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The morning was chilly with light drizzles and so we decided to leave Kipekee in her stable until the rain stopped. Because of this, Muridjo, Nyambeni, Mzinga and Talek did their best to delay going out to the forest. Our girls ignored the Keepers’ whistles and carried on wandering around the stockades. We had to push all four nannies up the path to join the herd in the forest. To their relief, the little girl joined them two hours later and was welcomed with a chorus of rumbles.

After the orphans returned to the forest from the mud bath later in the morning, Kerrio instigated a mud bathing party. Finding a large patch of thick mud, our mini matriarch lay down on her side with trunk twirling, inviting the others to play. Talek, Wamata, Mzinga, Taroha and Pardamat responded and soon not only Wamata but also Taroha and Pardamat were clambering all over their big sister.

In the afternoon, the herd returned to the mud bath for another milk feed. Kerrio, Kamili, Taroha, Latika and Wamata were in the second group sent down the path. Five elephants left us at the top of the path but only four arrived at the wallow. Along the way, Kerrio took a left and disappeared into the bush - where we found her browsing happily. Kerrio is growing up and becoming less bothered about milk feeds.

The older girls in the herd are continuing to take it in turns to look after Kipekee. This morning, Muridjo and Kamili were on Kipekee duty. The small elephant browsed peacefully between her older sisters who moved through the forest at her pace and did not allow any other orphan to come close. Nyambeni, Mzinga, Talek and Latika did not even try. They were content to leave her with Muridjo and Kamili.

Later in the morning at the wallow, the orphans drank their milk and spread out to drink water from the buckets or browse on greens. The day was cool and cloudy and no one even paddled. Only Pardamat and Mzinga bothered with a dust bath – the two elephants rubbed faces and bellies and rolled around on the loose soil. Sometimes Mzinga allows Pardamat to play mount her and sometimes she does not. Today she was happy to allow his advances - and he was happy to relax on her belly.

In the afternoon, after the orphans settled to browse in the forest, Olomunyak, Talek, Pardamat, Wamata, Nyambeni and Taroha had a playful time chasing and charging after some warthogs and their little ones. They trundled through the trees while the pigs nipped away. At one point, the warthogs ran in the wrong direction between the elephants’ legs - whereupon Wamata and Olomunyak trumpeted loudly in an elephant overreaction to small animals posing no threat at all.

The path to the forest goes along one side and around the corner of Maxwell’s enclosure. Since Tytan’s arrival, Max has made a new place for his midden in the corner that the new rhino has to walk past every morning. On his way past today, cheeky Tytan paused at the corner to defecate – on the other side of the fence just two metres from Max’s midden. Our old male rhino is challenging our new male rhino – and the little boy is pushing back.

Muridjo, Nyambeni, Mzinga, Latika, Kerrio, Talek and Wamata have from a very young age welcomed, cared for and protected new orphans arriving at the Nursery. Kamili did not often behave in a maternal way until this year when she became very caring towards many of the younger elephants. The older females help the rescued babies to heal from the trauma and stress of losing their mothers and families. Little Kipekee was rescued when she was one month old and was the only small baby in the herd for several months. As a result, she has had so much love and attention from her big sisters. Our spoilt baby is hardly ever told off by the other females!

At the mud bath this morning, the orphans were calm and relaxed. No one was showing off or wrestling or mud bathing or even soil bathing. Instead, all were busy feeding on greens. The only orphan who misbehaved today was Kipekee! This little girl has bonded with her Keepers but quite likes to push other human beings if they get too close. When she tried to push the visitors standing at the rope cordon, we whisked her away and told her off. But Muridjo, Nyambeni and Mzinga just ignored the naughty behaviour of untouchable Kipekee!

In the morning, all the orphans padded out of their stockades, greeted each other, walked up the path and settled to browse in the forest. Orphans like Pardamat, Taroha and Olomunyak, who are fond of wrestling as soon as they step out of their rooms, were behaving very calmly.

As the others were browsing, Arthi sneaked away from the herd and made his way to the mud bath. He was hoping to find some delicious milk. When he found neither a wheelbarrow full of bottles nor a Keeper ready to feed him, he made an enormous fuss by yelling loudly. Two of us ran to the wallow to find a sulky Arthi standing under the tree. He is an upcoming greedy boy!

