud bath.

It poured with rain in the night. Wamata, Arthi and Olomunyak would not settle and paced around in their stockades for a long time before at last lying down to rest. In the early morning, all the elephants were subdued. In contrast to most days, no one was playing. Instead, they stood quietly and walked slowly out to the forest where they settled to browse in small groups.

Later in the morning, more showers of rain magically lifted the mood of the herd. As the rain continued to drizzle, making many puddles, the orphans lifted their heads and began playing. The little ones, Kipekee and Daba, went first. Kipekee lay down in a large puddle and Daba joined her and the two babies tumbled over each other.

Minutes later, Alia walked over to wallow and then there were three elephants in the mud. When Pardamat made a move towards Alia, Nyambeni stepped up to protect her and also the little ones. Mzinga and Muridjo walked over to make sure all was well and join the mud bathing party. It was not long before the whole herd had gathered at the spot and was rolling in the mud together. 

Every day is different for our orphaned elephants. One day, they are excited and full of energy and, another day, they are quiet and not so playful. This morning, Taroha was very excited and happy. He strolled out of his stockade and started playing hide and seek with Nyambeni and Olomunyak, chasing his friends between and behind the stockades.

Out in the forest, Taroha challenged both friends to pushing and wrestling games, entwining trunks with one and then the other. Whenever Nyambeni or Olomunyak tried to have a break to feed or mingle with the others, he ran over and drove the others away. When Olomunyak tried to engage Alia in a pushing game, Taroha got in their way as she was not part of his team today! When Nyambeni wanted to play with Talek (who was taking care of Daba), he separated Nyambeni from Talek and engaged her in another wrestling match.

Sometimes the orphans are happy to browse surrounded by other wild animals and sometimes they want their own space. Today was one of the latter days. Warthogs often choose to graze next to the elephants, probably because they feel safer. Every time they approached the herd today, even at the mud bath, Pardamat and Wamata chased them away. Most of the others ignored the pigs but Pardamat and Wamata were having too much fun!

When we opened the gates this morning, it was Muridjo and Daba who were full of energy rather than Taroha. Muridjo marched down to Daba’s stable to pick up the baby and the two orphans began playing the tree-pushing game (there are several trees in the area outside the stockades). They went from one tree to the next pushing them with their heads and rumbling along the way. Elephants love pushing trees to test their strength or out of anger or happiness. Today, Muridjo and Daba were just happy!

Next in their sights were the water troughs. Rather than drinking from the troughs, Muridjo and Daba and Arthi and Olomunyak were splashing the water with their trunks and pushing them so water poured out!

The commotion attracted the attention of Max who started running around his enclosure and up to his gates to check if anyone was there, but no one came close to his gate today.

By now, the mood had spread through the herd and it was time to open the barrier so the orphans could head out to the forest. To our surprise, Alia was the leader today! Trumpeting at the impalas, Alia, Muridjo, Kipekee, Daba and Mzinga and the others ran up the path and through the bushes. The whole herd played chasing games through the trees before at last settling to browse.

It was another beautiful morning for the babies. They walked out of their stables slowly and quietly this morning and up the path in the forest. After settling to browse, the rain began to fall. At first it was a drizzle but soon it was a downpour. Arthi and Alia were first to head for shelter under some trees followed by Taroha, Kipekee, Daba and everybody else. The rain continued to fall and the whole herd clustered under the trees with the little ones surrounded by and standing under the older ones.

Olomunyak was first to break away. He walked out from under the trees to play in the mud and the rain. Pardamat was not far behind. Soon, everyone except Alia was rubbing bodies and tumbling in the mud. After browsing next to them for a time, even Alia joined the mud bathing party.

Later in the morning at the mud wallow, the elephants drank their milk and spread out around the wallow to browse on greens or drink from the troughs. Olomunyak walked over to Alia to play pushing and mounting games. Watching on while browsing next to Kipekee, little Daba copied the older bull. He began doing the same to Kipekee whereupon the little girl shoved him away with a loud trumpet and Arthi came running over to protect Kipekee and push away Daba.

