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When the orphans arrived out in the forest this morning, some were busy browsing and others like Kauro, Tusuja, Roi, Mbegu, Maramoja, Rapa, Naseku, Lasayen, Ndotto, Dupotto and Godoma were all rolling around in the wet soil and little mud baths following the shower of rain we had last night. Kauro and Roi rolled on the soil as Ndotto, Rapa and Lasayen all enjoyed climbing, bumping and sliding on them. Naughty Rapa was trying to bully Ndotto and Lasayen away from Roi so that he could enjoy sliding on her himself – but they teamed up together to try and push him away too! During the public visit today Esampu was the cause of chaos when she tried to interrupt the other babies from enjoying their milk bottles. After finishing her bottle she remained restless running from one point to the next and pushing the keepers demanding more milk. The keepers warned her and eventually she was moved away from the others until she calmed down. She is really becoming a naughty greedy girl!

Naughty little greedy Esampu is now forced to be the last one in the first group down to the bottle feeding area – this way everyone has already finished their milk bottles and there is no one she can run after and bully for their bottle too! During public visiting though if someone wonders too close to her whilst she is having her bottle, she runs after them and then back to her bottle. This reaction of going to and from the keeper feeding her attracted the attention of the visiting public and they all wanted to know the name of this funny, greedy little elephant! Out in the bush just after 1pm, Kiko was frightened by a lioness that was out hunting warthogs. After Kiko spotted the lion he ran back to where the keepers and the little babies were in the bush. He stood there with the others and watched the lioness disappear back into the forest. A few minutes later Kiko sprinted from there back to the stockades and hid out there for the rest of the afternoon.

When the orphans were out browsing this morning, Tagwa, Malkia, Wangala, Pare, Maramoja, Sana Sana and Esampu decided to go their own direction. Led by Esampu and Malkia their mission to what seemed like the mud wallow took a new turn when they came across a troop of baboons. Upon seeing the troop Malkia and Esampu got scared and took a u-turn running through their friends behind them and rumbling in protest. This caused the baboons to shout as well and suddenly all the babies were scattered and yelling out. This attracted the attention of Mbegu, Roi, Dupotto and Oltaiyoni who ran out to find out what was happening. They bellowed loudly and trumpeted with their ears spread wide as they called Esampu’s little runaway group towards them. Their trumpeting caused the baboons in the trees to jump up and down and shout as well, and in return Oltaiyoni’s group got very angry and started charging around, pushing trees and one tree Oltaiyoni pushed down forced a baboon to jump from the branches. The commotion saw the rest of the herd run to assist Oltaiyoni and the others scare the baboons away and they ran off. The orphans remained restless for some time after that but then they soon calmed down, especially with the reassurance from their keepers.

Out during the public visiting hour, soon after the first group of orphans had finished their milk bottles, some of the orphans like Mbegu, Godoma, Pare and Malkia were busy enjoying a mud bath. Others like Murit, Tagwa, Jotto and Ngilai were busy feeding on the greens put out by the keepers, whilst Ambo and Esampu were busy fighting over a water trough and who got the right to draw water from it first. Ambo got hold of Esampu’s tail during their little tussle and pull it with his mouth. This caused the little girl to yell out and run along the rope cordon towards the keepers, to rescue her from the bully boy Ambo! Ambo let her go though before she reached the keepers, and he walked back to draw water from the same water trough, as if victorious in his efforts. Little did he know that the naughty Esampu was walking up behind him quickly for revenge; she pushed him as she walked past and he rolled over the water trough before landing on the ground with a bump! Before he could get up though she was already in the mud pool enjoying splashing around with Mbegu, Godoma, Sana Sana and Pare, and he looked confused as he looked around and tried to work out who had pushed him. He decided to walk into the mud pool and take his anger out by vigorously rolling around in the mud.

As soon as the orphans had finished their milk bottles this morning during the public visiting hour, they all moved on to enjoy a soil dusting moment in the fresh loose soil there, with many rolling and bumping into each other at once. Little ones likes Jotto, Ambo and Esampu who can hardly soil dust themselves their trunks are still so small, were happily assisted by their keepers and they were very happy scampering and rolling in the loose soil as it was thrown on their little bodies in shovels, as they rolled against Mbegu, Godoma, Pare and Tagwa. As their game was drawing to a close Ngilai was very naughty and decided to pick on poor little Tagwa who is a sweet and gentle little elephant. He chased after poor little Tagwa and held one of her hind legs so she couldn’t move. Tagwa yelled out for help from the little bully boy and the keepers came to help her and told Ngilai off so he let her go.

