01 October 2017

Many wild elephants from around the Chyulu Hills area are now making their way back to the Kibwezi forest and to Umani as they no longer feel threatened when visiting here. The reason for their new found courage is due to the fact that since the DSWT fenced the Kibwezi forest, it has become a safe area for them to visit as they are no longer confronted by hostile people, who have entered the area illegally, trying to poach the animals and destroy the forest. The DSWT erected the fence so as to prevent illegal activities from taking place in the Kibwezi forest and as a result there is no more illegal logging, charcoal burning, bushmeat poaching or poaching of elephants. Last night many wild elephants came to the Umani Springs and spent most of the night around the orphans’ stockades. Ziwa and Ngasha rumbled greetings to them during the night wanting them to come and join them inside the stockade compound which they were unable to do due to the electric fence around the stockades. The wild elephants communicated with the babies throughout the night, especially with the two older girls Murera and Sonje, who they wanted to join and become friendly with.

02 October 2017

There has been an increase in the number of flying insects around the stockades and these can cause the orphans some discomfort. Murera, Sonje and Mwashoti area always whisking their tails from side to side as they walk ensuring that the flying insects do not disturb them. This morning when the keepers headed out with the orphans to the lucerne feeding area they found a big wild elephant bull waiting for the orphans so that he could enjoy the supplement feeding with them. Ngasha and Lima Lima were not interested in forming a friendship with the wild bull and turned away from him. The wild bull, still very wary of humans, was not happy to see the keepers which resulted in the keepers moving the orphans away from the area as they wanted to ensure that they would all be safe, especially the older females. Zongoloni trumpeted loudly, seemingly upset that they had to leave the area, and together with Quanza they followed the rest of the group who were moving further away with the keepers and the supplement foods.

03 October 2017

Jasiri and Faraja together with their friend Ziwa were in a mischievous mood today and right after the noon milk bottle feed at the mudbath they began a mounting game where they would take turns mounting one another. Mwashoti watched their game and then tried to mount Sonje while Alamaya tied to mount Zongoloni. Following the mudbath the orphans made their way back to the browsing fields where they were joined by some wild elephants. The keepers made sure to keep their distance so that the orphans could enjoy interacting with their wild friends. Zongoloni seemed to want to stay with her wild peers as both her and Faraja were having a lovely time playing strength testing games with the wild elephants from their age group. Alamaya and Lima Lima did all they could to entice the two away and in the end Lima Lima succeeded in leading them back to the keepers. When babies returned to the stockades in the evening only some of them finished their both their milk bottles while others had one bottle and then started picking up the Lucerne pellets that they found on the ground.

04 October 2017

Today the orphan herd made their way to the Umani Hills in search of fresh browse. They had not visited the area for a while and were hoping that they would find some nice vegetation to feed on. Ngasha and Jasiri took the lead while Murera and Sonje brought up the rear ensuring that Alamaya and Mwashoti were both away from the pushing boys who can sometimes be rather rough with the youngsters. Most of the group went quite far up the hill to browse while Sonje, Murera and Mwashoti remained close to the base of the hill as they often struggle with climbing due to the leg injuries they each have. When Lima Lima, Zongoloni and Quanza reached the peak they came across some buffaloes who were already browsing there. Lima Lima tired to scare them away but was unsuccessful because there were so many, and the three decided to browse a little further away, leaving the buffaloes to feed in peace.

05 October 2017

The orphans were in a jovial mood as they exited their stockades this morning. Mwashoti came out trumpeting loudly followed by Murera and Zongoloni who trumpeted a greeting back to him. Sonje was in a bit of a destructive mood and started pushing and kicking at the trees around the stockade compound. This seemed to get the rest of the group quite active and Murera started charging and trumpeting loudly setting in motion a trumpeting and charging game which continued all the way to the water springs. The noise didn’t stop when they arrived at the springs and the orphans were so boisterous that the crocodiles around the water springs made sure to slide into the water and remain hidden until the orphans had left, after which they came out again for a sunning session.