Amid the toddler squabbles, Taroha and Muridjo were playing a sizing-up game on the other side of the wallow. The two friends pushed heads with trunks entwined, broke apart and clashed again.

In the mornings, Tytan and Notty head out to the forest after the elephants. Something, perhaps another animal, disturbed Tytan this morning and he would not settle to graze. Instead, he was charging at the bushes, snorting as he lumbered along. The tiny baby rescued eight months ago is growing into a powerful black rhino!

His antics rarely upset his friend Notty. This morning, she joined in and also trotted around the bushes, braying in excitement. We encouraged the zebra to stop braying — as we did not want to attract the attention of any lions in the vicinity!

In the afternoon, it rained and rained and soon the forest was awash with puddles. Rather than taking shelter, the elephants hung out in the rain browsing or playing. Alia and Olomunyak were browsing together while Kipekee and an entourage of four nannies explored the tiny puddles on a rocky area in the forest. Kipekee knelt to squash her trunk in a puddle while rubbing her face on the rocks while the others stood close and Muridjo kept trunk touching her. Talek also enjoyed putting her trunk in lots of tiny puddles, not to drink but just for fun.

Elephants love playing in the mud. Soon Olomunyak and Taroha lay down next to each other in a large patch of thick mud. With trunks twirling, they squelched their muddy bodies one way and then another.

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. Today, our big girls headed back to the forest while the others were still browsing around the wallow. When we whistled, they ignored us and strolled on!

Muridjo, as the mini matriarch, never walks far from the herd. Much of the time, she stays close to Kipekee; when she does wander off, at least one other nanny steps over to take her place. This morning in the forest, both Talek and Alia were looking after Kipekee. As she settles completely into her new family, Alia is showing signs of caring for the younger orphans.

After a cool morning, the clouds gathered in the afternoon and the rain came pouring down. Today, the herd was not so keen on playing in the rain. They clustered under the shelter of trees and needed no encouragement when it was time to head for home. They usually run around the corner and down to the stockades in anticipation of delicious milk, but today they sprinted back. Mzinga, Taroha, Arthi, Nyambeni and Pardamat raced back trunk to toe, pushing to overtake each other on their way to dry stables with warm beds of hay.

Notty the baby zebra is nowadays becoming naughty! Most of the time she behaves well but occasionally she does not. If something or someone upsets her, Notty kicks out with her hind legs. This morning while wandering in the forest with her Keeper, Notty played with some impalas rather than just staying close to Tytan.

Tytan is also becoming feisty. Most of the time, he grazes quietly but, if strangers come too close, he will snort in warning. If he continues to feel threatened, he will lower his head and horn and then charge.

Mzinga will never settle at the mud bath until Kipekee has arrived. Later in the morning today, she came down to the wallow for a milk feed in the first group of three (after being persuaded to go in this group). When the second group arrived and Kipekee was not among them, Mzinga ran back up the path. When she came across Pardamat leading Nyambeni, Kipekee and Muridjo, our headstrong girl pushed Pardamat out of the way, scooped up the baby and nudged her back down the path.

In the afternoon, the sun was shining and Alia, Olomunyak, Mzinga, Arthi and Wamata were browsing together, twisting up clumps of green grasses and flowers. In contrast to Voi, our forest is still very green due to all the rain. Alia was standing with back legs crossed (a sign of a relaxed elephant) while chucking clumps of grass onto her head!

Taroha has been subdued in the past two days but he was back to his usual self again today. Out in the forest in the morning, he was browsing with Daba and Arthi. The young boys often choose to be with the older bull and he is happy to hang out with them.

Later in the morning at the mud bath, he padded down the path with Muridjo and Mzinga, drank his bottles of milk and walked over to the wallow. He stood on the edge slapping the muddy water with his trunk and then climbed in for a paddle and a wallow. He lay on his side with trunk twirling with Muridjo doing the same next to him. Both elephants love mud bathing! Out he climbed to hose himself with dust and to rub his face and chest on the mound of dry soil.

In the forest in the afternoon, the sun was shining although the ground is still waterlogged after all the recent rain. Taroha, who gets on with every member of the herd, was with Wamata and Talek on the rocky area. The orphans rolled on the warm rocks, massaging every part of their bodies.

