Due to plentiful rain at the beginning of the year, Nairobi has remained relatively lush and green, even throughout these last few dry months; however we were just starting to feel the effects of the lack of rain when we were blessed with the onset of the short rains! Our Nairobi orphans have enjoyed themselves no end because of how favourable this year has been.
As the orphans were enjoying their midday bottles of milk, Bondeni, Kindani and Kinyei were all happily following Larro back towards the forest as they had all finished their milk bottles. Once out in the forest Bondeni and Kinyei were staying close to Larro, whereas Kindani seemed to be on her own little adventure, taking her time and picking greens as she walked. As Larro gets older, she seems to be growing into quite the matriarch and the Keepers are confident that one day she will be matriarch of her own herd and she will do a fantastic job of it.
Not too far from Larro and her small companions, Kiasa, Kiombo, Maktao and Nabulu were also browsing after finishing their milk bottles as they waited for the others. The Keepers suddenly noticed that Kiasa seemed to be in a naughty mood and she appeared to be trying to chase Larro away from the younger babies. As the new babies are still getting used to the Nursery herd, the Keepers quickly stepped in before Kiasa caused too much chaos and ushered her away from Larro.
The orphans had a peaceful afternoon in the forest with the Keepers.
It was a beautiful sunny morning as the orphans were let out of their stockades and stables. Olorien, Ziwadi, Bondeni, Kinyei and Kindani, being the youngest in the Nursery, will normally come out with their blankets on and then as the day warms up, they are taken off. This morning, however, none of them needed their blankets as it was already so warm outside. As they all came out their stables, they were joined by Kiasa, Maisha, Nabulu and Maktao who all accompanied them out to the forest, giving them little trunk nuzzles to say hello.
As the orphans were getting ready to run down for their 9am bottles of milk, Larro seemed unhappy with the group she had been placed in as she wanted to run down with the younger orphans to keep an eye on them. She was so bothered by it, that the Keepers had to change her group and let her run down with Bondeni and Kindani.
Maisha on the other hand was very relaxed and ran down in her group and once she had finished her milk, she stood nearby waiting for all the orphans to finish and follow her back into the forest.
The orphans had quite a quiet day browsing in the forest and returning to their stockades and stables at 5pm.
Maxwell has thoroughly been enjoying his different greens and Lucerne pellets in the morning. Most mornings he will come out of his bedroom and walk over to his greens. He will spend some time chewing on his greens, crunching away, before making his way up to his Lucerne pellets where he gets stuck in. Throughout the day he will move back and forth from his pellets and will even lie on them to protect them from any visitors.
In the evenings he will happily return down to the bottom half of his stockade to have his fresh branches, placed in the same place by his Keepers so he always knows where they are, and has even got into a habit of sorting through them with his horn, moving his favourites to the top and his least favourite to the side. Once he is done eating, he will return to his bedroom for the evening.
It was another beautiful sunny morning as the orphans were let out of their stables and stockades. They had a wonderful morning browsing in the forest being led by Maisha and the other older girls. Maktao, Kiombo, Naboishu and Mukkoka had some fun wrestling games, with Maktao often trying to climb on his friends back. Roho even attempted a wrestling match of his own against Mukkoka.
It was such a warm day that the Keepers decided to take the orphans down to the mud bath for their 3pm bottles of milk. As soon as the orphans finished their bottles, they all dashed straight into the muddy waters - even Ziwadi and Olorien stood on the sides splashing themselves in mud. Nabulu and Maisha kept a watchful eye on the little ones as they all roll around. Once they were all satisfied with their mud bath, all the orphans went and had a soil bath, with their Keepers throwing soil all over their backs.
As with every morning, as the orphans were being let out of their stables and stockades, Kiasa and Maisha were eagerly waiting for the younger orphans to be let out of their stables. Once all the orphans were let out Maisha and Kiasa walked out to the forest with all the younger babies in tow. As they arrived in the forest, Maisha seemed to be eager to have the three newest arrivals to herself. She quickly grabbed Kinyei, Bondeni and Kindani and walked off with them further into the forest, where they all happily browsed with each other.
Kiasa, on the other hand, walked off with Olorien, Naleku and Roho. The rest of the orphans were happily browsing together, not too far from Kiasa and Maisha and the others, but each group seemed to be content with their current groups.
The orphans had a relaxing day browsing with short breaks to have their milk bottles every three hours and at 5pm they all happily returned to their stables and stockades.
This morning, after the elephant orphans had their 9am bottles of milk, they were all directed back to the forest for their morning browsing activities. As they were walking along one of their many routes, Kiombo and Maktao decided to have a wrestling match with one another, chasing each other around the forest as the other orphans were settling to browse. Larro and Naboishu, who were both browsing very close to where the boisterous boys were playing, seemed to realise that they needed to get out of the way so as not to get pushed over by them. They quickly walked off to join the others, and Kiombo and Maktao continued to push each other through the dense bush.
