Keepers' Diaries, October 2014
Voi Reintegration Unit
This month at the height of the dry season the orphans have been preoccupied for much of the day with feeding. Every morning they head out into the bush around Msinga hill where much of the dry season browse remains. Each day they opt to head in a different direction, something dictated to by the Keepers sometimes, but more often than not by the orphans themselves. Early mornings are punctuated with exuberant games in between enjoying the dry season supplements of both Lucerne and copra cake (Coconut) One of the most enjoyable pastimes in the early mornings is to charge the baboons, as this is always guaranteed a good reaction. They enjoy nothing more than dispersing the baboon troop amidst trumpets, screams and yells. Sorka and Bada are firm friends having arrived at the Voi stockades a couple of months back and tamed in adjoining stables. They are both of a similar age too. However as the weeks past this month one thing was evident, Bada was becoming more robust that Sorka. Sorka fed well, and even played, and seemed settled, only she remained definitely weaker. Tragically this all came to a head on the 24th of the month when Sorka unexpectedly collapsed at the midday mudbath and was returned to the stockades in the back of the tractor trailer. She was placed on drips and medicated with the help of Dr. Poghon but that night passed away. An autopsy revealed that she had died of hemorrhagic enteritis.
01 October 2014
The day begun on a high note as all the orphans were in a jovial mood as they walked out of their respective stockades for another day out in the bush.
The young milk dependent babies rushed to empty their morning milk bottle while Lesanju’s older group enjoyed some Lucerne.
The two new babies Bada and Sorka, took their milk bottle inside their stable before joining the others for some additional supplements in the form of Lucerne and copra cake. Mbirikani who was in a greedy mood did not want to share her bundle of Lucerne with Sorka and blocked her from getting any. Sorka went to feed next to Sinya who welcomed the company. Bada received a lot of love and attention from both Lesanju and Lempaute who stood next to her resting their trunks softly on her back communicating all the while. The day was spent browsing on Mzinga hill and enjoying their midday mudbath. Conditions were hot today.
02 October 2014
It was a nice and cold morning today as all the orphans made their way out of the stockades. The day began with games in the stockade compound with Bada charging and chasing away the baboons who were quick to get out of the way but remained close by which frustrated Bada. Reinforcement came in the form of naughty boys Dabassa and Layoni and together the three of them succeeding in driving the baboons away from the stockade compound.
Taveta and Mzima lead the group to the bush for a morning browsing session before slowly making their way to the waterhole for their milk feed and mudbath. Taveta, Dabassa, Kivuko and Rombo took each other to task over a tough bathing competition with no clear victor. Panda lead the orphan herd back to the stockades in the evening, feeling very good about having this responsibility.
03 October 2014
There were a lot of games in the morning with Layoni, Panda, Naipoki and Mbirikani scratching their itchy buttocks on the wall of the stockade water trough blocking Ndii from accessing the water hole for a drink. Eventually Ndii had to force her way in pushing Panda and Mbirikani from their scratching positions. While this was all taking place the rest of the group was busy enjoying their morning supplements.
Soon after arriving at the browsing grounds, Taveta and Tassia engaged one another in a strength testing game during which Taveta gave Tassia such a push that he nearly knocked Wasessa over. Wasessa reacted by pushing the two away from each other with significant force thus bringing their game to an abrupt halt. They were clearly intimidated by Wasessa. As it was a fairly cold day none of the orphans had a mudbath after their midday milk feed but stood around soil dusting, communicating and eventually wondering off to go about the serious business of feeding.
04 October 2014
The orphans spent the morning feeding on the eastern side of the stockade before making their way down to the water hole arriving by noon.
Kihari and Sinya were comfortable scratching their itchy buttocks against the banks of the water hole slipping into the mud from time to time, but their mudbath session was more about scratching than swimming, white Taveta, Ishaq-B and Mbirikani were captivated by Mudanda’s mud wallowing games which were extensive. She was having a wonderful time. Mzima and Rombo noticed Mudanda’s games and decided to join her. At this point she made a quick exit so as to avoid any mimic mounting games that the boys tend to enjoy. The rest of day was spent browsing with Kihari taking the lead on the way home in the evening.