Later in the morning, the sun was shining and the orphans went swimming. Wamata, Olomunyak, Pardamat, Kerrio, Mzinga and Taroha took the lead, climbing into the muddy water one after the other. Soon the wallow was full of splashing elephants, with some lying on their bellies and others standing and slapping the water with their trunks. Arthi and Kipekee sensibly remained on the edge, rather than risk being squashed by the older elephants, while two Keepers chucked shovelfuls of mud over their bodies. Kipekee loves mud bathing but not in a crowd.

In the afternoon, Tytan went paddling in the forest. Coming across a large puddle, the small rhino climbed very slowly into the muddy water, squeaking as he did so. After a brief paddle, he climbed out the other side, browsed some more, and lay down for a nap in the sunshine.

This morning in the forest, as the orphans were busy browsing, a group of impalas gave them a fright by sprinting through the bushes. Predictably, the elephants overreacted and began charging and trumpeting and bush bashing in every direction. Kerrio, Latika, Muridjo, Kamili, Taroha and Nyambeni were the first to react; minutes later every member of the herd was charging around. Even Kipekee was running fast on her very small legs, doing her best to keep up with the others even though she is not big enough to bush bash. But she still had a tight guard from Mzinga, Muridjo, Nyambeni, Kamili and Latika. Somehow the older girls charged and bush bashed while keeping the little girl between at least two of them at all times!

The sun was shining today and the orphans cooled off in the mud wallow later in the morning. After gulping down their bottles, many headed for the muddy pool. Kamili, Mzinga, Taroha, Latika, Pardamat, Kerrio, Talek and Olomunyak clambered in one by one and soon the wallow was full of splashing elephants. While Kerrio lay in the middle, Kamili stood next to her and rubbed her backside against our mini matriarch.

Even the small ones got wet this morning. Usually, the younger orphans stay away from the pool when the older orphans are wallowing because they do not want to risk being squashed. But today Kipekee nipped away from security guards Nyambeni and the Keepers and popped into the water. As soon as they saw her, Latika, Muridjo, Kamili and Mzinga gathered around, protecting her from being pushed under while pushing her gently out of the wallow

Pardamat was at his most mischievous this morning. On walking out of his room, he decided to hold Talek hostage in her neighbouring room. Rather than walking over to join the others, Pardamat took three steps left and stood blocking her exit. Talek pushed and tried to squeeze her way past him - but this was impossible. Pardamat pushed back hard as if challenging her to a wrestling match. Luckily, Latika dealt with the situation and so we did not have to intervene. She forced the boy right into the girl’s room, creating a space for Talek to run out, leaving the naughty boy in her stable.

When it was time for the next milk feed, we gathered the orphans in the forest and sent Muridjo, Nyambeni, Mzinga and Kamili down in the first group to the wheelbarrow of milk and line of Keepers. All four girls ran through the trees, drank their bottles and turned back. Kipekee had stayed back with Kerrio, Talek and Latika. So Muridjo, Nyambeni, Mzinga and Kamili all ran back to pick up the little girl and escort her to the wheelbarrow!

Later in the morning, the herd visited the mud wallow. In contrast to yesterday, they did not cool off in the muddy pool. Most of the herd browsed calmly on greens or drank from the water buckets. Taroha and Wamata rubbed faces and rolled around on the heap of loose soil. After sliding on their bottoms, Mzinga and Olomunyak pushed against each other; when Mzinga lay on her side, Olomunyak rested his bulk against her.

Arthi is the new timekeeper of the herd! This morning, we were slightly late opening the orphans’ gates, thus delaying the herd going out to the field to browse. Five minutes after the usual time, Arthi started complaining about the delay, trumpeting loudly again and again! Mzinga is the number one older girl who responds when a younger orphan shouts. This morning, Mzinga started yelling, trying to knock her door open so she could check on Arthi. When Mzinga shouted, Nyambeni joined in, Muridjo pushed hard at her door, and Kerrio trumpeted and paced up and down her stockade. There was so much noise.

We were left with no choice but to open the doors whether we were ready or not. A herd of very excited elephants rushed out of their stables, gathered in one big group and left for the field in a tight cluster. Once in the forest, they calmed down and settled to browse in small groups.