After some time, the Keepers decided to lead the orphans further afield so that they could browse in different areas of the forest in between their milk feeds. It is important that the orphans learn to roam to different areas as they will have to travel long distances to find fresh browse and water when they are fully reintegrated back into the wild.
It was a cold morning as all the orphans were let out of their stables and stockades. The younger orphans such as Ziwadi, Olorien, Bondeni, Kinyei and Kindani all came out with their blankets on, as the Keepers thought it to be too cold for them to browse without them. Naleku and Roho, who are also part of the youngest group, aren’t too fond of their blankets so they don’t always accept to keep theirs on and can get quite annoyed with their Keepers if they try to put them on. In the forest, Maisha and Kiasa were again attending to all the younger orphans, making sure that they were okay and browsing.
Kiombo and Mukkoka are very close friends and will often be seen browsing and wrestling with each other whilst in the forest. When it was time for the orphans to head down for their midday bottles of milk, Kiombo and Mukkoka went running down together and even had their bottles near one another. Once all the orphans had finished their milk, they were led back to the forest by Maisha and the Keepers.
The orphans were having a great morning and were all excited to head down for their 9am bottles of milk, all eagerly waiting for the Keepers to send them down in their groups. After the orphans finished their milk bottles, Larro and Mukkoka appeared to be starting their own wrestling match, which the Keepers were eager to watch as this was an unlikely duo. Larro appeared to be so full of energy that she kept pushing at Mukkoka, especially when he was unsuspecting, and their game continued for quite some time.
Maisha spent most of her day in the company of Bondeni, Kindani, and Olorien, and she didn’t seem to want to be on her own at all, always keeping a watchful eye over the younger orphans. Bondeni, Kindani, and Kinyei seem to be settling in well and enjoying spending more and more time with the older orphans, learning the first set of skills they will need to live a fully wild life.
This afternoon, the orphans enjoyed their afternoon bottles of milk down at the mud bath and as soon as they finished their bottles, they were straight into the muddy waters, cooling off. They had a long mud wallow before heading back to the forest with their Keepers.
As of late, Larro has also been enjoying taking care of the three new arrivals, looking after them when Maisha, Nabulu and Kiasa are busy. This morning, as the orphans were browsing in the forest, Larro was happily browsing with Bondeni, Kindani and Kinyei not too far from the herd. Maisha suddenly seemed to realise that she couldn’t see the younger three and Larro and she began to frantically look around and rumbled as if to call out to them.
It wasn’t long before she found them browsing a couple of meters away from the rest of the Nursery orphans. Instead of calling them back, she seemed to be quite happy to join them in browsing. As Larro is younger than Maisha, she is still also being looked after by Maisha, Nabulu and Kiasa and they will also check up on her from time to time.
The orphans had a lovely day browsing in the forest right until it was time for them to head back to their stockades and stables for the evening.
This morning, as the orphans were already on their way to the forest, Ziwadi seemed to return to one of her old routines of stopping for a quick drink before following the rest of the Nursery herd. She was happily splashing her trunk in and out of the water and dunking her head into the water trough to slurp some water down. Olorien and Larro seemed to be waiting for her but as she was taking quite some time, they decided to start walking on.
As Olorien and Larro were almost at the end of Maxwell’s stockade, Ziwadi was ushered along by one of her Keepers and she quickly walked on to join Olorien and Larro whom were now waiting for her. As Ziwadi, Olorien, and Larro got to the forest, they quickly joined the rest of the Nursery herd who were already busy browsing and enjoying their morning activities.
This afternoon, the orphans enjoyed their afternoon bottles of milk down at the mud bath and this was a great time for Bondeni, Kindani and Kinyei to take part in the mud bath activities. As they are still quite small and shy around the older orphans, they could be seen hanging around the edge of the muddy waters as the other orphans were busy rolling around.
The Keepers, who know how important it is for the orphans to learn how to mud bath and dust bath, were quick to come forward and help Bondeni, Kindani, and Kinyei cover themselves in mud. The three new babies were having so much fun that they were rolling around all over the place, bumping against each other and rolling around on the muddy ground.
Once all the orphans were finished wallowing in the mud, they made their way over to the soil mound. Bondeni, Kindani and Kinyei were now happily rolling around with the rest of the Nursery, covering themselves in soil as they rolled on their round little bellies. After all the orphans were finished dust bathing, they made their way back to the forest for some time spent browsing before heading home for the evening.
This morning, before the orphans were let out of their stables, Maxwell was already out and about enjoying his morning routine. He was busy stomping around his stockade, arranging his greens with his horn and eating his favourite ones first and then moving onto the others. As the orphans were being let out of their stables and stockades Max seemed to pause to listen to them.
