Keepers' Diaries, October 2002
Voi Reintegration Unit
Nursery Elephants:- Little "Wendi" is now 6 weeks old, and going strong, so, so far, so good. Currently, she is feeding well, gaining weight and becoming blessed with the little fat cheeks of a thriving elephant infant. She and her blanket, plus two 24 hour Keepers leave the Night Stable next door to Thoma, and wander off into the forest, where the blanket is hung as something large and soft beside her against which to rest her trunk and impart comfort. She is firmly attached to it, and sucks the two ends with a look of bliss on her face, eyes turning "dreamy". Woe betide anyone who interferes with such special moments, for they can expect an angry shove, and even at this tender age, Wendi can pack a punch! She is quite a little "Madam" and what she wants goes - at least for the time being!
01 October 2002
Back at the Stockades Ndara finished her milk first, and then unexpectedly pushed Mweya to the ground, after which she retreated to the far end of the Stockade. At the mudbath 2 squirrels appeared for Mweya and Sweet Sally to chase, but Maungu was scared and sought shelter near the Keepers. At around 11 a.m. a running zebra passed near the orphans, scaring Natumi, who seemed rooted to the spot. Emily noticed this, and went to collect and reassure her and the other orphans escorting them to the mudbath.
02 October 2002
Mweya tried to snatch Sweet Sally's bottle, and had to be warned by the Keepers. After the mudbath Emily took Ndara to the shade of a tree to shelter from the scorching sun and remained with her. Later, they both joined the rest of the group to feed. Kinna chased away a group of impalas who were drinking from the water drums. Back at the Stockade in the evening, Maungu was very lethargic and unwell. Her legs appeared swollen.
03 October 2002
Kinna and Nyiro had a disagreement over who should lead the group on their way out into the bush. Nyiro won. Emily, Laikipia and Natumi found themselves in amongst Naomi's wild group. One male in the wild group saw Imenti coming to join them and went to meet him. They then started pushing each other to test their strength, but the wild bull won, and Imenti ran away. Whilst returning to the Stockades, Aitong, Tsavo and Ilingwezi mixed with another wild group and refused to join the rest of the orphans, remaining with the wild elephants and only turning up at around 7 p.m. unaccompanied by the Keepers.
04 October 2002
At 9 a.m. Mweya, Sweet Sally, Maungu and Nasalot came across squirrels and started chasing them, but ran into a waterbuck and that startled them. They began yelling, and hurried back to the Keepers for protection. Only Maungu remained behind.
A drama occurred in the evening when Emily, Aitong and Laikipia, along with the rest of the orphans, came upon a resting leopard. Emily and Laikipia trumpeted; the Keepers were scared, and Aitong ran to protect them. The leopard stood up slowly and began walking away, but was spotted by a troupe of baboons, who made a huge noise and gave chase All the orphans, led by Aitong, joined the baboons in chasing away the leopard, who took the hint and went off at speed!
05 October 2002
The day was very hot, so the orphans revelled in their mudbath. Mweya got a fright when a bird flew over her head. She yelled and rushed out of the mud, but upon realising that it was just a bird, returned. Whilst crossing the Airstrip Emily, Ilingsezi and Salama came across 3 buffaloes and started chasing one of them who was very thin and couldn't run fast. It took cover and faced the elephants, so they gave up. Salama, was leading, and when he came to an abrupt halt, Emily did likewise and they all retreated, leaving the buffalo in peace.
06 October 2002
On their way to the mudbath, Icholta grabbed Nyiro's tail. Nyiro suspected that she intended to bite it, so he turned around and knocked her down. Icholta got up and wanted to retaliate, but Nyiro hid behind the Keepers.
A leopard killed a waterbuck near the mudbath whilst the orphans were enjoying themselves in the mud. Emily, Laikipia and Salama panicked and ran to the Keepers. A few minutes later 6 baboons passed by and spotted the leopard enjoying its meal. They chased it away, with a lot of noise and the orphans, led by Aitong, also joined in the chase. Back at the Stockades Maungu walked slowly behind the group, and would not finish her milk. She appeared unwell and this fact was reported to Nairobi.