Tytan and Notty walk out from their stockades after the elephants. This morning in the forest, one Keeper gave them both a bottle of milk. The rhino and the zebra stood side by side while the Keeper held a large bottle in his left hand for Tytan and a much smaller one in his right hand for Notty! Later in the morning, the two friends visited the mud wallow for the first time. They walked calmly along the rope cordon and Tytan had a roll in the dust with Notty watching on before they returned to the bush with their Keepers.

Since Tytan arrived at the Nursery, Max has changed the place of his day midden, moving it to the fence next to the path out to the forest. Our old rhino is marking his territory. When Tytan first went out to the forest, he used to sprint past Max’s enclosure, especially the corner with the midden. But no longer. In recent days, Tytan has started to challenge Max’s dominance by leaving his dung on the other side of the fence. He pauses on most days to defecate in the same place, asserting that he belongs and that this is also his territory.

Today, as Tytan plodded up the path, Max was standing on the other side of the fence. When Tytan defecated, Max charged at the fence. We shouted at him to stop. When this made no difference, we moved Tytan on to the woods as quickly as possible. As the saying goes, a baby snake is still a snake!

The new girl rescued near Voi last month has been confined to her stable while she settles in to the Nursery. Today was Alia’s first day with the herd. We escorted her out to the forest and the older girls welcomed her with rumbles. As she is very shy, she chose to browse at a distance from the others. Nyambeni and Mzinga were especially welcoming – they touched her and encouraged her to come close but she was determined to keep her distance. The newbie is two years old and it is likely to take her longer to become part of the herd.

In contrast to the new girl, the new boy from Voi is already part of the pack. Today, Nyambeni and Mzinga had to make do with looking after Daba when Alia resisted their advances. They sandwiched the little boy between them for most of the morning.

Kerrio was the first out of her stockade this morning. Today, rather than knocking on doors, she decided to have fun with the rhinos. Max was already up and standing by his gate, waiting for someone to say hello. Kerrio walked over, greeted Max with a rumble, and played a game of pushing and pulling at his gate. Max enjoys his early morning time with the elephants before they go to the forest.

When the warthogs popped through their tunnel under the fence to his enclosure, Max shifted his attention to the pigs, turned around and walked over to enjoy his breakfast pile of pellets. Kerrio shifted her attention too and walked over to Tytan’s stable. The young rhino was still lying on his bed of hay. She woke him up by shaking his gate. Tytan stood up and charged towards his gate - but came to a halt when he saw Kerrio trumpeting with ears flared. He ran backwards and hid behind his hanging greens. The standoff continued for a few minutes until the others wandered out and Kerrio led the whole herd to the forest.

Kamili has become a caring nanny towards some of the babies but not all of them. Little Daba is a newcomer and Kamili has not yet accepted him. This morning at the mud wallow, Kamili was pushing the younger elephant for no reason. First Kerrio pushed her away from Daba and then, when she did it again, Mzinga and Nyambeni came to his rescue.

What a morning full of trumpets from excited elephants! At first light, Mzinga began trumpeting in her stable. As soon as we opened her door, she ran around the compound, waking up the others. Her mood infected the herd and soon many were rumbling and shouting. Mzinga headed up the path followed by a sprinting Latika and many others. They ran past Max standing at his gate with head held high waiting for a greeting. But today no one even slowed down on their way past the large rhino.

Out in the forest, Mzinga, Kerrio, Latika, Nyambeni, Muridjo, Kamili, Arthi, Wamata and Kipekee continued trumpeting while jogging in random directions through the bushes. Eventually, the noisy game came to an end and they settled to browse.

Taroho, Olomunyak, Talek, Pardamat, Daba and Alia did not join in the game. While Daba browsed next to a Keeper with Alia close by, the other four orphans played their own game. They pushed heads in contests of strength and then lay down for soil dusting on a mound dug up by some warthogs. They hosed clouds of dust and climbed on and off each other – until it was time for the next milk feed.

Kamili was out of sorts today and was behaving like the old Kamili. When she tried to chase Olomunyak and Mzinga in the forest, Latika stepped in to protect the two younger elephants and see off the grumpy girl.

As the mini matriarch, Kerrio takes care of and is friendly to every elephant in the herd, but she has a very close bond with Muridjo. As the oldest, Kerrio is also the tallest in the herd and her height gives her the advantage of being able to reach soft branches at the top of trees.

