A new arrival joined the Nursery on the 16th of the month, and more details about the circumstances surrounding his rescue will be shared in detail shortly when he is added to the adoption program. We have called him Roho - a direct translation is ’Spirit’ in Swahili. The others have certainly taken him under their wing and are thrilled with their new baby and little Roho finds himself lavished in attention and love, all of which has helped him recover from the heart-breaking loss he suffered. Tagwa, Tamiyoi, Enkesha, Maisha and Kiasa are by his side all the time, chaperoning him from one place to the next, including the mud bath and various milk feeding points.
Dololo continues to bully poor Ziwadi. He has never liked her for whatever reason and he is always bullying her whenever they meet. We think he is just picking on her because she is the most vulnerable at the moment and he can get away with it, because he wouldn’t dare pick on any of the others and risk being hurt! The other youngster Larro is always protected by the older females, so he wouldn’t risk bullying her. He would never win against Mukkoka either who can be very feisty and is a tough wrestler. Today at the 11am milk feed Ziwadi was on her knees drinking straight from the water trough, as she likes to drink with her mouth sometimes not using her trunk, and Dololo walked up to her and for no reason at all decided to head-butt her. She rolled over on the ground and before both the Keepers and Kiasa could run over to assist her up, Dololo ran off to avoid being told off. The Keepers picked her up and supported her back on her feet.
With the presence of lions around the area today Kiko didn’t leave the stockade next to Maxwell to go into the forest. Today he only had Maxwell to play with through their partition.
There was quite a lot of drama last night at some of the babies were moved around into different night rooms. This is an important part of growing up in the Nursery and sets them in good stead for the next phase of their lives, when they stay more independently without Keepers in the larger stockades at our reintegration units in Tsavo National Park. Sattao, Musiara, Larro and Kiasa were all moved into different rooms. Larro was moved into Kiasa’s old room, as she still needs to stay in a stable at night, and Kiasa, Musiara and Sattao were all moved into more open stockades as they are getting older now and it is time for them to graduate to a stockade instead of a stable. Larro seemed okay with her new room at first, but then during the night she started yelling and climbing on the door trying to get back to her old room. Musiara also didn’t settle down very well at first and he went on pushing against his gate struggling to go back to the room next to his friend Luggard. None of them were more affected than Kiasa however, who started yelling as soon as she went into her new room. Throughout the whole night she went on yelling, pushing and climbing on the stockade gate so the Keepers got hardly any sleep. Because of all the commotion, Maisha and Tamiyoi got hardly any sleep either! They were upset that the others were yelling and tried to get out of their rooms as well to go and calm them down. Throughout the whole morning we found Kiasa dosing instead of browsing because of how tired she was after all the fuss last night.
Kiasa had to discipline Dololo and Maktao today. The two boys were causing a lot of trouble at the mud bath area and the Keepers were having trouble keeping them in line. They were all about pushing, wrestling and climbing on each other and they wouldn’t listen to the Keepers, and there were quite a number of small school children who were visiting and watching them from behind a rope cordon. Maktao is slightly gentler than Dololo who always plays rough. Eventually Kiasa came over and separated the two boys and pushed them away from each other. It was nice to see Kiasa introducing some discipline instead of causing trouble herself!
Enkesha is able to use her trunk very well despite the hole in it caused by a wire snare, but most of the time when she comes across a water hosepipe she prefers picking up the pipe and drinking water directly from it. This is a much easier way for her to drink. When it was time for the orphans’ 3pm milk feed she downed her two bottles of milk and ran for the water pipe; she didn’t want to share it with any of the others who can drink perfectly well from the water troughs. Maisha and Sattao kept trying to stretch their trunks towards her to request for the hose pipe but she didn’t let either of them have it. When Tagwa walked over however she had no other choice than to drop the pipe and let Tagwa have it as she has to respect the leader of the herd; they all have respect for the matriarch of the family.