06 October 2017

As soon as the orphans came out of their night quarters they began searching for acacia pods which they love to eat. Mwashoti searched together with Sonje and Murera but they were all out of luck as the season for the pods has ended for the time being. The keepers went to search the stores to see if there were any there from what had been collected in the previous months but there was nothing left. As such Alamaya and Mwashoti had to be happy with the lucerne pellets and grass that the keepers had put out for them. When they arrived at the supplement feeding area they found some antelopes enjoying the pellets. Zongoloni and Quanza made sure to chase them far away so that the orphans could enjoy their treats. When the orphans arrived at the waterhole where they have their noon milk bottle, they appeared to be quite hot and bothered. They wasted no time drinking their milk and after all they wanted to do was cool off in the mud bath. They all enjoyed wallowing with Zongoloni and Jasiri making their way to a small waterhole which did not have much mud in it, and as such couldn’t really accommodate them both. Jasiri tried to push Zongoloni away but met with quite a bit of resistance from her. The keepers came and intervened as they did not want the two to fight. Jasiri walked away, allowing Zongoloni to have the small waterhole all to herself.

07 October 2017

Today the orphans made their way to the Chyulu Hills following the trails that their wild friends had taken. On the way they came across some dung which Faraja and Ziwa smelled and tried to eat to get an idea of which vegetation was the best for the orphans to feed on. The orphan herd was led by Zongoloni with Murera and Mwashoti at the rear. On the way, Lima Lima spotted some wild elephants who were browsing in the bushes with their young hiding under their bellies. Lima Lima tried to play with one of the babies and its mother. They played together for a while until Lima Lima grabbed the tail of one of the youngsters which made it cry out which resulted in the mother wanting to discipline Lima Lima. Zongoloni trumpeted calling Lima Lima back to the orphan herd so as to avoid any problems with the wild herd. The orphans continued to the browsing fields where they spent the day, stopping only for the midday milk feed where they had a quick wallow in the mud bath.

08 October 2017

In the morning Murera picked up the scent of wild elephant dung which was found on the paths leading the Umani water springs. Sonje and Murera both touched the dung with their trunks after which Sonje put her trunk into Murera’s mouth. The orphans continued to the water springs while Murera seemed to have a different idea and turned around. Quanza was enjoying scratching her buttocks and neck together with the babies when Ziwa came along and tried to push the babies away. Quanza was having none of Ziwa’s antics and made sure to move Ziwa away to wait his turn. While out browsing some crane birds flew out of the trees giving the orphans a fright. Mwashoti seemed to get the biggest fright of all and started charging around as he was unsure of what it was that was flying above him, as all he could hear was the flapping of wings. The keepers managed to gather the orphans back into a group and they calmed down and continued with their browsing activities. When the orphans arrived at the waterhole for their milk feed they found some big elephants enjoying the dustbath. The orphans were in awe of their big peers and kept their distance as they were so much smaller than the wild elephants and did not want to risk getting hurt; even Jasiri and Sonje stayed away.

09 October 2017

The orphans looked very tired when they arrived at the waterhole at noon. On arrival, Alamaya immediately entered the water and started swimming around. The rest of the orphan herd was quick to follow him. Lima Lima decided that she did not want to wallow with the others and went to the small mud wallow that only fits one elephant at a time. She rolled over in the mud thoroughly enjoying herself until Sonje came to get her to rejoin the group as it was time to return to the browsing fields. The orphan herd had started to make their way but had to stop as Lima Lima usually leads them and they did not want to leave without her, which is why Sonje had to come and get her. It took some coaxing from Sonje before Lima Lima would leave her wallow and rejoin the herd. Ngasha and Faraja were the first ones to welcome her back into the group as they had grown tired of waiting for the mini matriarch to arrive and wanted to get back to the days browsing activities.

10 October 2017

The orphan herd was in a happy mood as they walked out of their stockades this morning and they all trumpeted loudly as they exited, stopping for a drink at the water trough. The boys in the group, led by Faraja and Ngasha, arrived and began playing mounting games with their friends. Sonje walked to the soil pile and around tothe scratching rocks where she enjoyed a scratching session. Alamaya tried to follow her but was blocked from doing so by Lima Lima who wanted Alamaya to stay with her as she feels she is more than capable of looking after the youngster as she often takes the lead of the orphan herd. When the orphans came to the Umani Hills they found some monkeys and baboons there that were shouting and making a lot of noise. This gave the orphans a fright and they charged off in different directions. It was quite a noisy scene with the shouting monkeys and baboons and trumpeting elephants. The keepers then added to the noise by calling to the orphans to get them back into one group so that they could calm them down and they could resume with the day’s activities.