As the orphans were busy walking out to the forest this morning, Murit and Luggard were busy enjoying a pushing game to welcome the new day! These days Murit and Luggard have been much more active and engaging in more play than before, showing that both are improving health wise. They still have a long way to come as poor Luggard’s leg has yet to fully fuse and recover from the bullet wound, and Murit struggles to overcome his poor health condition; but today, they both look good! During public visiting today young Malkia finished her milk bottle and started running around after her keeper, shouting at him and pulling on his dust coat for more milk. It seems she has picked up some naughty habits from Esampu and today was acting just like her! After finishing her milk bottle little Godoma went straight up to the water trough that was beside where the visiting public were standing beside the rope cordon. As she was busy drinking water many of the visitors got to enjoy touching her, but after she got tired of this after some time Godoma drew water in her trunk and instead of putting it in her mouth she sprayed it all over them! She caught some of the visitors off guard as they were busy trying to take pictures of her behind their cameras!

Malkia is a little girl that likes to shout loudly and often for no reason! Sometimes you will think that something really bad has happened to her or that she has been hurt by one of the others, but the poor little thing is just shouting! Early in the morning she created a bit of drama as Mbegu heard her shouting. She has been left slightly behind as the herd moved out to the forest and after realizing this she started yelling loudly. Mbegu came running and started bashing around in the bushes trying to find out what has made the little one cry. She started trumpeting, but found nothing! Lately the sun has been so hot even by 9am and by 11am it is scorching! Some still weigh up whether they would like a mud bath or not, but others like Pare do not give it a second thought and dive into the mud pool as soon as they can. He did not stay in for long but others like Godoma and Mbegu completely submerged themselves and had a great bath! They looked like hippos right up until the end of the visiting time. Even at the end the keepers had to get quite stern with them to make them come out of the mid bath they were enjoying so much! Just after 2pm today Ndotto had to intervene and bring peace between Jotto and Esampu who were fighting and seeking revenge every time one of them went and pushed the other!

Tagwa likes competing with the other little babies Jotto, Ambo and Esampu. Jotto and Ambo used to push her around some time back but lately she seems to have sized up to them and wants to pick a fight. Today this behaviour resulted in a fight amongst the babies when she came over and started pushing Jotto who was having his milk. Jotto didn’t just stand there and let someone try to take his food so he started pushing her back, trying to protect his bottle. This didn’t go down well with Tagwa and she became even more aggressive! Ambo also then came over to get involved and this made things really complicated for the keeper who was trying to feed Jotto! Thankfully more keepers came over and they each took an elephant to control the situation; Tagwa kept following Jotto though trying to fight him! Eventually calm prevailed and everything carried on as usual. A phone call came in from the Voi stockades that they had a calf about 18 months- 2 years old but which was in a state of collapse; the nursery rescue team was told to wait on standby and around 11am the decision was reached that the team should conduct the rescue. Upon arriving they found the calf still in the same state of collapse and they immediately put him on a drip which perked him up. By 4.30pm the calf had arrived back at the nursery in Nairobi still breathing but very weak. He was supported on his feet so he could feed but he was very unstable. He was given some time to rest and was fed greens as he was lying down which he ate. At 8pm his drip was finished and he was supported to stand, shortly after which he charged at the keepers, though he was still not very strong; a good sign. We named the calf Trev and hope that he will recover.