Sometimes we find that an elephant’s character will change and develop as they grow. For the longest time Luggard has been such a docile and gentle bull but recently he has turned into a bit of a naughty boy. Today he just wouldn’t listen to Tamiyoi and Enkesha when he was attempting to bully Maktao and Sattao and perhaps it is because there are no older bulls in the Nursery and he is one of the oldest. Maktao and Sattao were having a good time wrestling each other on top of a pile of loose soil they found out in the forest and Luggard walked over to them. As Luggard approached the young bulls thought that he was just going to join them, but instead he started poking them with his tusks. The girls Tamiyoi and Enkesha were watching from a short distance away and decided to intervene and prevent him from bullying the younger ones but he turned against them and was unfriendly. Tamiyoi understands his condition and did not want to retaliate, but Enkesha was ready to start pushing him back. Tamiyoi rumbled which must have meant to leave the situation alone, as Enkesha decided to follow her so they both walked away with Sattao and Maktao with them.
Musiara can be a very soft and polite boy and has quite a nice demeanor. He tries to keep everyone around him happy. Today he was enjoying a dust bath on one of the piles of loose soil when Kiasa came over and decided to join him. She started sliding down the side of the soil pile and when Larro saw what was doing on she too decided to join in the game and started trying to climb on both Kiasa and Musiara. They all had a lovely time together in that game. Out in the forest Musiara can be quite independent and he likes to browse on his own away from the others most of the time. He only joins the rest of the herd when he feels like it and feels like playing.
Kiko was out to practice going into his transportation crate today. He wasn’t that good at it at first as he kept avoiding going in through the front door to get to the special feed that the Keepers had placed high in the tree in a bid to entice him in, and he would just walk to the side and use his long neck to reach it instead.
It looked like a nice day ahead today when the orphans walked out to the forest. Ziwadi was full of excitement and was leading the herd as they followed closely behind her. However all of a sudden the weather changed and it became very cloudy but the Keepers didn’t react straight away as the weather had been doing that all week. Just before the 9am milk feed it started to drizzle though and then it started raining harder. The Keepers and the orphans hid under the acacia trees but Luggard was poking those who stood around him with his tusks, so he ended up standing under a tree alone. When it stopped raining the orphans went back to browsing, but just before the public visiting hour it started raining heavily. Luggard and Ziwadi were taken back to the stockades for the time being and the rest of the group started charging around in the bushes trumpeting. During the visit it was still raining and Musiara led some of the orphans in a mud sliding game. Max the rhino was delighted as he loves the rain and he was charging around his stockade and wallowing in the mud too.
Since Musiara, Sattao, Kiasa and Larro were moved to different rooms, Larro and Sattao seem to have settled down but Musiara and Kiasa still seem to be upset by the move. Last night neither one wanted to go into their new room; Musiara kept fighting to go into the stable next to his old neighbor Luggard. Eventually he listened to the Keepers and went into the stockade but he kept pushing on the gate sporadically up until morning. Kiasa ran back to the bushes three times and in the fourth attempt to get her into her room Tagwa, Tamiyoi, Enkesha and Maisha escorted her. She had to go into her new room by going through her neighbor Tamiyoi’s room, through the gate partition that they share.
Kiombo is still very hooked on Nabulu even though Nabulu does not show that much interest in him. When she went into the mud bath today little Kiombo decided to join her. They both had a lengthy mud bath as the rest of the group stayed out of the water and just watched them.
Each of the orphans has their own little personality quirks and have their own tricks to try and get their way. Some of them try to use their peers to get things whereas others try to be cunning and outsmart the Keepers and other orphans. Tamiyoi is one of the orphans that likes to use her peers to get her milk. She knows that when it is time for the orphans to get their milk the Keepers will direct them on where to go and that the Keepers will be protective of the younger orphans making sure that they get their milk in peace. She has recently been trying to sneak in between the younger girls such as Ziwadi and Larro so that she may be able to get to the milk feeding point before any of the other orphans.
However, she cannot outsmart the Keepers as they know all too well how sneaky the orphans can be when it comes to getting their milk. Today, the Keepers saw what Tamiyoi was up to and quickly chased her back to the older group making sure that she doesn’t push the younger orphans in front.