11 October 2017

Last night Sonje and Murera seemed to be quite agitated in their stockade and appeared to be pushing at the roof as well as at the gate and stockade walls. The keepers did not see anything that could be bothering them, so assumed that they were being mischievous and playing some sort of game. The keepers tired to get them to stop their nonsense but the two girls did not seem to be in listening mood. When they came out their stockade in the morning, Sonje was still in a pushing mood and tried to push her keepers but when they told her off, she took to charging at the trees pushing them. The keepers think that she may have been influenced by the wild elephants that had been around the stockades earlier last night, drinking from the waterhole. Faraja and his friend Ziwa decided to make their way to the forest without the rest of the group. Quanza took the lead of the remaining orphan herd. Quanza held on to Zongoloni’s tail as they walked, something that Zongoloni didn’t like and she made her feelings known by pushing Quanza to get her to stop holding her tail. The orphans walked all the way to the Kenze area in search of fresh vegetation to feed on. Murera looked quite tired by the time the arrived on the hills and needed to take a bit of a rest. Mwashoti stopped to rest with her and the rest of the group stopped walking so that the two would not fall behind. Ngasha and Jasiri walked up to Zongoloni and the three showed lots of affection to one another as the happily interlocked their trunks rumbling gently amongst themselves.

12 October 2017

The orphans all arrived at the mud bath area and once they had finished their milk bottles they headed straight to waterhole to cool off by wallowing and splashing mud all over their bodies. Alamaya and Mwashoti vigorously scratched their bottoms along the sides and bottom of the mud wallow. Following the mudbath the group then enjoyed a soil dusting session, covering themselves with as much soil as they could. Lima Lima did not want to exit the mud bath as she was having a wonderful time rolling around in the mud and water. She only exited the mud bath when she saw the keepers and the rest of the group leaving the area and making their way back to the forest. Sonje and Murera walked along with Alamaya and Mwashoti with Murera resting her trunk on Mwashoti’s back in a show of affection.

13 October 2017

Today the orphans heard wild elephants trumpeting loudly around the Umani Springs area. Ziwa headed off in their direction causing the keepers some worry as they feared he may walk of with his wild friends. Ziwa joined the wild group for a while and walked with them, but found their pace to be too fast which he was not comfortable with. His wild friends were also quite pushy with him and both the males and the females kept engaging him in strength testing games and pushing matches. They could also smell the human scent on him from the keepers and gave him a bit of a hard time, pushing him with their tusks. The keepers called Ziwa back from the wild group and he returned to the orphan herd with both his ego and body feeling a little bruised from his encounter.

14 October 2017

The orphans left headed towards Umani Hill as they left the stockade compound this morning. Some baboons decided to try and follow the group coming up behind Alamaya and Mwashoti. Mwashoti was not happy to have the baboons behind him and made his feelings known to Sonje and Murera. Murera responded by charging around the bushes, chasing the baboons away and up into the trees. Her actions attracted the attention of some of the other orphans who also started charging around. When Murera felt that the baboons had been satisfactorily chased away she tried to calm some of the others. Zongoloni and Faraja seemed particularly excited and did not listen to Murera. Sonje came to assist her co-matriarch and managed to get all the orphans to stop charging around and calm down so that they could continue with the day’s activities.

15 October 2017

During the night while the orphans were in their stockades and the keepers were in their tents, two leopards came around the stockade fence line trying to get up into the nearby trees. Their presence made Ziwa, Faraja and Ngasha very nervous, as were Alamaya and Mwashoti who started bellowing loudly seeking help from the matriarchs Murera and Sonje. Murera and Sonje were on the opposite side and did not know why their younger charges were so upset. The leopards had managed to get up into the trees which caused the orphans to start trumpeting very loudly making a lot of noise which brought the keepers running outside. When the babies came out of their night quarters in the morning they were all still on high alert and very wary. Zongoloni and Quanza did not want to be on their own and stuck close to the keepers, all of them hoping that they would not see the leopard again.