05 October 2014
This morning the milk dependent babies ran out of their stockades, gulping down their milk bottles before joining their older counterparts in some copra cake and Lucerne supplements.
Today, Wasessa and Sinya took the lead guiding the group to the western side of the Msinga hill. Naipoki, Kihari, Ishaq-B and Panda spent the morning browsing halfway up the hill so that they could be the first to arrive at the noon milk feed. They had finished their bottles and were happily bathing in the mudwallow by the time the rest of the orphans had their share and could join them all for a good old wallow which took well over an hour. It was a hour of pure bliss. After that the peeled off in different directions to browse.
06 October 2014
Kenia and Ndii led the group out to browse this morning. They all settled to browse on the far northern side of the stockade.
At the noon mud bath, Taveta climbed onto Ndii’s back while Ndii was lying into the water, a mounting game that Ndii was not overly impressed by and immediately dislodged him and made away. Mzima was quick to come to Ndii’s rescue engaging Taveta in a pushing game in the water. During the mudbathing games two thirsty warthogs came to the mudwallow for a drink. Upon seeing them Kivuko and Layoni charged out of the mudbath to chase them away. The two were joined in their antics by Sinya. This was incredibly enjoyable for them with ears out trumpeting and the warthogs taking off in all directions. The two warthogs returned to the mudwallow once the orphans had headed back to the browsing fields for the afternoon and had vacated the mudbath, well aware that as long as the orphans were there sharing would not be an option.
07 October 2014
The orphans spent the morning happily feeding along the foot of the Msinga hill. It was a sunny warm morning and as such the orphans were keen to get the mudwallow where the milk dependent orphans downed their milk before they all rushed to the mudbath where they plunged into the water and rolled and splashed around. Mbirikani and Naipoki teamed up to against Ndii and Kenia in a bathing competition which was watched by the rest of the group who were standing at the edge of the wallow. Lesanju led the group back out for the afternoon browsing session where the orphans fed close to a group of wild elephants who judging by the directing they were headed were making their way to the waterhole for a drink.
A wild herd of elephants had a tiny calf and they all came to drink water at the stockade water trough at 3.20 pm. They left as soon as they had quenched their thirst, so their stockade interlude was without the orphans present. Just as well as Ndii, Kenia, Lempaute, and Sinya would have tried their baby snatching techniques. Our mini mamas love babies, and so would have immediately been drawn to this tiny calf.
08 October 2014
Naipoki and Mudanda had a lengthy pushing game after emptying their morning milk bottles this morning. They entwined their trunks over and over again which attracted the attention of Ishaq-B and Kihari who wanted to join in. The two did not want to include anyone else and as it grew later and time to head out for the day to the plains below to feed their game came to an end. The orphans returned to the stockade for an afternoon milk bottle where they encountered a group of visiting school children who were part of the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust’s community outreach. Their field trip included a visit to the Voi orphans. Lempaute, Kenia and Kivuko had a lovely time touching the students in greeting and entertaining them with their games and antics. The orphans had a quick bath, soil dusting session and rock scratching at the stockades before resuming their browsing session on the southern side of the stockades this time.
Aruba the Kudu and her three babies came to the stockade at 12.30pm. They are all looking well and grazed around the stockade for half an hour, spent time with the keepers before heading back deep into the park.
09 October 2014
The orphans were up early this morning with the youngsters having their morning milk bottle before joining the older orphans for some Lucerne and supplement feeding. The group then gathered around the stockade water trough for a drink before leaving for the field. Sinya and Lempaute remained at the stockade for a while longer not inclined to follow the others but later joined them at the waterhole.
The mudbath was eventful with Taveta and Rombo rolling around and showing off as they engaged in exuberant wallowing. The afternoon was spent browsing close to the mudbath before Kihari decided it was time to return to the stockades for the night.