Esampu woke up this morning in a very happy and playful mood. When she came out of her pen she went to knock on Mbegu’s gate which was still closed. She had heard Mbegu knocking from the other side and perhaps thought she could help her come out! When that didn’t work she left for Max’s stockade where Max was sleeping beside his gate. There were many warthogs and their piglets were playing around the gate and some were feeding on max’s food there. Esampu started playing there going between head stands and sitting and raising her trunk high in the air. The piglets starts teasing and mock charging her which Esampu didn’t like and she started chasing her away – it turned into a fun game as the piglets dodged her and the very little ones ran between her feet. Tamiyoi decided to team up with her friend and help drive them away. Unfortunately this is when everyone else decided to join in as well and Maramoja, Galla, Dupotto, Mbegu and Naseku came over trumpeting, trying to drive the warthogs away. Max in his stockade had of course woken up by this stage and was also helping to chase the warthogs and those that had sneaked into his pen trying to avoid the elephants. Oltaiyoni, Roi and Kamok had already gone into the forest but when they heard the trumpeting they came running back to the stockades. By the time they reached the scene however all the warthogs had run away and they moved to calm every one down and walk them all out to the forest together. When little Mguu with the deformed leg joined the family out in the forest Sana Sana, Malkia, Pare, Luggard, Tamiyoi and Esampu walked up to him to greet him. They were all very excited and surrounded the little one, all patting him with their trunks. This was obviously a very happy moment for the little one has he seemed at peace, and very quiet and relaxed. They only left the baby when their milk arrived in the forest, and Tamiyoi and Luggard stayed behind to spend the day with him. All day long Pare has been playing pushing games with Sana Sana and Lasayen – these three had their own small group away from the others and even returned together after the public visit to continue their games for the rest of the day! Very sadly Trev passed away this afternoon after never regaining his strength after becoming an orphan; he passed away in the loving company of the keepers.

The two little babies who usually like fighting each other, Jotto and Esampu, were behaving slightly differently today. They are almost the same age and size but neither of the two have ever respected each other - most of the time it is Esampu that initiates the tussles - but today they seem to have put aside their differences and have had a friendly time playing with each other instead! This has been very nice to see. Kauro has had a lovely time playing with Tusuja throughout the whole day - the two older boys have been wrestling, playing games of hide and seek and generally messing around. Whoever went down to lie on the ground the other would immediately climb on top and they would play like this for hours. Unfortunately we received yet another phone call today from Amboseli in the area called Mbirikani. An orphan had been spotted all alone and sadly wounded as well. The rescue team left immediately for Wilson airport to fly to the scene and when they arrived there they found the orphan had already been captured. They administered some first aid before putting him on the plane and at around 4.30pm the rescue team arrived back in the nursery. At first glance the poor calf seems to have been attacked by lions who took a chunk out of the hind near the top of his tail but we were not sure if this happened when the calf was still with the herd or after. He was let out in his pen and was very aggressive and scared, he was also very thin and immediately started feeding on the greens put there for him, suggesting he had gone for a very long time without food. It wasn't long before the other babies started running back into the compound and into their pens for their milk bottles. This seemed to help settle him down slightly but he was still confused as the elephants ran in from different directions. Eventually he settled down and went back to browsing whilst watching all of his new neighbours in their pens as well.

When the babies were coming out of the pens to go into the forest today, the keeper opened Ambo’s door and Ambo followed and walked behind him. When they got to Esampu’s door Ambo stood and waited as well. Naughty Esampu came out and straight away and head butted him to the ground! Ambo got a surprise as he might have been expecting a more greeting and instead he was knocked to the floor. As he got up for revenge a keeper got hold of him and tried to calm him down by offering a finger for him to suckle instead. He was okay with that and settled down as the little grumpy girl walked ahead and looked as if she was about to do the same thing to Murit. Murit didn’t stand for this behaviour though and drove her away out of the area. She ran off yelling for help but no one came to assist her. Wanjala has suddenly fallen in love with Maxwell’s lucerne – today when he was being asked by the keepers to follow and walk with the others out to the forest he refused, and went down on his knees and started yelling. He would not move but only when Maxwell started charging at his gate because of his yelling did he decide to follow the others.

The orphans approached the forest today in a playful mood and we watched many of them scamper around the bushes charging, stamping and bashing into one another. Maramoja, Roi, Sana Sana, Mbegu, Naseku, Rapa, Ndotto and Lasayen were all leading the game with Ndotto and Lasayen running after Naseku and trying to climb on her. Naseku would turn on the two playful boys and playfully push them away – at one point Lasayen tried to climb on her back as Ndotto tried to climb on her head at the same time! Roi started trumpeting in excitement and suddenly everyone joined in the game running all over the place. They were charging and trumpeting and the little ones like Jotto, Tamiyoi, Ambo, Esampu and Malkia just ran around their feet as they are too young to be able to trumpet yet. They always seem to behave like this when a new orphan is about to arrive in the nursery and sure enough just after 10am we received a call regarding another orphan baby that needed rescuing from the Tsavo Conversation Area.