This morning in the forest, the two girls were feeding at a distance from the others. With Muridjo standing by, Kerrio was stretching her trunk high while leaning her front legs on the tree to pull down tasty branches to share with her friend. They enjoyed their feast until Kamili arrived, pushed Muridjo away and took her place. Rather than sharing her treats with Kamili, Kerrio stopped browsing on the branches and followed Muridjo.

Later in the morning at the mud wallow, Muridjo was first to climb into the pool. Even though it was not a hot day, many others followed her. Kipekee toddled in and then Mzinga, Kerrio, Nyambeni, Pardamat, Kamili and Wamata. Little Wamata was in such a hurry to play that she did not even finish her second bottle of milk!

Talek, Olomunyak and Arthi did not bother getting into the crowded wallow. Instead, they lay down and rolled around on the wet ground around the mud pool. After covering themselves with mud, Mzinga, Pardamat and Nyambeni climbed out to join them. 

Although all the orphans in the herd rely on and are close to the Keepers, some are more comfortable with them than others. Arthi is an affectionate chap who often seeks out a Keeper with trunk raised. In contrast, Wamata is still quite shy of the Keepers.

Speeding out of her stable this morning while looking back to see if a Keeper was following her, rather than in the direction she was going, Wamata had a collision with a mother warthog and her piglets. The warthog was on her way to Max's enclosure for breakfast. Both animals got a big shock. Trumpeting, Wamata reversed into her stockade while the warthogs about turned and ran for cover.

Already out of their rooms, Olomunyak and Kerrio ran over to find out what was happening. They knew that all was well as soon as they saw the Keepers, even though Wamata was still standing at the back of her stockade. Caring Kerrio walked in with trunk outstretched, calmed the younger girl with rumbles and touches, and led her out to join the herd.

Pardamat and Nyambeni both like playing the mounting game but the girl is selective whereas the boy is not. Nyambeni will only climb on top of Kerrio or Mzinga whereas Pardamat tries to mount any elephant found lying down. In the afternoon, after a lengthy mud bath, Talek, Kerrio, Mzinga and Latika were relaxing on the mound of dry soil while hosing their bodies with dust. When Pardamat tried to mount Kerrio, she was not pleased. She got up and drove the boy away.

It was an overcast misty morning. The elephants wandered out to the forest as usual but browsed quietly in a cluster rather than spreading out. As the day became warmer, the orphans became livelier. Some massaged themselves against tree stumps or the ground while others playing pushing games.

Today, Wamata was playing with Kipekee. Because the older girls are so protective of the younger girl, this does not happen often. Generally, when Kipekee is with her gang of nannies, anyone wanting to play is not given access. But this morning Kerrio and Nyambeni were browsing far away and the two little girls played pushing and chasing games. Wamata was gentle with her even when Kipekee was being rough.

Arthi was spending time with Keeper Peter. Our friendly boy often chooses to greet the Keepers in the forest, standing close for a few minutes and then wandering on. After an affectionate rub from Peter, Arthi walked over to browse with Taroha. The youngest and oldest bulls in the herd spend lots of time together.

Tytan and Notty walked out to the forest with their Keepers around an hour after the elephants. We follow their lead but they do not walk very far, usually settling to graze quite close to the stockades. After filling their bellies, they lay down, not actually sleeping but just resting together on the grass. Our unlikely pair spend most of their days within metres of each other!

As the orphans wandered out of their stockades in the early morning, Muridjo and Latika began a pushing game, blocking the path to the forest. The herd could not head out until the two big girls had finished what became a serious contest. As the older heavier elephant, Latika won the game and Muridjo ran away to the forest with the others walking along in her wake.

Notty and Tytan were soon out of their stables and heading out to the forest. They drank their milk side by side an hour or so later. Both love milk but Tytan is a very messy drinker whereas Notty drinks slowly and carefully. Later in the morning, Tytan was watching two warthogs grazing near him. After several minutes, he made a small movement towards them but, rather than running away, the pigs ignored the stout rhino and carried on grazing on grass.

In the afternoon, the herd visited the mud wallow for another milk feed. Today, we sent Muridjo down in the first group of elephants. She drank her two bottles quickly and padded back up the path to escort Kipekee down for her bottle. After drinking their milk, the orphans spread out around the wallow. Some browsed on greens and some drank from a water bucket. Kerrio played with the other bucket, knocking it over and kicking it with her enormous feet.

As it was a misty overcast morning, when the orphans reached the forest they stayed close together in a cluster rather than spreading out to browse. They stood quietly for a time until the day became warmer. Then they moved away from each other to twist up clumps of browse while waiting for the next milk feed.