10 October 2014
The orphans were greeting by another lovely morning as they exited their stockades for their morning feed after which Ndii engaged Rombo in a pushing game which was interrupted by Taveta who was quick to push Ndii out of the way so that he could take on Rombo. The game did not last for long as the orphans were ready to head out to the field for a day of browsing led by Lesanju who took them out in single file around the Msinga Mountain. The orphans were visited at the stockades at noon by a school group again, all of whom thoroughly enjoyed seeing the babies and hearing their different stories as told by the Keepers. As usual the elephants did not disappoint and performed for their audience. The students left having gained a better understanding of the work done by the Trust and the need to protect elephants and their priceless natural heritage.
11 October 2014
This morning Taveta and Mzima engaged each other in strength testing game with the single minded intention of impressing Ndii and Kenia who were watching their antics. Their game was spoilt by Mzima who butted in wanting to join the fun but rather spoilt the impact. Responsible Lempaute and Sinya decided it was time to head out to the park for the day, and slowly the group gathered and headed out.
At the mudbath Kivuko, Bada and Panda were the first to enter the mudwallow and enjoyed rolling in the water before being joined by the rest of the group. The whole group partook in mudbath games. The afternoon began with a rest under a large acacia tree before heading back to the browsing fields for the remainder of the afternoon.
12 October 2014
The orphans were in high spirits this morning as they exited the stockades for their milk bottle, Lucerne and copra cake. Following their milk bottle Mbirikani sat on a rock to have a scratch while Rombo chased Layoni around the stockade compound, grabbing at his tail in an effort to entice him into a pushing game. Panda watched this from a distance not wanting to become another target for Rombo who seemed to be in a mischievous mood today.
At the noon mudwallow Wasessa spent most of the time watching over her “baby” Mudanda in an effort to protect her from the rest of the orphan’s vigorous antics in the water. Mudanda savoured all this attention from Wasessa and did not leave her side for the rest of the afternoon.
13 October 2014
This morning Wasessa was extremely affectionate towards Bada, embracing him and keeping him close to her. Upon seeing this Mudanda rushed in to claim her place next to Wasessa, whom she sees as her surrogate mother, and jealously engaged Bada in a pushing match. Wasessa was quick to break up the fight and the three spent time browsing together comfortably. Sorka our other new calf has been enjoying the attentions of all the females, but she is not a robust calf, and does not have the strength of the others.
In the afternoon a wild herd of elephants came to the stockades at 2pm for a drink from the water trough. They remained on the compound for awhile stripping bark from the acacia trees before heading back deep into the park.
14 October 2014
It was a warm morning as the orphans left their stockades and enjoyed a milk feed and some Lucerne. Lempaute decided to have a dustbath and began throwing red soil onto her back. Upon seeing the fun she was having Ndii, Kenia and Tassia decide to join in before rejoining the rest as they headed into the park for day.
Kivuko jumped into the water at the noon mudbath taking on Tassia who has been quite quiet during the noon mudbath. Tassia accidentally stepped onto Kivuko’s trunk in the water which started a fight that needed the keepers to intervene and bring it to a halt. The rest of the day was spent browsing before returning to the stockades in the evening. The orphans in the evening were extremely tied, probably from the heat.
15 October 2014
The day started on a happy note as the orphans played around the stockade compound before heading out to the browsing fields.
Layoni mimic mounted Naipoki with Ishaq-B watching closely as it seemed that Layoni was too heavy for Naipoki to carry. Needless to say Naipoki was not impressed. Panda decided to come to Naipoki’s rescue and rushed in pushing Layoni off of Naipoki while pretending that her intention was to join in their game thus no hard feelings were caused and no one was hurt. The day was spent browsing deep in the park before returning home at 5pm for the night.
16 October 2014
The younger orphans enjoyed their morning milk bottle before joining their older friends for some stockade games. Taveta started scratching his buttocks on a rock while Ishaq-B and Dabassa stood in line waiting their turn. Dabassa became impatient and moved in pushing Rombo out of the way so that he could have a scratch.
The group headed out to the park in single file and browsed their way to the waterhole where they had a lovely mudbath. Panda was happy to be given the task of leading the group back to the stockade.