16 October 2017

It was cloudy when the orphans left their stockades in the morning. The weather left the orphans in a subdued mood with none of them feeling very playful at all. Murera and Mwashoti were moving quite slowly today and kept close to the keepers while Jasiri and the other boys separated from the girls and made their way to the springs. The orphans joined up again as they made their way to the Umani Hills where they founds some acacia trees to feed on. They all went to work stripping bark off the trees to chew. Sonje managed to pull down a big branch for the younger boys who were still too small to reach the greener leaves towards the top. There were some acacia pods on the branch and the youngsters enjoyed feeding on this tasty treat. At noon the orphans came to the mud bath for their milk bottle but did not wallow in the water as it was a little chilly and overcast. When they finished their milk they headed to the dustbath before browsing in the nearby bushes as they waited for the keepers to finish having their lunch, when they would move further afield.

17 October 2017

The babies left the stockade compound this morning following their milk bottle and headed to the bushes. As they were making their way to the forest they crossed paths with a leopard who walked past them. Lima Lima and Zongoloni did a quick about turn and tried to lead the orphans towards the Chyulu Hills area instead. However, the area was not the easiest to walk to so the keepers and Sonje made sure to keep the orphans on the path they were already on, which would lead them to the Umani Hills. Ziwa started a pushing game Ngasha, taking it in turns to push each other from the bottom to ascertain who was the stronger of the two. Ngasha managed to pin Ziwa to the ground and Jasiri came in to help Ziwa who was screaming for help. Sonje and Murera were both further away and as such Jasiri made sure to come to Ziwa’s aid. When the orphans visited the waterhole at noon they were all in a playful mood and had a lovely time at the mud bath. The boys all had fun trumpeting and charging around as they enjoyed both the wallow and the dustbath. Murera and Sonje also started trumpeting quite loudly and their trumpets drowned out those of the rest of the group.

18 October 2017

The orphans were in a happy mood when they left the stockade compound this morning and made their way to the water springs following the path taken by some of their wild friends the night before. The path was full of fresh dung and Murera kept stopping to pick up some dung and eat it. Eating the dung of wild elephants is one of the ways that the orphans learn what vegetation is the best to feed on. When the orphans arrived at the Chyulu Hills today to browse, Quanza managed to find some fresh sweet branches to feed on and this meant she did not want to return to the mud wallow for the noon milk feed. Quanza is really old enough to be able to survive without milk and is not greedy like Lima Lima who always wants more than her share with the milk bottles, never arriving fast enough for her liking.

19 October 2017

In the morning, the keepers assembled the orphan herd to begin the days browsing activities. Alamaya and Mwashoti were keen to begin the day and were able to do so as soon as the matriarchs of the group joined the herd. Today many wild elephants were seen running towards the Kibwezi forest, trying to escape a wild fire that was burning in the Chyulu Hills. The Chyulu Anti-Poaching team working with KWS rangers were busy trying to prevent the fire from reaching the forest. We could all see the smoke in the Chyulu Hills and we prayed that they would be able to get the fire under control soon. When the orphans arrived at the waterhole at noon they had their noon milk bottle, and after made their way to the mud wallow where they splashed water ontheir bodies. Alamaya and Mwashoti went to the dustbath while Jasiri looked for Faraja to engage him in some pushing games. Sonje didn’t want the two boys to play pushing games as she was worried they would upset the two younger boys who were happily enjoying their dustbath. She managed to prevent the two boys from getting to one another, forcing them to play on their own and thus preventing them from being disturbed the little ones.

20 October 2017

Today a big bull elephant walked from the water springs in the morning and passed by the stockades to see Sonje and other orphans. The keepers saw him coming and when he saw them with their wheelbarrows full of lucerne he seemed to pick up speed and move away from the area hiding from the keepers. He is obviously still very wary of humans and does not feel comfortable being around the orphans when the keepers are nearby. The orphan herd made their way to the Umani Hills after which they walked to the sundowner area looking for fresh vegetation to feed on. While browsing they heard some wild elephants trumpeting up in the hills. Lima Lima and Zongoloni tried to follow the noise, hoping to meet up with the wild herd and interact with them. Murera and Sonje remained at the bottom of the hill taking care of Mwashoti and Alamaya as well as keeping and eye on the rest of the orphan herd who were browsing there.