Tamiyoi is also showing signs of being a good matriarch, she doesn’t challenge Tagwa, but she has taken the younger orphans under her wing. If Tamiyoi is ever ahead of little Larro, she will always stop to wait for her making sure not to leave her side. These are all traits of a good matriarch.
It is always fun to watch the orphans racing each other for their milk. Most of the time, Mukkoka will get there first. This morning, when the orphans were coming down for their morning bottles of milk Musiara, Sattao, Larro, Dololo, Nabulu and Ziwadi all headed down way before Mukkoka, but he still managed to catch up to them all and overtake them. By the time Musiara got to the feeding point, Mukkoka had already finished his bottle of milk.
The last few days, Kiko has been doing very well with his translocation training. Today, when it was time for him to head out to the forest, he came across a herd of wild Masai giraffe. He immediately charged back to the stockade compound as if he feared the giraffe. The wild giraffes were not bothered by Kiko and continued to browse on the acacia trees. The Keepers followed Kiko back, and when they found him, he was happily feasting on the acacia branches hanging up in his translocation stable. He then proceeded to feast on the Lucerne pellets that were in the stable and spent several hours moving in and out of the translocation crate.
Tagwa, despite being the biggest in size, can often be as playful as the rest of the orphans. You can often witness the orphans all rolling around in the mud bath or on a dust mound, climbing on top of each other and throwing dust or mud all over the place. Tagwa recently has been enjoying climbing on some of the other orphans’ backs as they are busy rolling around. Today, Tamiyoi and Maisha were her targets. Although all fun and games, she sometimes doesn’t know when enough is enough and appears to ignore when her playmates are rumbling at her to get off. When she climbed onto Maisha’s back at the mud bath this afternoon, Maisha began to trumpet in protest but Tagwa just lay on top of her. The Keepers eventually had to intervene and usher her off Maisha’s back.
Maxwell was in a good mood today; he was charging around his pen and enjoyed several mud baths as it had been drizzling through the night and there was lots of mud for him to roll around in.
Maktao is still thoroughly enjoying his wrestling matches. From the moment he comes out of his stable in the morning he is in a playful mood and his games continue during the midday mud bath period. He is often seen starting a strength testing match with either Sattao, Dololo, or Musiara. His main playmate is almost always Musiara; the two seem to be of similar strengths and quite enjoy challenging one another. Today, at the midday feeding time, as soon as Maktao had finished his bottle of milk, he immediately started looking for Musiara. As soon as he spotted him, he began to chase him around the waterhole, trying to climb on his back. Musiara eventually turned to face Maktao and the two began a strength testing match that lasted almost 20 minutes. Kiasa and the Keepers tried to separate the two, but they were far too focused on their game. Eventually, Maktao grabbed Musiara’s tail, which Musiara did not appreciate and as such he walked off ending the game.
Despite the heavy rainfall through the night, the orphans woke up in a very playful mood. As they made their way out to the forest, they were all charging around and rolling in the wet grass and mud. Almost all the big girls, such as Tagwa, Tamiyoi, Maisha, Enkesha, Nabulu and Kiasa were all seen rolling around, bumping into each other. Tagwa once again tried her game of climbing onto some the others’ backs; again she tried to climb on Tamiyoi or Maisha!
Eventually Sattao, Dololo, Musiara and Maktao decided to join in on the fun. As they arrived Tagwa appeared to be watching them and waiting for them to start rolling around. As they were rolling around, Tagwa began sitting on them and climbing on their backs. This didn’t seem to impress the boys who quickly moved away to their own quiet spot.
Luggard is very actively asserting his position as the oldest bull amongst the other bulls in the Nursery herd at the moment. When the orphans settled out in the forest in the early morning, many of them started browsing straight away. Kiombo, Dololo, Maktao and Sattao however decided to welcome the new day by having fun rolling on the wet ground, bumping and sliding against each other. Their game attracted Luggard’s attention but when he failed to find space between the bulls on the ground he got annoyed. He started showing off his long tusks to intimidate them into moving and even poking Sattao to get him to move over. He soon took control of the game and if any of the other bulls tried to move him over he threatened them with his long tusks. This saw Kiombo, the youngest, shy away from the game and he yelled out when Luggard pointed his tusks at him, afraid that he might get hurt. Only Luggard’s best friend Musiara was able to join him and enjoy a lengthy mud bathing game.