Cheeky Daba did not want to wait. The little boy (who joined the Nursery herd last month) sneaked away from the herd and walked in the direction of the stockades. When he was nearly there, he came across a Keeper, about turned and ran back to the others. His next trick was to make a beeline for the mud bath. Finding neither a wheelbarrow of milk nor any Keepers, he began trumpeting!

In the forest, Kerrio immediately responded to the little boy’s shouting. She ran away from the herd and found her way to the wallow, trumpeting to let him know that she was on her way. Kerrio rumbled, trunk touched Daba and shepherded him back to the herd.

Later in the day, Kipekee was playing in the bush. The excited little girl was running around and pushing down saplings with her trunk. However, when Daba tried to join her game, an over-protective Muridjo would not let him. She pushed him away - and Daba found refuge with Kerrio.

The orphans were full of energy this morning in the forest. Kerrio was having a dust bath, digging into a wall of dry earth with her tusks to make a large pile of soil. She rolled around on her own for a time but allowed Taroha and Arthi to share her dust bath when they ambled over.

Not far away, Latika was looking after Wamata, laying her trunk along her back and around her head. When Latika began massaging her face against the ground, Taroha walked over and challenged Wamata to a pushing game. The older boy and younger girl pushed heads with trunks entwined, moving backwards and forwards in the forest.

While some of the others browsed around them, Talek and Olomunyak were playing a version of the pushing game in a narrow gully. They pushed against each other with bodies wedged in the small space.

Later in the day, everyone except Kerrio padded happily back to the stockades for another milk feed before bed. Along her way, the mini matriarch wandered back out to the bush. We had to persuade her to return to the safety of the stockades for the night.

Kamili is continuing to impress. The independent girl who used to push away babies is rarely seen - she has been replaced with a caring girl who chooses to spend time with younger orphans. This morning, she walked out of her room and greeted Kipekee, Arthi and Wamata as they emerged from their stables. She shepherded Arthi out to the forest and settled to browse next to him.

Talek is also looking after younger orphans. Another independent girl, Talek was with Daba in the forest today. She trunk touched the little boy regularly while they browsed together.

Later in the morning, Pardamat was at his most feisty. After drinking his milk, he gave Taroha, the oldest bull in the herd, an unwarranted shove. When the usually gentle Taroha turned around to put him in his place, Mzinga stepped in. She disciplined Pardamat by pushing him away from the wallow. Several orphans were cooling off in the wallow but, when Kerrio climbed out of the pool for soil dusting, they all followed her.

In the afternoon, there was a shower of rain which Tytan enjoyed. He trundled around playfully with Notty following in his wake. Then he lay down for a roll around in the mud with his friend watching on.

In the morning, the herd visited the mud bath for a milk feed as usual. After drinking their bottles, they spread out around the wallow to drink from the buckets or graze on greens or hose themselves with dust. We took Nyambeni, Pardamat, Latika and Kamili into the bush as they like to play rough - but we kept Kipekee with the herd. Even though she also likes to play rough and sometimes pushes the visitors, she is too small to put in the naughty corner!

In the afternoon, Nyambeni, Taroha and Olomunyak were playing pushing and tumbling games on a dry area in the forest. It has rained very little so far this month and the forest is very dusty. The three elephants rolled on the ground and climbed on and off each other. Afterwards, Taroha and Olomunyak had a wrestling match. Olomunyak is growing fast and has small tusks and is nearly as tall as Taroha. But the dominant bull in the herd is still stronger and won the contest, despite Olomunyak’s determined efforts.

Kerrio and Pardamat were also being playful. The mini matriarch rubbed herself on the soil while Pardamat clambered on top of her and rested his forelegs against her belly. Today, Kerrio even allowed the bull to play mount her head!

Tytan and Notty are well. The small rhino’s limp has almost gone and the young giraffe is putting on weight. In the mornings, we take them to a different area of the forest after the elephants have left the stockades. They graze side by side and are very comfortable with each other. Today, when Tytan lay down under a bush for a nap, Notty grazed around him but did not walk more than a few metres away from the rhino.