07 October 2002
At midday Nasalot wanted to take Mweya's milk by force, but the Keepers intervened. Nasalot then chased Mweya off, because she was jealous. Maungu was scared by a bird, and sought refuge near the Keepers. A wild group led by a tuskless cow mixed with our orphans, but when Emily tried to steal the wild calf from its mother, Emily got chased off.
08 October 2002
It was a very hot day for the orphans and their Keepers, so the mudwallow extended to a full hour. When Mweya and Sweet Sally heard the tractor bringing the milk, they ran out to meet it. Edo turned up at the mudbath and tried to mount Aitong, but she refused and ran off. Maungu's condition is still a cause for concern. Now the leg swelling has shifted to the abdomen.
09 October 2002
Edo joined the orphans back at the Stockades and left with them in the morning. Later he and Imenti went off together. It began to rain in the morning, which made the orphans very happy. They ran around trumpeting and knocking bushes, and Mweya had fun chasing 2 ground squirrels. Imenti returned alone to the Stockades at 7 p.m.
10 October 2002
At mudwallow Kinna accidentally stepped on Icholta's trunk, which angered Icholta. She chased Kinna, who took refuge near the Keepers. In the evening Emily's group met up with 4 warthogs, but Emily let them pass peacefully, not allowing any of the other orphans to chase them. (Emily remembers all her little warthog friends back in the Nairobi Nursery and obviously has a fondness for them - Daphne's comment).
11 October 2002
Nasalot again tried to grab Mweya's milk at midday, but was warned by the Keepers. Emily's group mixed in with a wild group during the morning and spent time with them before returning to the other orphans. Imenti decided to remain with the wild group, and only returned to the Stockades in the evening, alone at 7 p.m.
12 October 2002
After mudbath Nyiro chased a group of antelopes, trumpeting, and was reinforced by Kinna and Mulika. A group of wild buffalo passed near the orphans in the afternoon and scared them, making them run towards the Keepers, led by Natumi. Aitong remained behind to check whether there were any orphans left amongst the buffalo herd, but having satisfied herself that there were no stragglers, she returned to the Keepers as well.
13 October 2002
Mweya led the group out in the morning, but became scared when an antelope jumped across the path. She and Sweet Sally yelled in fear and had to be soothed by the Keepers. During the morning the orphans, led by Laikipia, climbed the hill near the Research Centre and came across a resting hyaena. Laikipia yelled and Emily rushed up to see what had troubled him. When the hyaena saw Emily, it ran away and Emily calmed Laikipia. At mudbath Nasalot was loving towards Sweet Sally, resting her trunk on Sweet Sally's back.
14 October 2002
At noon Sweet Sally accidentally pushed Maungu whilst rushing for her bottle. During the morning Emily plucked leaves from a very tall tree which the others could not reach. This impressed them and they all stood watching in awe, longing for the day when they could do the same!
15 October 2002
It was cloudy and cold today, so the orphans refused the mudbath, although Mweya dabbled her trunk in it. Afterwards the orphans met with a wild group and returned to the mudbath with them. Later Imenti left with the wild group, returning a little while later. Aitong wrestled with a wild bull, the contest watched by Laikipia and Salama. At 10.30 a.m. the Vets came down from Nairobi to look at Maungu and gave her an injection of antibiotic.
16 October 2002
Imenti went off in the opposite direction to the others on his own early in the morning, but joined them later at the mudbath. Emily's group joined up with 6 wild bulls and spent three hours with them. At the mudbath Mweya knelt down to drink water, and seeing this, Sweet Sally did the same. Maungu is still off her milk and looks unwell.
17 October 2002
Mweya loves the water and is a good swimmer. After the mudbath some wild bull elephants joined Emily's group, one of whom chased Imenti off, and then rested his trunk lovingly on Aitong.