After the public visiting hour today the weather changed very quickly and it started raining heavily, which meant orphans like Luggard and Ziwadi were walked back to the stockades to remain indoors during the heavy rainstorm. It is quite interesting to watch these two orphans because as soon as they start to feel a few heavy raindrops, they will leave the herd all by themselves and seek shelter, before slowly starting to make their own way back to the stockade compound to go into their rooms; it is a perfect routine to them!
As it continued to rain the other orphans were spotted rolling around and enjoying mud bathing on some ant hills and just on the ground as well. Tagwa, Tamiyoi, Maisha, Nabulu and Enkesha were all busy struggling to play on the same ant hill, each one trying to find the space to slide down it. Obviously the space was limited on the smallish ant hill for all of the big girls to fit on it, and they were all squeezed up against each other. At the same time, Larro, Kiasa, Kiombo, Mukkoka and Maktao were seen playfully running in and out of the running water of a small stream, having a lot of fun and trumpeting and splashing at one another in excitement.
Compared to the last few days, it was a very warm morning as the orphans came out their stables. This meant that Maktao was rearing to go and as soon as he was let out of his stable, he was charging around playing with Sattao, Dololo, Mukkoka, and Musiara. Once again, it was Musiara that engaged him in a strength testing match. This was because Sattao was chased by Maisha, who appeared envious of the games, and Mukkoka and Dololo ended up in their own game.
Today, the orphans had their morning bottles of milk down at the mud bath. When they had finished their bottles some of them began to play whereas others moved off and started to browse on some of the bushes near the waterhole. The orphans were so busy with their activities that they got such a fright when two warthogs came flying passed them. They all immediately ran towards their Keepers unsure of what had spooked the warthogs. As the Keepers looked around, they noticed two male lions appear from the bushes. Tagwa, Tamiyoi, Musiara, Maisha and Enkesha immediately noticed the lions and they all had their ears opened wide and they were all deeply rumbling at the lions. The lions who noticed the orphans facing them immediately decided to change direction and headed off back into the forest.
Respect within a herd is very important, but at times, and as the orphans grow older, the dynamics of the herd will change and so too will friendships. Dololo and Mukkoka used to be the best of friends when they first arrived but as the two are growing into their own personalities, they seem to be challenging each other more and more. They have both got very strong personalities and are very boisterous. Dololo, who is older, seems to have taken offence to this lack of respect from Mukkoka and as such has started to pick on some of the younger orphans, as if to prove his age.
Recently, he has been seen picking on Ziwadi and Larro. Although the younger girls are protected by the older girls he knows exactly when to pick on them and keeps a close eye on the older girls to make sure to get away before they get close. Today at the midday mud bath, when Kiasa was distracted playing with Maktao and Musiara in a lengthy strength testing match, Dololo began to block Larro and Ziwadi from accessing any of the water troughs. He appeared to take advantage of this small chance to bother the two young girls. Larro seemed to get so sick of his antics that she chose to drink from the waterhole but the Keepers had to intervene and keep him away from Ziwadi so she could access a water trough. As the Keepers were now blocking him, he moved away from the girls and went to have a mud bath.
Being the matriarch of the herd is no easy task, and it means taken on many responsibilities such as ensuring the well-being and safety of all the orphans. Since her return to the Nairobi Nursery, Tagwa has reassumed her role as matriarch and many of the younger orphans such as Sattao and Larro have almost automatically started to follow her again. Although Tagwa is the current matriarch Tamiyoi is not far behind her and more recently has been appearing like a much gentler matriarch.
Larro has always enjoyed getting branches from the older girls, as the older girls pull the top branches Larro waits by their side for them to give her something. Tamiyoi is one such girl who is always happy to share her branches with Larro and can often be seen passing them down when Larro sticks out her truck. Tagwa, however, is not always so eager to hand branches to Larro. Today, whilst the orphans were browsing, Larro was stood near Tagwa and when Tagwa grabbed a branch Larro would reach up for it. This seemed to annoy Tagwa as she pushed the little girl away and eventually moved away from her. Some of the other and Keepers eventually stepped in and gave Larro some branches.