Some of the elephant orphans walked straight up to the bushes bordering the stockade compound, whilst some of the others were having fun greeting each other within the stockade compound and then slowly walking out. Max could be heard listening to the orphans and as he was doing so, he seemed to notice that the resident warthogs were busy dashing in to grab some of his morning Lucerne pellets. As soon as he heard the warthogs, he started to kick up his back feet as if to warn off the warthogs and they were quick to run off. Once the warthogs had left, Maxwell walked over and began enjoying his morning Lucerne pellets.
The orphans were quite funny this morning as they all headed off in different directions, browsing either on their own or in their own little groups. The Keepers eventually managed to get all the orphans together and have them browsing in the same area, including little Ziwadi who is all too keen to go off on her own adventures.
The orphans had a lovely day browsing and enjoyed all their milk feeds before heading back to their stockade for the evening, where Maxwell was already enjoying his evening branches.
It was a beautiful sunny morning as the orphans were let out of their stables and walked off to the forest for their day of browsing. Whilst in the forest, Nabulu and Kiasa suddenly became quite playful and started their own wrestling match. All the orphans, especially Naboishu, seemed quite surprised to see these two girls charging around, playing, as they haven’t been very playful in quite some time. Naboishu seemed mesmerised by their game, constantly watching them but sure to keep his distance at the same time.
As their game continued, Mukkoka and Maktao decided to join and started their own wrestling match off to the side from the girls. Naboishu was then curious to watch their game, so he moved over to watch the boys wrestling now. Their games continued until it was time for the orphans to head down for their 9am bottles of milk. As soon as the orphans heard the Keepers radios sounding off, they all began to get ready to head down.
The orphans spent most of their day browsing and wrestling each other in between their milk feeds.
This morning after the orphans finished their 9am bottles of milk, they were all led back to the forest by their Keepers and the older girls Nabulu and Maisha. Once in the forest, Larro could be seen grabbing some of the younger orphans to walk off and browse in their own corner. Kiasa and Maisha were quick to follow as they were keeping an eye on all the orphans. They also went to check on Mukkoka who was browsing on his own not too far from Larro and the others.
Bondeni, who normally browses near Kindani and Kinyei, was today walking amongst some of the other orphans and would browse next to some of the older orphans such as Ziwadi, Mukkoka and Maktao before making his back to his two friends who were browsing near Larro, Naleku and Roho. When he joined them, they all seemed excited to see him and all welcomed him.
The orphans had a peaceful day browsing amongst each other.
It was another beautiful sunny morning as the orphans were happily browsing in the forest before their 9am bottles of milk. Maisha continues to excel in her role as matriarch and this morning she continued to demonstrate how seriously she takes this role. When it was time for the orphans to get ready to go down and have their 9am bottles of milk, Maisha could be seen rounding up all the younger orphans and she quickly walked over to Bondeni, Kindani, Kinyei and Naleku who were browsing a little to the side of the herd. When it was time for Maisha to head down for her milk, she insisted that she go with the younger orphans and walked slowly down with them.
Kiasa has been quite well behaved as of late and she seems to be really enjoying looking after Kindani and Olorien. Once all the orphans were back in the forest, Kiasa kept following the two little girls around the forest, always settling to browse near them. As all the orphans settles into their browsing activities for the rest of the day, the Keepers enjoyed watching the older girls looking after all the youngsters of the Nursery herd.
The orphans had a very uninterrupted day of browsing, only breaking for their milk feeds.
Naboishu continues to show his utter excitement for his milk bottle and he continues to be the loudest orphan in the Nursery herd. The Keepers always know when he is on his way as he begins to trumpet and rumble loudly from the forest before he charges down for his bottle. He will often even trumpet in excitement as he reaches his Keepers and will push up against them before settling to gulp down his milk.
Today, he was so excited for his 3pm bottle of milk that he kept charging back and forth waiting for his turn to run down. He was in the same group as Mukkoka, Nabulu, and Maktao. Mukkoka, Nabulu and Maktao were all patiently waiting for the Keepers to let them go, and they seemed to be paying very little attention to Naboishu as they were now used to his loud ways. As soon as the Keepers let them charge down, Naboishu was the first to set off dashing ahead of the others, Mukkoka was next in line, with Nabulu and Maktao calmly coming in behind the two speedy boys.
After they all finished their afternoon bottles of milk they were led back to the forest by the Keepers, where they browsed until it was time to head back to the stockade compound for the evening.
Maxwell was awake bright and early this morning, and by 6am he was already out of this bedroom and walking towards his greens. He quickly settled and began munching away at some of the larger brunches, and the crunching of the branches in his teeth could be heard throughout the stockade compound. Once he had his fill of greens, he walked over to his Lucerne pellets and began to enjoy some of those.