17 October 2014
The orphans took their morning bottle of milk after which the youngsters joined Ndii in placing small bundles of Lucerne on their backs while they fed. Kihari, Kivuko, Kenia and Dabassa were all doing the same thing which made us wonder if this was their way of ensuring that they got their fair share of Lucerne, saving a portion for later.
Lempaute took advantage of what they were doing and went around easily and quickly taking their Lucerne from their backs and eating it! This was not appreciated by the five who thought they had outsmarted the rest.
The day was spent browsing above Malaika house on Msinga hill, stopping only for some milk and water at the stockade compound in the heat of the day.
18 October 2014
The orphans had another fun day playing at the stockades after their morning milk and treats. Today Mudanda pushed Bada away from Wasessa when Wasessa gently laid her trunk on Bada’s back as the group headed out to the browsing fields. Mudanda seems to be extremely jealous of any affection Wasessa bestows on Bada particularly and wants to ensure that she continues to be Wasessa’s favorite calf. She made sure to spend the day browsing close to her “mother”. Bada has noticed that getting too close to Wasessa could cause problems and as is being cautious safe in the knowledge that there are many budding surrogate mums in Sinya, Lesanju, Lempaute, Kenia and Kihari, Ndii and Naipoki.
19 October 2014
This morning Panda was having lots of fun squirting water until Ishaq-B came and tried to mount her. Panda was having none of it and screamed for help which she got from Sinya and Lempaute who rushed to her rescue ready to meet out discipline to Ishaq-B. Ishaq-B realized that she was in trouble took off before she could be reprimanded by the two older females.
The morning was spent browsing on the far northern side of the stockade before the group made their way to the mudbath for their noon milk feed. As it was a chilly day none of the group went into the water and instead opted to splash themselves a little before going back to browse and feed for the remainder of the day.
20 October 2014
The orphans began their day with their usual milk routine and supplement feeding before following Kenia, Ndii and Lesanju to the bush. Tassia and Mzima decided to separate themselves from the rest of the group and browsed up at the top of the hill while the rest remained at the bottom. The two were later left behind as the rest headed to the waterhole and arrived as the rest were going back to the fields for the afternoon. They therefore had a quick drink and splashed some water on themselves before rushing to rejoin their friends for the afternoon. Sorka has settled well but is definitely a weak calf, and has not significantly gained condition despite being given so much supplementary food.
21 October 2014
The orphans were busy enjoying their milk bottle and Lucerne while Rombo and Tassia engaged each other in a pushing game before heading out for a busy morning of browsing. At the middle water hole the orphans met up with a wild herd. Mzima was quick to engage one of the youngsters in the group in a wrestling game while Naipoki went to greet and touch a small calf before being pushed away by the baby’s older sibling. Mzima who saw what Naipoki was doing decided to try his luck and engaged the calf in some games before the mother came charging in and blocked him from any more antics with her baby. The orphans and the wild group then parted ways each heading in a different direction.
22 October 2014
It was a nice and warm morning as the orphans finished their supplement feeds and had a drink at the stockade water trough before under Lempaute’s leadership they headed out for the day.
The milk dependant orphans went in two groups to the mudwallow for their milk bottle. Kivuko who came running with the second group failed to stop in time and knocked down Kihari who was still enjoying her milk bottle after arriving with the first group. Kihari was quick to recover and finished her milk bottle deciding not to take revenge against Kivuko who is stronger than her.
23 October 2014
It was a nice morning as the orphans enjoyed a game of hide and seek in the stockade compound before heading out to the field for a long day of feeding. After two hours of uninterrupted browsing, a flock of migrating birds passed over tiny Bada who got scared and started running around in a confused state. Ishaq-B acted first and went to calm down Bada giving him the assurance that he needed that all was well and he could continue feeding.
The orphans headed to the water hole with the milk dependant orphans in the lead while their old counterparts brought up the rear. A lot of fun was had at the mudbath with Dabassa shining in the games. Sorka was enjoying playing gently with Bada before Dabassa came in and tried to mount Sorka who is still not very strong and as such was quick to leave the water. Kihari enjoyed leading the mini herd back to the stockade in the evening.