Meanwhile, the elephants were browsing further away from the stockades. Latika was with Wamata, Kerrio was with Arthi, Mzinga and Talek were with Daba, and Kamili, Muridjo and Nyambeni were clustered around Kipekee. Kamili was stretching her trunk up high to pull down tasty branches for Kipekee. She was happy to share her browse with the little girl but not with anyone else. When Olomunyak wandered over, Kamili pushed him away.

In the afternoon, the herd visited the mud bath and returned to the forest. They gathered in an area covered with old hay. Kerrio and Mzinga were relaxing on the large bed of hay, lying on their sides and massaging their bodies. Spotting an opportunity, Olomunyak leant against Mzinga and was about to play mount her when she pushed him away. He made a beeline for Wamata but was pushed away by Latika when he climbed on top of the younger girl. Giving up on the game, Olomunyak went back to browsing.

Little Daba is still thin with sunken cheeks but has adapted well to his new family. The older girls are protective of him but fuss over him much less than they do Kipekee. He’s a few months older but also a more independent elephant who likes to do his own thing. Daba is very friendly to the Keepers and often chooses to browse either next to them or to Kerrio. He knows that the older bulls will leave him alone when he’s with a Keeper or the mini matriarch.

Arthi is also a friendly young bull who often greets the Keepers. After browsing next to us this morning, he challenged Wamata to a pushing game. She accepted and the two orphans pushed heads with trunks entwined while Latika and Kamili watched over them.

In contrast to the two boys, Alia is less attached to the Keepers and likes to browse on the edge of the herd. She is doing well but is still very shy around human beings. This morning, she was browsing with Nyambeni in the forest. Nyambeni prefers to look after new rescues on her own rather than sharing them with her sisters. The little boy rescued in the Mara last month has not been introduced to the herd. He is not strong and spends time either in his stockade or with Tytan and Notty.

Kamili and Talek were on Kipekee duty this morning, sandwiching the little girl between them as they browsed in the dry forest. All the girls take turns in looking after our indulged baby – but sometimes Kamili pulls rank and chases away the other nannies – so she can have Kipekee all to herself. Today, however, she was happy to share her duty with Talek.

Every day the elephants are playing in the forest, making the most of the dusty conditions. This morning, Kerrio, Taroha and Wamata spent a long time enjoying a patch of dry ground near the stockades. Taroha massaged his face against the ground and then played a sideways-pushing game with Wamata. When Kerrio lay on her side, Wamata and Taroha took it in turns to clamber onto her belly. Clouds of dust rose in the air as the three friends played. When she is not with Latika, Wamata often chooses to be with either Kerrio or Taroha.

In the afternoon, the herd visited the mud bath for another milk feed. As usual, we sent them down in small groups of three or four, depending on the number of Keepers waiting to feed them. Arthi and Alia were in the first group today with Talek and Mzinga. Taking his favourite position, Arthi led the group down the path and Alia brought up the rear. The new girl drank her bottles and moved on to browse on greens. She is a reserved girl but we think she will become more playful once she has fully bonded with her new family. 

Olomunyak was at his most playful in the forest this morning. After browsing for only a few minutes, he challenged Arthi to a pushing game. The younger elephant accepted the challenge but the game did not last long as Olomunyak is much stronger. After a few pushes, Arthi turned around and sought sanctuary with Muridjo.

His next target was Pardamat. Olomunyak pushed him from behind, Pardamat responded and the two bulls clashed heads and clinked tiny tusks. They pushed back and forth but then the game became serious when Pardamat mounted Olomunyak and the younger bull fell over. Trumpeting, he climbed to his feet and charged at Pardamat. Moments later, the bulls were chasing each other through the forest. Luckily, Kerrio was nearby. She took control of the fight and separated Olomunyak and Pardamat.

Later in the morning, we sent Mzinga, Talek, Muridjo and Kipekee down to the mud bath first. Mzinga walked on with trunk clasped around her bottle. She is adept at feeding herself, tilting the bottle at just the right angle to drink every drop and then chucking it on the ground. Meanwhile, Talek was hovering around the wheelbarrow. She is a quiet girl who goes with the flow except when bottles of milk are involved. Trumpeting, she was picking up empty bottles in the hope of finding leftover milk. Talek did not stop when we whistled and so we had to push her on to the wallow. Accepting the inevitable, she walked over to a post to scratch her bottoms.