In the early evening, the dominant bull was happy to tag along at the end of the line on his way back to the stockades. He padded around the corner behind Alia and into his stockade for the night.

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 have erupted early.

Pardamat may be close to four years old, but he does not have any tusks. He has two large swellings where his tusks should be and they are taking a long time to break out. Olomunyak is a younger bull and he does have tusks. Even though Olomunyak has always been playful and determined, having tusks gives him even more confidence. He is happy to challenge Pardamat to a strength contest and sometimes he even wins!

Daba is nearly one and a half years old and he has two tiny tusks! Having tusks gives him the confidence to challenge Arthi to wrestling games as, although Arthi is several months older, he has no tusks. Today, Daba played the pushing game with Arthi in the morning and again in the afternoon. He held his own in the morning and beat his friend in the afternoon by mounting him in the mud bath. Perhaps, Daba was showing off because he is proud of his new tusks!

After an early morning milk feed, the orphans wandered out of their stables and stockades to greet their friends and drink from the water troughs. Muridjo and Kipekee led the herd out to the forest with Nyambeni and Mzinga bringing up the rear — so that our assistant mini matriarchs could check that no one had been left behind. The herd browsed in a cluster as it was a cool morning.

As the forest became warmer, the elephants spread out to browse and to play. Nyambeni stretched up tall to pull branches from trees while Wamata rubbed her backside against a tree stump and Olomunyak enjoyed a morning face rub on a patch of bare earth.

The herd visited the mud wallow as usual for a milk feed before returning to the forest to carry on browsing and exploring and playing. In the afternoon, Nyambeni and Pardamat went walkabout (but returned in good time for the next milk feed) while Taroha, Arthi, Mzinga and Wamata played in the sunshine. Arthi was climbing on and sliding off a prone Taroha while Mzinga and Wamata leant against each other.

Much to his delight, Arthi won the race back to the stockades this evening. In a group with Kipekee and Talek, he overtook the girls on the corner and sped into his stable with a victorious twirl of his trunk.

The younger elephants learn from and imitate the older elephants. When older orphans like 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. This morning at the mud bath, Wamata, Daba and Kipekee were copying these behaviours! Kipekee and Daba kicked their legs and Wamata did a sudden backwards move.

Daba seems to be turning into more of a screamer over milk than Arthi! This morning, when we were gathering the orphans into groups to send them down to the wallow for their milk, he kept complaining and pushing because he wanted to be the first elephant in the first group! Daba set off in the lead, but he cannot run very fast and so Arthi, Wamata, Talek, Alia and Olomunyak overtook him along the way. Perhaps all his shouting slowed him down!

On a sunny afternoon, Olomunyak and Pardamat played yet another pushing game in a clearing of lush grass in the forest. The boys pushed back and forth, one way and another, until finally Pardamat pushed his feisty friend to the ground!

In some months of the year, the forest is dry and dusty and the herd wander far in search of browse. At present, however, there is no need as the grass is long. This morning, the orphans stayed close to the stockades while browsing over clearings in the forest. Muridjo was with Kipekee, Daba and Olomunyak; Taroha spent time with Talek and Alia; Mzinga and Wamata were close to Arthi; and Nyambeni was with Pardamat.

Later in the morning, the herd visited the mud wallow for another milk feed. They drank their milk and spread out to browse on lucerne. While Wamata and Talek drank from the water buckets, Olomunyak and Pardamat had fun clambering onto the mound of soil, sliding down, play climbing on each other, and rubbing their faces in the dust.

In the forest in the afternoon, Notty came across a herd of wild zebras. She trotted over to them and then, as the wild zebras stared at her, returned to Tytan and the Keepers. On some days, she likes to chase the warthogs before returning to Tytan. When she does wander away, Tytan just carries on with whatever he is doing, whether grazing or resting or mud bathing

This morning in the forest, the herd spread out to browse. Determined to pull down branches from the tops of trees, Mzinga was balancing on three legs and stretching her trunk up high. Talek was copying her big sister — but could not reach quite so high. Meanwhile, Nyambeni was walking around with a store of grass balanced on her head.

