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Today at Ithumba we started our duties as usual with the orphans having their milk at 6am. We then let them out for Lucerne but after a while a group of over 50 wild elephants came to the Stockade Area which intimidated the orphans who quickly left for the bush for browsing, together with ex orphans Kilaguni, Mulika and her baby Mwende who were among them. At 11am, we left for the mudbath where we found 12 wild bulls, one of which had two wounds. We reported the matter to the DSWT management and he was later examined by the Tsavo Mobile Veterinary Unit funded by DSWT. It was a very hot day and all the Orphans had a good mudbath. Teleki and Vuria had wonderful fun by rolling on the ground and rubbing each other. There later came a big group of wild elephants with two young Babies and the orphans quickly left back to the bush where they browsed until 5pm.

The sky was clear in the morning as the orphans left the stockade; an indication of a hot day ahead. The orphans settled for lucerne and then passed at the water trough before leaving for browsing. Towards ten o'clock in the morning, the weather changed to cloudy though the temperatures remained high. At mudbath time, after taking their midday milk, the orphans performed different activities. As usual Shukuru sucked her trunk whereas Teleki, Laragai, Narok, Orwa, Vuria, Garzi, Kanjoro and Sities headed straight for the mudbath. Bomani went to the concrete bench where he scratched his buttocks and later shifted to a tree a few meters away and started working on his belly. Orwa left for soil bathing soon after he was through with wallowing. Shortly later, Kina, who is heavily pregnant, in the company of Wendi, Challa, Kenze, Buchuma, Zurura and Madiba checked in at mudbath for water. At the water trough they were joined by Laragai and Narok. After taking enough water from the water trough, Madiba and Kina walked down to join Teleki, Bongo, Vuria and Garzi that were still mudbathing. The orphans quit the mud bathing to give way to Kina and Madiba since they could not all fit in the mudhole. Narok went to drink water, and then walked a few meters away and lay down to play. Her game was cut short by Kanjoro who came and started pushing her to stand up. On the way to the browsing field, Turkwel, Sities and Kainuk took a break to feed on a shrub that had lovely juicy new shoots. After sharing the leaves, the three orphans followed the others. Bongo also had a good time of soil dusting and later lay down to roll before following his friends. The ex-orphans were left at mud bath and later headed to the slopes of the hill. In the afternoon, the clouds cleared; giving way to sun shine. Shukuru and Kainuk opted to feed under a tree that had a good shade. In the evening the temperatures were still high so the orphans passed at the mudbath for an evening cool off. Shortly before five o'clock in the evening, Napasha, Mulika, Kilaguni, Lualeni, Sunyei, Kenze and Mwende in the company of fifteen wild bulls showed up at the stockade. After taking enough water, the group left except Lualeni and Kenze who remained behind engaging in a strength testing exercise. They left twenty minutes later and followed their group back into the bush for the night.

Only three wild elephants and Ishanga were at the stockade compound early before six o'clock in the morning. The wild elephants left immediately after quenching their thirst leaving Ishanga behind who joined the juniors today. A herd of five wild elephants checked in for water followed later by 10 wild elephants. Kanjoro and Teleki observed proceedings from a distance while scratching on the nearby rocks. As Teleki was scratching, Orwa came and pushed him away so as to scratch himself. As the orphans were feeding, Kilaguni emerged from the east and settled for water. After drinking enough, Kilaguni left without bothering to say hi to the juniors. Shukuru approached Orwa who was scratching on a rock and pointed her trunk at him. Orwa quit scratching as Shukuru took over and when Shukuru had enough of the scratching, she started climbing up the rocks. After feeding on Lucerne, Ishanga led Turkwel and Mutara to the water trough where they joined the 10 bulls in drinking water. After drinking water, the orphans left for browsing. At nine o'clock in the morning, Bomani had an itch in his ear and used his trunk to scratch it. It was clearly troubling him. Vuria came close to Bomani and they browsed together for some time before Vuria moved away. Kainuk browsed with her ears spread out as Bongo and Narok browsed together while Kanjoro and Mutara browsed from the same tree. At mud bath, 20 wild elephants reported earlier than the orphans. After the orphans had water, Shukuru and Sities suckled their trunks while Orwa and Vuria went to relax under an acacia tree as the rest participated in mudbathing. One bull kept watch over the orphans while mud bathing and another wild elephant only mudbathed after the juniors had finished. In the afternoon Mutara and Kanjoro were feeding together and were joined later by Sities while Turkwel and Narok browsed together. In the evening, Yatta, Mulika and Suguta’s group reported for water at the stockade.