The sun was shining today. After the elephants had emptied their bottles, many climbed into the mud wallow to cool down. While Kerrio stood on the edge, sucking up trunkfuls of water and squirting them along her sides, Taroha, Wamata, Nyambeni, Mzinga and Olomunyak splashed in the pool. They rubbed against each other while wallowing in the mud.

After cooling off, the elephants returned to the forest. They have a favourite place for dust bathing in a clearing quite close to the stockades. Today, they gathered around the mound of soil to cover every part of their bodies with dry soil, either by rolling on the ground or by hosing themselves.

Back at the stockades, Max spent most of the afternoon sheltering from the sun. The black rhino lay in the dust in the shade of a small tree, occasionally rolling from one side to another. There he remained until the day became cooler, whereupon he clambered to his feet, drank from his trough, and wandered around his enclosure.

Out in the forest, Tytan did not walk far in the afternoon. After grazing for a time with Notty, he found a dry spot that was perfect for a nap. He rubbed the earth with his nose and lay down for a long afternoon kip. Notty rested on the ground next to him.

In the morning, we opened the doors one by one and the orphans padded out of their stockades. Some rumbled greetings while others drank from the water troughs or stretched their trunks over the fence to pluck up browse from a grassy area. When we whistled, Latika and Kamili led the herd out to the forest with Kerrio and Arthi bringing up the rear.

Taroha and Olomunyak were together for a long time this morning. After browsing side by side, Taroha lay down for a rest while Olomunyak continued browsing around him and draped his trunk over his older brother’s back. Climbing to his feet, Taroha trunk hugged Olomunyak before challenging him a strength contest. Of course, Taroha won the contest but the younger boy did not give up. In recent days, Olomunyak has played more with Taroha or Mzinga or Arthi rather than with Pardamat (who is stronger than him and tends to play rough).  

A few metres away, multi-tasking Talek (having learned the trick from Mzinga) was twisting up clumps of dry grass while relaxing on her belly. Not every elephant has mastered the skill of lying-down eating!

The remainder of the day was peaceful. The herd browsed, visited the mud bath for a wallow and a dust bath, and returned to the forest to browse some more before returning to the safety of the stockades for the night.

Our elephants have a milk feed every three hours. They know when it is time and they do not like being fed late! If any Keepers dare to sleep in during the night, the orphans will wake them up one way or another. Many of the older orphans do not have a Keeper sleeping actually in their stockade - and so their options are limited to pushing at the door or chucking lucerne around or just trumpeting loudly.

Muridjo, despite being one of the oldest, has a Keeper sleeping in her room on a raised bed. Her tactic is to stand under the bed and push upwards as if trying to carry the bed away on her back. A 700-kilogramme push from an elephant is an effective wake-up alarm!

Daba, who sleeps in a stable with his own Keeper, has two tactics. His first is to stretch up his trunk and pull the blanket off the sleeping man. If this is not successful, he moves on to Plan B. Somehow (as this is a skill that most elephants of his age have not yet mastered), he balances on his back legs and puts his fore legs on the edge of the raised bed. His Keeper will be woken by a wet trunk on his cheek! Our beds must be very strong as even Daba weighs over 250 kilogrammes. Every elephant has their own strategy for attracting attention, either at milk feeding times or at first light.

This morning in the forest, rather than standing in a huddle as they do when it is raining or very cold, the orphans spread out before settling to browse. Their groups were fluid and forever changing. Pardamat and Kerrio were both on their own for a time. Kerrio often likes to be on her own but within sight of the herd so that she is still watching over them, especially naughty ones like Pardamat or newbies like Alia and Daba. Pardamat is becoming disobedient of the Keepers but not of Kerrio. He respects the mini matriarch and does as he is told.

Later at the mud bath, Nyambeni and Mzinga came down in the first group. When Nyambeni moved on to drink water, Mzinga padded back up the path to find Kipekee and escort her - and Muridjo - down for a milk feed. Sometimes, Mzinga seems to forget about the nanny-rotation arrangement!

After drinking their milk, the elephants browsed on supplementary greens around the wallow. No one got wet today although several enjoyed a dust bath. Kerrio squatted on her backside while Kamili and Latika hosed themselves with dust and Talek and Olomunyak drank from the bucket.

Tytan and Notty walked far afield (for them) in the forest today. After grazing for a time, Tytan rolled around in the dust and then the rhino had a nap in the shade with the zebra having a stand-up rest next to him. 