Luggard is eager to spend more time amongst the rest of the Nursery herd and enjoys walking out to the forest with them, making sure to keep up with the pace. He has learnt to hold his bottle on his own and is always happy to grab his bottle from his Keeper and guzzle down his milk. Today he was enjoying a strength testing match with Tamiyoi and his good friend Musiara. They were having such a ball pushing each other and rolling around in the mud. Their game continued for several minutes before they resumed their browsing activities for the afternoon.
There were some heavy showers this afternoon which appeared to thoroughly amuse Maxwell as he charged around his stockade turning his stockade into one big mud bath. Kiko, who was browsing nearby, appeared to be amazed by Maxwell’s games as he just stood watching him charge up and down covering himself in mud. Kiko was so distracted that he stopped browsing and just stood watching until the rain stopped and Maxwell calmed down.
When it was time for the orphans to return in the evening, Maisha, Mukkoka and Larro appeared to be racing each other to see who would get back first. Mukkoka, as is often the case, was the first in closely followed by Larro, and Maisha some meters behind. It was great to see their excitement as they charged down the path and into their stables.
It was a wet and cold morning as there had been heavy rain throughout the evening. Mukkoka and Larro, who both don’t like the rain, had a very restless night and only appeared to calm down when they were walking out to the forest. When the orphans reached the forest the heavy rains seemed to subside and there was only a light drizzle remaining. The older girls, Tagwa, Tamiyoi, Enkesha, and Maisha all took it upon themselves to keep the younger orphans warm. They began digging at the muddy ground, to have a mud bath. This was a great idea as the younger orphans began to join in warming up their muscles and bodies. Ziwadi seemed to love wallowing in the self-made mud pool and could be seen rolling all over the place.
For the Keepers, it is always amazing to see how the bigger stronger orphans will look after their friends. Musiara has always looked after Luggard and is always conscious to walk with Luggard keeping him company in the forest and during their walks. It was a beautiful sunny morning as the orphans were out in the forest and most of the herd wanted to walk deeper into the forest. Luggard, however, didn’t seem so eager and chose to stay behind. Musiara immediately noticed him staying back and appeared to push Maktao and Ziwadi back to him so that they could all keep him company. Maktao and Ziwadi were happy to follow Musiara and the four happily browsed together for the remainder of the morning.
In the morning as the orphans head out to the forest, there always seems to be a debate as to whether Tagwa or Tamiyoi will take the lead. This morning, Tamiyoi wanted to go in a completely different direction to Tagwa and this appeared to annoy Tagwa as she continued in her own direction rumbling intensely in protest. Tamiyoi was followed by Kiombo, Mukkoka, Dololo, Maktao, Luggard, Nabulu and Musiara. Whereas Tagwa was followed by Larro, Kiasa, Enkesha, Maisha, Sattao and Ziwadi. It appears Tagwa and Tamiyoi are both trying to form their own little herds as they have both been matriarch to the Nursery herd. Although they sometimes disagree over who should lead, Tamiyoi is always respectful of Tagwa as her elder and her matriarch.
Kiko has been improving with his training of entering his transport crate, but the Keepers have come up with a cunning method to ensure he enters. They will lead him into the trailer slowly with his milk bottle and then they will feed him pellets and the rest of his milk once he is in the trailer. Although he used to be very reluctant to get in, he is now getting in without much fuss and once he is in, he happily eats his greens that are hanging up for him. These are all great strides towards him being moved and his eventual reintegration back into the wild.
Musiara has always been a slightly more independent bull than some of his friends in the Nursery herd. Since he was very young, he has always been quite happy to browse on his own and is not worried if the rest of the Nursery herd is slightly further away from him. Some days, he is even happy to walk off on his own out to the forest and start browsing, not noticing when the others even arrive. Today was such a day, after the orphans finished their 9 o’clock morning bottles of milk Musiara headed off deep into the forest. It was only when it was time for the orphans to head down to the mud bath that he was called back by his Keepers to join the rest of the herd. Being so independent are signs that he could turn into a confident and strong bull.