Today, a new baby elephant arrived at the nursery. The little girl was rescued after being found in a septic tank near a hotel in Tsavo East National Park. After ensuring that her mother and her herd had abandoned her, a combined SWT and KWS team pulled her out of the tank and took her to the Voi stockades. She spent the night there and was flown to the nursery in a helicopter on the following morning.

Keeper Peter is looking after the little girl who is feeding well in her stable. She is already accepting a bottle and eating lots of greens and sugar cane. In the afternoon, we brought Kipekee back from the forest to calm the newbie. Kipekee stood in the next door stable, rumbling while stretching her trunk through the gaps to greet the little girl.

Although she was unsettled and rumbling a lot, the new girl slept reasonably well in the night. In the morning, she was feeding well and calmer than yesterday. Later in the morning, we brought Kipekee, Daba, Arthi and Wamata back from the forest to meet the little girl. The four orphans stood either outside her stable door (which had the top half open) or in the next-door stable. Reassured by the other elephants, the newbie returned their greetings.

After the orphans had their milk at the mud bath, while the others browsed on greens or drank from the water buckets, Daba and Kipekee were playing on the mound of dry soil. Both were keen to clamber up the pile and slide off. When Kipekee got onto the pile of soil, Daba pushed her off or got hold of her hind legs so she could not move. When Daba had his turn on the soil, Kipekee used exactly the same tactics!

Later in the afternoon, Alia, Arthi and Taroha were browsing and playing together. After filling their bellies, Taroha and Alia rolled on the ground while Arthi pushed against the two older orphans. Not far away, Nyambeni and Mzinga were also lying on the ground while Talek climbed on and off her big sisters.

After the orphans walked out of their stockades in the early morning, Taroha and Pardamat got stuck into another wrestling match. After several pushes back and forth, they ambled over to see Max who was standing next to one of his gates (as he does on most mornings when he hears the herd heading up the path). The two bulls extended their trunks through the gate to pull Max’s ears! The rhino seemed to enjoy having both ears played with, as he made no move to walk away.

Realising that they had been left behind, Taroha and Pardamat about turned and trumpeted as they ran up the path to catch up with the others. As usual, the herd spread out to browse in the forest.

Later in the morning at the mud bath, the orphans drank their milk and settled to browse on the supplementary greens. Except for Mzinga. The cheeky girl kept trying to sneak back to the forest. She walked away and a Keeper brought her back and she walked away again and a Keeper brought her back again. She knew that it was not the right time, but she was determined!

In the afternoon, while the herd browsed around them, Alia, Arthi, Wamata, Daba and Pardamat were chasing and charging after impalas. Every time the antelopes approached, the elephants chased them away with ears flared and trunks aloft.

In the evening, Kipekee slept in a different stable. We have moved her to the empty one next to the new girl so that she can be close during the night. Kipekee accepted the change without complaint and the newbie slept well, knowing that another elephant was close.

As the orphans were walking out of their rooms in the early morning, the new girl heard them and rumbled several times. This drove the big girls crazy. Trumpeting, Muridjo, Nyambeni, Mzinga, Talek and even Wamata ran all over the stockades looking for the little baby. They were demanding to see her, and it took lots of persuasion to get them up the path and out to the forest.

After most of the herd had settled to browse in the forest, Mzinga, Nyambeni and Muridjo tried to sneak back to the stockades to check out the baby. The three girls kept trumpeting. They tried to run back and then they ran over to Kipekee and Daba to touch and smell them, just in case either was the new girl. When neither was the newbie, the big girls shouted again and ran towards the stockades!

By the time the herd visited the mud bath for a milk feed, our nannies had calmed down. In the afternoon, however, we gave in to the big girls’ demands! The new girl, who has been named Zuri, has settled very well and so we decided that she was ready to join the herd. We brought a large group made up of Mzinga, Nyambeni, Kipekee, Wamata, Daba, Muridjo and Arthi back to the stockades to escort her out to the forest.