This morning, the herd wandered around quietly in the forest, concentrating on browsing rather than playing. Muridjo and Latika were looking after Kipekee and kept her sandwiched between them. The two girls stretched up tall to pull down tasty branches for the little girl. Kerrio was with Mzinga and Olomunyak. Between bouts of browsing, the three friends stood close with trunks touching. Mzinga and Olomunyak are good friends and often play pushing games – but not today. When Kerrio and Olomunyak walked away to be with Arthi, Mzinga ambled over to Nyambeni. The best friends walked together and rubbed their faces on a patch of dusty dry soil.

All the elephants at the Nursery are milk dependent. Around the age of four or five, some become less keen on milk than they were when they were babies. In our current herd, of the three oldest orphans, Kamili and Latika still run down to the mud wallow for their milk bottles but Kerrio does not always. Sometimes she pads in with trunk raised and sometimes she dawdles down the path or even disappears in the opposite direction. Today, Kerrio wandered down at the end of the line, seemingly unbothered about the milk feed, in contrast to the other orphans in the herd.

Daba spent the morning resting around the stockades after not sleeping well during the night. Muridjo, who is likely to become the mini matriarch of the Nursery herd when Kerrio graduates, was being especially kind and caring. When the others headed out to the forest as usual in the early morning, she chose to stay back, knowing that the new boy was restless and not having a good day. We were impressed with her behaviour. Later in the morning, she shepherded Daba out to join the herd.

On a hot afternoon, many of the orphans cooled off in the mud wallow. As some stood on the edge slapping mud on their bodies, Muridjo and Arthi lay submerged in the muddy water. Mzinga, Taroha, Kerrio and Wamata climbed into the wallow to join them. They also lay down, covering themselves in thick mud while waving their trunks in the air. Alia was not confident about joining the mud bathing party and instead stood on the edge.

When it was time to return to the forest, Arthi was the first to respond to our calls. He led the long line of elephants back to the bush with Taroha and Kerrio ambling along at the end of the line. They browsed and covered themselves in dust before returning to the stockades later in the afternoon.

Very sadly, the very young calf rescued last month in the Mara died today. He went downhill quickly and, despite our best efforts, faded away in the evening. 

Today was a day of browsing rather than playing. Heading out in the early morning, the elephants wandered far into the forest. Arthi, Muridjo, Kipekee and Latika were browsing together. The two older girls were, as usual, fussing over Kipekee while looking after Arthi but allowing him more space. They seem to sense that this calm little boy, while only a few months older than Kipekee, needs less mothering. Arthi browsed next to them but at a slight distance.

Leaving the little girl with the two older ones, Arthi ambled away to spend time with Kamili and Talek. While they stood on either side of him, they also touched him less often with their trunks than they do Kipekee, respecting his independence.

Wamata was with Kerrio. Ousted from her position as the baby of the herd a few months ago, Wamata initially found the change quite difficult but has adjusted to being a big sister rather than a spoiled baby. Not far away, Latika was with Mzinga and Pardamat. Latika has become less possessive of little Wamata and today she spent a long time with good friends and playmates Mzinga and Pardamat.

Noticing that newbie Alia was at a distance from the others, Kerrio walked over to check on her, shepherd her back to the herd and make sure that she was not bothered by feisty elephants like Pardamat. 

The orphans had a dust bathing party on the large mound of dry soil at the mud wallow today. After drinking their milk and feeding on greens, Taroha, Olomunyak and Talek were first to rub their faces and bodies on the soil. An excited Olomunyak clambered on top of Talek while Pardamat and Nyambeni blew clouds of dust into the air and Mzinga massaged her bottoms against a lying down Talek. On the edge of the mound, Muridjo and Wamata stood with trunks entwined and Latika enjoyed a face massage.

Returning to the forest led by Arthi, the elephants settled to browse. Nyambeni and Mzinga stood tall and stretched their trunks up high to pull down green branches for themselves and also Arthi. Latika and Kamili browsed side by side, for once without a small orphan between them.

After filling their bellies, Taroha and Pardamat sparred with each other in the forest. The bulls are well matched although Taroha is slightly stronger and won their contest today. Not far away Olomunyak was playing a pushing-and-tumbling game with Mzinga.

Later in the afternoon, we called the elephants together and sent them back to the stockades for the night. They padded around the corner and down the path with trunks aloft - in anticipation of a bottle of milk, a pile of lucerne and a bed of dry hay.