24 October 2014
Sorka who has remained weak collapsed today at the mudbath which shocked us all. We quickly loaded her onto the tractor drove her to the comfort of the stockades and after discussions with Angela at Nairobi HQ quickly placed her on a drip. With the advice of Dr. Poghon and Angela we medicated her but she did not seem to improve. In the afternoon Sorka’s great friend Bada came to see how she was doing with Naipoki and Panda also coming by to check on their ailing friend. Very sadly Sorka passed away later that night. Despite only being with us for a few short months she will be missed by both her human and elephant family.
25 October 2014
The keepers had put a big blanket to cover the late Sorka in an effort to try and hide her body from the rest of the orphans who would be devastated to have lost a friend. Once the stockade doors were open the youngsters ran for their milk not realizing what had happened. Bada and Naipoki tried to return to the stable that Sorka was in to check on her and see how she was but the keepers called them and kept them away. They definitely sensed something was wrong. We ensured the orphans were taken to the distant northern side of Msinga hill and Angela had request a postmortem was conducted on Sorka by Dr. Poghon from the Trust funded Mobile Veterinary Unit as Sorka’s problem and why she had not thrived despite our best efforts had remained a mystery. The postmortem revealed that Sorka had died from hemorrhagic enteritis. That evening the orphans missed Sorka and continued to look for her.
26 October 2014
A small wild elephant family came browsing past the orphans at 2.40pm. Kenia was allowed to stay and browse close to a small calf that was with the group until more of the orphans came to join in and greet the calf which caught the attention of its mother who came to take her calf away as the group headed off to a different area. Kenia tried to follow them for a while but upon realizing that she was getting separated from her friends rejoined the rest of the orphan group. The orphans were quiet today sensing that they had lost a special member in Sorka.
27 October 2014
Upon exiting the stockade Mudanda ran straight to Wasessa before Bada could even try and greet her. Bada became sad and desperate as she is also very close to Wasessa and in the absence of Sorka is more needy than usual. Kivuko noticed that Bada was upset and came over to reassure her and give her some love and company. The two spent the day browsing next to one another with Kivuko joining Panda’s group when they returned to the stockade in the evening thus managing to sneakily get some milk together with the rest of the milk dependent orphans.
28 October 2014
Mbirikani took the lead of the orphans today and steered them to the peak of the western side of Msinga hill where they spent the morning feeding and did not seem in a rush to come down. There were some light showers this morning and the milk dependent orphans with the exception of Mbirikani came down for the noon milk feed escorted by Kenia and Ndii. Mbirikani chose to forgo her milk bottle and stay browsing on Msinga hill with the older orphans where they were rejioined by the youngsters soon after they had downed their noon feed.
29 October 2014
Tassia and Taveta engaged each other in a serious strength testing game upon entering the browsing fields this morning. Unfortunately the game soon escalated and Lesanju who was keeping an eye on the two was getting fed up of their antics and was preparing to get involved and separate the fighting pair.
At the mudbath one of the orphans wallowed and instead chose to splash themselves with water before the heading back to the browsing fields for the afternoon. Isahq-B enjoyed leading the group back to the stockade in the evening.
30 October 2014
The orphans headed soon after the morning milk and supplement feed. Once at the browsing fields they scattered into small groups each intent on grabbing as much vegetation as they could. They slowly browsed their way to the water hole arriving at noon where they met up with a wild herd. The two groups had a drink of water and a quick wallow before the wild herd headed to the Voi River while the orphans resuming their browsing activities. Mzima chose to follow the wild herd for a bit returning to rejoin the group about an hour later.
31 October 2014
It was a wonderful morning with the orphans enjoying several games around the stockade compound. Mbirikani attempted to ride onto Bada’s back but was prevented from doing so by Kivuko and Sinya who were close by and saw what his intentions were.
The orphans then left for the field and browsed their way to the waterhole where the youngsters emptied their milk bottle and plunged into the water for a much needed wallow. Layoni became the mud bathing star, jumping and rolling in the water in competition with Tassia and Dabassa who gave up a little while later and left the wallow followed quickly by Layoni who did not want to be left behind.