Nyambeni and Mzinga were squabbling over who should bring Zuri out of her stable. As neither would stand down, they were blocking the door and we had to push them away so Zuri could walk out! There was so much excitement! All were 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.

Kipekee is no longer the youngest and most adored baby of the herd and she is not happy with this situation! She may like little Zuri but she does not like all the attention being lavished on the new girl. After being the baby for a long time, Kipekee has some adjusting to do.

The older girls are besotted with the new baby and Zuri is surrounded wherever she goes. In the morning today, the gang of nannies headed straight for her stable and crowded around the door waiting. When Kipekee walked out first, Muridjo, Mzinga, Nyambeni, Wamata and Talek trunk touched her quickly before turning back to wait for Zuri!

Her Keeper opened the door, Zuri toddled out, and the nannies scooped her up. They shepherded her to the field with Kipekee a few steps behind. Out in the field, Kipekee, understandably, did her unsuccessful best to push Zuri away from Mzinga and Nyambeni who kept her tucked between them. Zuri is being pampered with great love and care which will help to heal the trauma of losing her mother — and Kipekee is adjusting to the arrival of a little sister!

Tytan has developed a growth inside his mouth which has been causing discomfort. In the afternoon, the KWS veterinary team, led by Dr Mijele, and our on-call veterinarian, Dr Sanjay, carried out a medical procedure on the rhino. The procedure lasted over two hours but went smoothly. Tytan was sedated and the team removed the mass from inside his mouth. Dr Sanjay is optimistic that it was a granuloma, likely caused by food getting stuck within the gum. After the operation, Tytan slept well in his stockade overnight.

This morning, the herd padded out to the forest from the stockades and settled to browse. After filling their bellies, they rubbed themselves against tree stumps or tumbled together on the ground. They were in playful moods — perhaps because the herd has a new member. Zuri was enjoying her third day in the field with the other orphans who are giving lots of love, care and protection to the newbie.

Today, we are happy to see Zuri browsing with Kipekee. Kipekee has not been happy since she lost her position of the youngest in the herd to the new baby. All the big girls are fussing over Zuri and Kipekee is getting used to less attention. But elephants are very adaptable. In the morning, Zuri was rolling on the ground, enjoying soil bathing with Kipekee, Arthi, Daba, Wamata and Talek!

When bully Pardamat tried to join them, Muridjo aborted his mission. She saw him approach and thought he would be rough to the younger ones. Seeing the mini matriarch on her way, Pardamat walked off in a different direction to play pushing games with Olomunyak.

Following the surgery on his mouth, Tytan was looking well today. He was drinking milk and feeding on soft greens in his stockade but visited the mud bath as usual in the morning and the afternoon.

Pardamat was up to his old tricks in the afternoon. He kept pestering Alia and trying to mount her and so we intervened. The mischievous bull was given a time out from the herd a few metres away, despite his trumpets of protest. Alia was not bothered by his behaviour and continued browsing peacefully with Arthi.

This morning, Kipekee and Daba were playing games outside the stockades. The two friends played the pushing game and then they ran through the older orphans and along the passageways between the stockades. They were playing a chasing game and taking it in turns to do the chasing. When Daba got carried away and started mounting Kipekee as well as running after her, the clever girl found refuge with Muridjo. Kipekee stood close to the mini matriarch, whereupon Daba came to an abrupt halt and ran for cover!

Out in the forest, Arthi was having wrestling lessons from Taroha, the oldest bull in the herd who is loved by all the youngsters because he is never rough. Arthi did his best and Taroha was careful not to hurt the younger bull. When Taroha lay down on his side, Arthi clambered onto his belly and slid off. Daba, Wamata and Alia joined the game and soon the four orphans were taking it in turns to climb on the bull.

Later in the day, the herd visited the mud wallow for another milk feed. They emptied their bottles and spread out to feed on greens. Today was a calm day — no one wallowed in the mud or played on the dry soil. Even Mzinga was behaving herself and did exactly what the Keepers said!

Wamata is showing signs of becoming a very good baby nanny. This morning, our growing girl popped next door to pick up neighbour 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 walk out and that she was waiting. When we opened the two doors, she walked in to collect Zuri and led the three younger orphans up the path behind the others.