As the orphans were making their way back to the forest after their midday mud bath, Ziwadi began to chase after some warthogs that were grazing nearby. It was amusing to watch her running off, rumbling, and flapping her ears at them and she was soon joined by Kiasa and Larro, who helped her chased the warthogs far away. Ziwadi who is normally quiet and happy to browse, was extremely playful today. After chasing the warthogs away, she began to race Kiasa and Larro back to where the rest of the Nursery herd were busy browsing.
Kiasa and Musiara have slowly started to get used to their new stockades. At first, they would really fight their Keepers and try to run away but with routine they have learnt that their new rooms are not so bad. Nowadays they can even be seen fooling around before they go in. Today, Kiasa was in a naughty mood as she kept trying to block Sattao from going into his stockade, ensuring that she would get in first and have her milk first. The Keepers eventually had to help Sattao and usher Kiasa into her stockade.
Luggard is becoming quite greedy when it comes to his milk and can often be seen causing trouble with some of the other orphans, trying to grab more milk from them and from the wheelbarrow. This afternoon, after he finished his milk bottle, he began to chase after Nabulu to try and grab her milk bottle. He was pestering her so much that the Keepers had to stop him and protect Nabulu while she finished her bottle.
It was a cold and wet morning, and many of the orphans were reluctant to leave their stables. Ziwadi, Maktao, Larro, Mukkoka, Dololo, Sattao, Luggard and Musiara all wanted to stay in their stables and were all snuggled up at the back of their rooms refusing to come out when the Keepers called them. Mukkoka, being the most vocal, began to rumble loudly when the Keepers came over to call him. When Mukkoka walked out he seemed to be carefully stepping, making sure to not slip or get too wet. Luggard and Ziwadi refused to come out of their rooms until the rain had subsided.
As the orphans were protesting the cold weather, Maxwell was having a great time rolling around in his mud pool and rubbing himself up and down his stockade wall. Maxwell always thoroughly enjoys the rain and mud.
Dololo has become quite naughty in recent weeks and is often seen trying to push around some of the younger orphans. Today, he seemed to be in a particularly naughty mood as he wouldn’t let any of the younger orphans browse anywhere near him. As the orphans settled in the forest, Ziwadi happened to get slightly too close to him and he was quick to push her away and rumble at her. The Keepers were quick on the scene and warned Dololo away from Ziwadi, he reluctantly walked off and began to browse on some bushes further away.
Later at the mud bath, when Larro was busy running around playing with a branch, Dololo jumped in her way and rumbled at her as if to chase her away. Larro quickly ran off in the opposite direction trumpeting loudly. Mukkoka was also pushed away by Dololo when he tried to share a water trough with him. As he is growing in strength and size, he appears to know that he can easily push the smaller orphans around and potentially challenge some of the other Nursery bulls.
It was a very cold day as there were heavy downpours throughout most of the morning and afternoon. Luggard and Ziwadi spent most of their day sheltered under trees or within the warmth of their stables. The rest of the Nursery herd spent their morning in the forest, rolling around in the patches of mud and charging around. As Tagwa and Maisha were enjoying their mud bath, they seemed to be keeping their distance from the boys such as Dololo, Kiombo, Sattao, and Mukkoka as they were all rolling around and playing strength testing matches against each other. The two girls even tried to chase the boisterous boys away.
Maxwell was once again seen bouncing around his stockade in the rain and was seen enjoying a long mud bath. He could be seen rolling around covering his entire body in mud. Kiko on the other hand was not a fan of the rain and stayed under the trees, sheltering himself from the rain.
Larro and Ziwadi, like all young elephants, are still learning how to use their trunks and suck up water to drink. The two can often be seen drinking water through their mouths. When they are down at the mud bath, they kneel on their front legs, getting eye level with the water troughs, and then they enter a funny pose and drop their heads into the water trough so they can drink. It is always funny to watch them drink with their bums in the air. Kiasa remains so protective of the young girls and she makes sure to keep all the young boys such as Maktao and Musiara well away from them at the mud bath. When she happens to see any of the boys trying to playfully mount them, she quickly charges after them and warns them away.