18 October 2002
This morning, it was a lovely scene, as the younger orphans, namely Mweya, Sweet Sally, Ndara, Tsavo, Nyiro, Kinna, Maungu and Yatta marched securely between Emily and Imenti, with Aitong, Natumi, Salama and the bigger ones following closely behind. It was very hot, and the babies wanted the shadow of their elders for shade as they came to the mudbath.
19 October 2002
It was a very hot day, and Emily, Aitong and Imenti flapped their ears a lot to cool themselves. The younger followed suit, copying them. Then a wild group joined them, one of whom had very long tusks, and this obviously amazed the babies, especially Kinna, Nyiro, Yatta and Icholta, who stood rooted to the spot watching every move of this wild cow. When she draped her trunk over one of our babies lovingly, they felt very pleased. Maungu still has the swollen abdomen and remains off colour.
20 October 2002
At 3.30 p.m. when the orphans passed by the mudbath, Mweya noticed that the water drums were empty. She started kicking them towards the mudbath as though wanting to fill them, helped by Sweet Sally. The Keepers had to stop them from pushing the drums into the mudbath. Emily had a bad stomach ache today, and kept lying down, groaning. We reported it to Nairobi, and Mr. Trevor came to see her. In the evening she passed a stool containing a lot of small stones and sand.
21 October 2002
Emily is feeling better today. There was a disagreement between Mvita and Kinna when Mvita stepped on a grass stem Kinna was trying to uproot. Kinna shoved Mvita, who ran away. At 10.30 a.m.Tsavo, Laikipia and Salama saw a wild group of elephants nearby and went to join them. Laikipia pushed a wild baby, and the mother chased him away. When Tsavo and Salama saw this, they followed their "fellow brother" and returned to join the orphans.
22 October 2002
Today Mulika wanted to test her strength against Salama, but she lost the battle, and Salama chased her off. In the afternoon Ilingwezi and Edie found themselves a little isolated from the others. They began crying, and Emily rushed back to collect them and bring them to the main group.
23 October 2002
It was a drizzly day, raining hard intermittently, when the orphans sheltered under trees. When the heavy rain stopped, they enjoyed playing in the mud and lying down in the puddles. It was a very happy day for them. Maungu was returned to the Stockade when the heavy rain began, so that she did not get cold.
24 October 2002
At mudbath Mweya and Sweet Sally had fun chasing squirrels who ran for dear life. When the squirrels disappeared and they could not find them, they began kicking the water drums. The orphans came to the mudwallow earlier than usual because they were chasing some running waterbucks who passed by the mudbath. When the orphans saw the mudbath, they decided to leave the waterbucks and bathe themselves instead.
25 October 2002
Salama knocked Mweiga down this afternoon. Mweiga cried, and Aitong rushed to help her up. Sweet Sally led the group up and down the Voi River Valley, enjoying being a Leader, but when she bumped into a small group of zebras, she took fright, and along with Mweya and Maungu, rushed to the Keepers for protection.
26 October 2002
Sally pushed down Maungu and then ran away, because she knew she had done something bad. Maungu got up slowly and began to feed. Back at the Stockade Edo joined the group and mounted Aitong repeatedly.
27 October 2002
It was cold today, so the elephants spent all day feeding quietly. In the evening at 6 p.m. a wild elephant with a baby came to the Stockades to take water, and then proceeded on her way.
28 October 2002
Nyiro mounted Mweya, but Icholta noticed this, and came to push Nyiro away. At the mudbath Edo mounted Aitong again, and then went on his way.
29 October 2002
The day was cool with showers all day, so the elephants had a wonderful time playing in the mud and puddles, and feeding.
30 October 2002
It was another wet day, so time past as yesterday, spent playing and feeding. Kinna slipped in the mud and fell down once.
31 October 2002
The day was cloudy and cold. Nyiro had a disagreement with Icholta, but Icholta won and chased him for a short distance. Imenti was in a bad mood when he turned up at the mudbath. He chased the Keepers and then took himself off again, alone.