On a cool and cloudy morning, the herd had a peaceful browsing session in the forest. In contrast to most days, no one was showing off or playing wrestling and mounting games. They kept their heads down and focused on filling their bellies.

A couple of hours later, Talek, Pardamat, Olomunyak and Arthi decided to chase some impalas grazing near them. Their bush bashing and trumpeting prompted shy Alia to run off in a different direction. Two Keepers found her on her way down to the mud wallow for the next milk feed.

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.

This morning, Nyambeni, Mzinga and Talek made a beeline for the two stables where Kipekee and Zuri sleep and stood outside waiting. Mischievous Mzinga was knocking on the door, trying to open it herself rather than wait for a Keeper. As soon as the two babies walked out, the three girls surrounded them and shepherded them up the path. Maybe sharing nannies will not be so bad for indulged baby Kipekee!

While most of the herd settled to browse, young bulls Taroha and Pardamat played another pushing and wrestling game. Their strength contest attracted the attention of Arthi and Daba, who did not risk joining in but stood on the sidelines admiring the big boys.

After visiting the mud wallow for a milk feed, the orphans spent the afternoon wandering in the forest. Taroha, Talek, Mzinga, Nyambeni and Olomunyak were playing in a large patch of thick mud. Olomunyak and Talek had a great time play climbing on and sliding off Mzinga and Taroha.

Titan continues to do well after his recent surgery. He is still staying in his stockade and enjoying lots of soft greens as the harder greens in the forest could affect the healing of his gums. Notty is choosing to keep him company in her adjoining stockade!

Mzinga, Nyambeni, Wamata, Taroha, Pardamat and Olomunyak began chasing and charging impalas that they encountered close to the stockades in the morning. The trumpeting and bush bashing attracted the attention of Kipekee, Arthi, Alia, Talek, Daba, Muridjo and Zuri. Soon, the whole herd was running in different directions through the bush to find the impalas who had sensibly disappeared.

Kipekee, Daba, Arthi and Zuri found it difficult to trumpet and bush bash at the same time and so they just ran along happily in the general direction of Muridjo, Mzinga, Nyambeni and Talek. They became so excited that they stopped following the big girls and just ran in and out of the bushes!

Later in the morning, back in the forest after another milk feed, Mzinga, Olomunyak, Talek and Nyambeni rolled on an area of dry ground to cover themselves with soil. Daba, Arthi and Kipekee walked over to play. Arthi managed to get a hold, but Kipekee and Daba found it difficult to climb on the huge bodies of the older elephants and ended up climbing onto poor Talek’s head!   

In the afternoon, Pardamat and Olomunyak had another strength contest. The growing young bulls keep challenging each other. They respect Taroha as the dominant bull but are competing for the position of second strongest in the herd.

Muridjo, Taroha, Pardamat and Talek were competing over who could trunk touch Max’s ears this morning while the rhino stood next to his gate enjoying the attention. The mini matriarch turned her backside to the other three in an attempt to block access to Max. Her plan worked for a short time, until the others pushed past to stretch their trunks through the bars and over Max’s head.

In the forest this morning, cheeky Mzinga and confident Nyambeni snuck away from the herd with Kipekee, Daba, Alia and Arthi. They disappeared and settled to browse deep in the forest. We did not need to follow their tracks, however, as Muridjo and Talek did the job for us. The two orphans picked up their scent and led us to the six elephants who were browsing in a clearing.

At the mud wallow today, Wamata, Alia, Arthi, Daba and Kipekee had fun tumbling over the mound of dry soil together. They rubbed bellies and pushed each other and climbed up and slid down the pile of soil.

Later in the afternoon, Alia and Arthi were playing. They rolled around on the ground in the forest. Arthi was play mounting Alia and Alia was climbing on top of Arthi. Alia still likes her own company but is choosing to play with the others more and more often.

For now, Tytan remains on ‘bed rest’ in his stockade, to limit his diet to milk and soft greens as his mouth heals. He is fed heaps of lovely grasses, which he enjoys enormously, and has been happily taking it easy.