Ziwadi appeared to be quite lethargic this morning and not as energetic as she has been over the past few weeks. This was because she had had another seizure through the night, at around 9 o’clock in the evening. She appears to be more prone to these seizures when she is stressed, but it is difficult to say what may cause the stress. However, by the 9am feeding time she was back to her usual self and happily walking off on her own little missions to find the best browsing spot.
Whilst in the forest this afternoon, Nabulu, Kiombo, Musiara and Luggard all snuck off in their own direction. It was evident that Nabulu was leading them away to browse in their own little quiet spot. Kiombo was first to follow her, and he was closely followed by Musiara. As Luggard and Musiara are close friends, he was quick to notice his absence and so he too followed Nabulu.
Maxwell knows all too well where to go when he wants some peace and quiet and this is down to bedroom, which is well sheltered from any visitors. In the evenings, when he has had enough of his freshly cut greens, he can be seen walking down to his bedroom where fresh hay has been laid down for him. He is very quick to settle down and fall asleep in the warmth of the hay.
Due to Dololo misbehaving and being very mean towards Ziwadi, Larro, Roho and sometimes Mukkoka, he has been moved from the younger first group into the older group with Tagwa, Tamiyoi, Maisha, Enkesha and Nabulu during the public visiting hour. The presence of the older girls will have a calming effect on him and he wouldn’t dare misbehave towards any of them. Today he was much better behaved during the feeding hour under the watchful eye of the older girls and wasn’t a bully at all, he just browsed quietly on the greens laid out for the orphans. He remained quieter than expected for the rest of the day, and even when he went back out to the forest he didn’t bully any of the other youngsters like Roho, Larro or Ziwadi like he has been doing recently. Perhaps this change has already had the desired effect on the little naughty bull!
The orphans had a quiet morning this morning and all were seen browsing quietly with each other, following the big girls Tagwa, Tamiyoi, Enkesha, Maisha and Nabulu. The big girls walked at the front and lead the way as all the little ones followed behind them. There wasn’t any showing off or any games of any kind going on at all really. The playful ones like Maktao, Musiara and Mukkoka were all quiet and concentrated solely on browsing. Even the naughty ones like Dololo were being quiet this morning!
By the afternoon the calm of the morning had been broken when Maktao, Musiara and Kiombo decided to start a play fighting match for almost a whole hour from 2pm. Maisha, Tamiyoi and Nabulu each tried to separate them but with no success. Nabulu tried her best to force Kiombo to leave the play fight by trying to push him away from Maktao and Musiara but Kiombo wasn’t willing to leave the fun game. Eventually she poked him hard in his hind legs with her tusks which sent him off running, and Nabulu followed behind him running so that he couldn’t turn back! She drove Kiombo deep into the bushes where the others were busy browsing and stayed beside him so he couldn’t sneak back either – Nabulu has become more attached to Kiombo recently after all the affection he has always shown her – she loves to brows with him these days.
When Maktao walked out of his stable early in the morning and found neighbours Mukkoka and Dololo still in their rooms, it was funny to watch him knocking on Dololo’s door as if to tell them to wake up so they could walk out to the forest together to begin their day. Dololo and Mukkoka responded to Maktao who was patiently waiting outside for them by pushing on their doors from the other side, trying to alert the Keepers that they wanted to come out and join Maktao. When their doors were opened, Dololo and Mukkoka quickly walked out to meet their playmate Maktao who they greeted with trunk hugs and by pushing each other as they made their way out to the forest. When they reached the forest Mukkoka and Maktao started wrestling with each other but they tried to avoid Dololo as sometimes he can be a bit of a bully and a bit too boisterous. When Dololo realized the boys were intentionally leaving him out he got angry and poked them with his tusks in their backs, sending them off yelling towards the Keepers, who warned Dololo away for being naughty.