21 October 2017

The weather was chilly this morning which left the orphans subdued as they made their way to the bushes. Mwashoti and Murera were most affected by the cold and walked much slower than the rest of the group. When it is cold it takes a while for them to warm up and for their muscles to become looser so that they can move together with the rest of the group and not lag behind. While browsing in the bushes some bushbucks came running past them from the opposite direction. The orphans were worried that something made them run. The keepers and Lima Lima went to investigate and found a herd of buffalo, and assumed that must have been what upset the bushbuck. Realising that everything was okay, the orphans continued with their browsing activities until it was time for the noon milk feed.

22 October 2017

Lima Lima and Zongoloni were having a fight over which one of them would get to look after Alamaya today as the group was browsing in the bushes. Alamaya seemed to lag behind the group browsing at his own pace. Lima Lima was worried that being on his own, he may be bothered by Ngasha who sometimes harasses Alamaya by touching what is left of his tail, something that Alamaya has never liked. After some deliberation it was decided that Zongoloni would look after Alamaya and make sure that none of the other orphans bothered him so that he could browse in peace. At the mudbath and milk feeding time Lima Lima came running in pushing the babies out of the way as she tried to be the first one to be given her milk bottle. The keepers managed to effectively keep her away, giving Zongoloni the opportunity to arrive at the milk feeding area first with Jasiri, Alamaya and Mwashoti, allowing them to have their milk before the greedier orphans arrived. When Mwashoti got to his milk bottles he picked them up just as he had seen Zongoloni and Jasiri doing. Despite being older Murera has not been able to do this and always relies on the keepers’ assistance when having her bottle. Once the orphans had all had their share they headed to the mud bath where they wallowed before enjoying a dustbath. They then returned to the browsing fields avoiding the path that their wild friends had taken.

23 October 2017

Today while the orphans were browsing in the fields some big wild bull elephants came and were seen trying to get the matriarchs Murera and Sonje’s attention and separate them from the herd. Lima Lima was quick to react and ran to the keepers to alert them as to what was going on. The keepers went to try and assist the two older girls but had to retreat as the bulls walked towards them preventing them from getting to the orphans. Some of the younger orphans managed to follow the keepers as the bulls were not interested in the youngsters. Lima Lima saw that the keepers were not able to help and called Alamaya and Zongoloni to her, attracting the bulls’ attention away from Murera and Sonje. The matriarchs then managed to get away and headed straight to the keepers, sticking close to them as they knew the bulls would not come close as long as the keepers were by their side.

24 October 2017

Today Alamaya was in a naughty mood and turned on his friend Zongoloni engaging her in a pushing game. He pushed Zongoloni harder and harder with Zongoloni doing her best not to be rough with her younger friend. While they played Zongoloni mistakenly touched Alamaya’s tail, something that he hates, which made him seek assistance from Ziwa to win the strength testing game. We have noticed that lately Alamaya and Mwashoti have become little fighters. They are often seen trying to mount Sonje and Lima Lima whenever they see the two girls lying down. If the matriarchs stop the little boys from mounting them they get angry and start pushing the girls hard with their bottoms showing their frustration at not being allowed to do what they like. During the night a leopard came to visit the stockades and the orphans who were in their night quarters. The keepers were all quite relaxed until they heard the baboons shouting the alarm, notifying everyone that a leopard was nearby. The bushbucks were also on high alert moving around and the orphans started banging on the gates to get the keepers to come out and watch over them until the leopard left.

25 October 2017

Today the orphans exited the stockades to a welcome light rain shower which has been a long time coming. The orphans were surprised by the raindrops and some of them seemed to want to retreat back into their stockades to wait for the rain to stop. Murera and Sonje stayed back with the younger boys who wanted shelter from the rain while the rest of the orphan herd enjoyed some lucerneand waited for the rest of the group. Once the rains stopped Sonje and Murera signalled that it was time to head to the forest to begin the day’s activities. At the noon bottle feeding area the orphans came running in with Zongoloni and Jasiri in the lead. Lima Lima was held back by the keepers to come in with the last of the orphansas she is a very greedy elephant and tries to steal milk from the others. The orphans did not want to wallow in the water today and instead enjoyed a dustbath before heading back to the browsing fields.

26 October 2017

Mwashoti had a bit of a rough time today from the other orphans. It started at the lucerne feeding area where the orphans were all grabbing as much as they could and stuffing it into their mouths. For some reason Murera was seen disciplining Mwashoti though no one knew why. Later on Alamaya was seen pushing Mwashoti to the ground. The keepers ran up shouting at Alamaya to stop pushing Mwashoti. While dealing with Alamaya, Zongoloni came running up and chased Mwashoti away from the pellet area. The keepers felt very sorry for Mwashoti and took him to a private feeding area where they gave him lucerne and pellets that the could feed on while being watched over by the keeps who ensured that no one came to bother him. Mwashoti spent the day close to the keepers wanting nothing to do with any of the other orphans except for Sonje who came and listened to him and gave him some love and attention.

27 October 2017

It was raining this morning which slightly disrupted the orphan’s morning routine. It drizzled up until midday which meant that the orphans were not very active when they visited the mudbath for their noon milk bottle. They all looked a little dull as the rain was making them feel rather cold. Only some of the boys had a dustbath while Lima Lima, Sonje and Alamaya enjoyed a drink of clean water from the cement water trough. While the orphans were browsing near the mudbath two wild bulls came out of the bushes and made their way to Murera who saw them coming and headed to the keepers where she knew she would be safe. The orphans then made their way to the Chyulu Hills where another two bulls came and joined Sonje, Zongoloni and Lima Lima. The three girls showed no interest whatsoever in the wild bulls who raised their trunks to see if they could locate the keepers and ascertain where they were. The keepers made sure to keep their distance as they know that the bulls can sometimes be unpredictable; they did not want to be charged by the wild elephants that were much bigger than the orphans.

28 October 2017

Rain started to fall very early in the morning before the orphans came out from their stockades. Lima Lima did not wait for the rain to stop, but went to the hay stores and pulled down two bales of hay, running off with some and spilling it on the ground. Murera and Sonje called Mwashoti to join them inside their room to wait for the rain to stop. Alamaya followed Zongoloni and Lima Lima with hay still in her mouth as she walked out of the compound gate. When it finally stopped raining all the keepers with the few babies who remained behind followed Murera to the lucerne feeding area. Here they had some pellets and then walked towards the Umani Hills, where they found some of their favourite acacia pods and some soft branches to chew on. At bottle feeding time, both Lima Lima and Zongoloni led the babies to come for bottle feeding but they did not want to go into the waterhole because it was quite chilly following the rain in the morning.

29 October 2017

Many wild elephants came along to the stockade water trough for clean water with some bulls making a lot of noisy complaints among themselves. The orphans rumbled back to communicate with them in a low tone and we wondered what they could have been saying to the big bulls. Ziwa and Ngasha tried pushing against their walls to walk out and meet the wild friends. Obviously they could not push the wall but eventually Ziwa managed to push open his gate and he went out to greet the wild elephants. After the wild elephants walked away he felt very lonely outside and began shouting and charging around the fence line. Murera and the others friends began shouting loudly in return, and pushing against their walls. When the keepers opened the gate for Ziwa to come back into the compound, he was welcomed by happy trumpeting from all his friends.

30 October 2017

Lima Lima pretended this morning that she was just eating the lucerne pellets the keepers had put out for them, but slowly continued until she ended up back in the stockade compound picking up some acacia pods which lay on the ground before the keepers swept them out. Lima Lima, as one of the big girls, also has a role to play taking care of Alamaya and others. She called Alamaya and Zongoloni to walk upfront with her, leaving Mwashoti to be with Sonje and Murera. Out in the forest a lot of wild elephants came along, with tiny babies looking for Mwashoti to play with. The keepers were close by however and the wild elephants did not stay long as they could smell the humans around them, and they are not quite used to the keepers yet.

31 October 2017

As the orphans were coming back home in the evening after their long day out in the forest, Murera and Mwashoti werelooking very tired, but the other babies were just happy to be back for their milk bottles. Today LimaLima and Ziwa led them out on a long walk which made Murera and Mwashoti very tired by the afternoon, but it is good to keep their strength up and work their bad legs. When she arrived for her bottle, Murera rumbled with happiness and relief as the keeper put the bottle in her mouth. Sonje had already finished her share and went aside their pen to have some pellets whilst she waited for Murera to finish drinking. Ziwa played his tricks again after finishing his bottle and the acacia pods around the area; he walked out of his gate, leaving the keepers to give him a trial of closing the gate and seeing his reaction. Later he came running back, demanding the gate to be opened. The keepers welcomed him in again and locked his gate.