Later in the morning, as Maxwell was sunbathing, three wild yet resident warthogs tried to sneak into his stockade to grab some of his pellets. Max, however, has such acute hearing that he quickly got up as he heard them sneaking under one of his gates and could be seen smelling for them. As he walked around his pellets, as if to guard them, the warthogs quickly snuck back out. Once Max could smell that they had left he quickly settled back down in the morning sun before enjoying some more of his pellets.
As it was another beautifully warm afternoon, the Keepers decided to take the orphans down to the mud bath for their 3pm bottles of milk. The Keepers have continued to watch over Kiasa especially at milk feeding time as she can sometimes suddenly switch back to her mischievous ways where she tries to steal milk from all the other orphans.
This afternoon, as poor unsuspecting Mukkoka was finishing his second bottle of milk, Kiasa suddenly came over and began to push him so she could get to his bottle. Mukkoka was obviously annoyed by this and rumbled and pushed back in protest and quickly grabbed his bottle. The Keepers swiftly intervened and chased Kiasa away so Mukkoka could finish his bottle in peace.
Once all the orphans finished their bottles, they had a short mud and dust bath before heading back to the forest.
The orphans all seemed to be in a good mood this morning as they were let out of their stables and stockades. Most of the orphans quickly began making their out to the forest to start browsing but some of the other orphans were taking their time and enjoying being in the compound. Bondeni, Kindani, Kinyei, Olorien and Ziwadi were always quite happy to slowly make their out to the forest and Ziwadi has continued her routine of playing in the water troughs and having a drink before continuing.
The Keepers are always with the orphans and the Keepers who remained with the younger orphans were sure to usher them along so they could catch up to the rest of the Nursery herd.
Larro continues to be a fantastic nanny and she seems to be bonding quite well with the new girls Kindani and Kinyei. This morning, when the orphans were getting ready to go down for their 9am bottles of milk, Larro could be seen happily waiting with them and when it was time for them to run down, she was very sweetly keeping pace with them. She waited for the two young girls to finish their milk and then led them back to the forest where they waited for the rest of the Nursery herd.
The orphans had a wonderful day browsing in the forest.
It was a wet and cold morning as the orphans were waking up to start their day. With the cold temperatures and continuous rain, the Keepers decided that it would be best to keep the smaller orphans such as Bondeni, Olorien, Kindani, Kinyei, Ziwadi and Olorien indoors so that they could remain dry and warm. For the younger orphans they didn’t seem to mind too much as they quite enjoyed being close to their Keepers and browsing in their stables but for Ziwadi who loves to adventure she didn’t seem too eager to remain indoors this morning but the Keepers were able to convince her with some freshly cut greens.
Fortunately, the rain did not last too long and the Keepers were able to let Ziwadi and the others out to join the rest of the Nursery herd who were further into the forest busy browsing.
This afternoon, it was so special to see Naboishu being all playful with Mukkoka and Roho whilst the orphans were browsing. He was happily wrestling them both and running back and forth between them, all three orphans having the best time. Their game continued for quite some time before Maisha came over to check on them and see what was going on.
Later in the afternoon, Kindani seemed to be taking a page out of Ziwadi’s book and decided to go off on her own adventure. The Keepers were quick to follow her and make sure that she came back to the rest of the herd and didn’t wander too far off.
It is always amazing to watch the bonds being formed between the orphans and to see the intricacy of the mini herds that form at the Nairobi Nursery unfold; elephants, being one of the most intelligent mammals on the planet, are also acutely attuned to each other’s emotions and this too can be seen with the orphans. This morning Kinyei seemed to be in a bit of a mood and she wasn’t as sociable as she has been over the last few weeks. Bondeni appeared to pick up on her mood immediately and the little bull made it his morning mission to keep her company whether she wanted him there or not.
Throughout the morning, Bondeni would run back and forth from Kinyei, playing with her and then leaving her for a little bit before coming back. Eventually his little plan seemed to work as Kinyei began to perk up a bit and she finally accepted to play with the young bull and walk back to the rest of the Nursery herd with him.
Ziwadi, although still adventurous, has been enjoying spending more and more time with the other orphans in the Nursery herd and the Keepers are always so excited to see her taking part in the exciting moments with the herd. This afternoon, Kiasa was charging around all excited and at one point she came running out of the thicket with her ears flared and trumpeting, and all the orphans decided to run after her. Even little Ziwadi was running after Kiasa trumpeting and flapping her ears, and she was closely followed by Mukkoka and Naleku. The whole group was so excited trumpeting and chasing each other.
Not a single day goes by without Kiombo and Maktao enjoying a wrestling match. Maktao, although a gentle bull, does love his games and is always looking to start one up with his friends in the Nursery, especially his neighbour Kiombo. Maktao would love for his games to carry on all day, but Kiombo does sometimes get quite tired and moves far away in order to have a break before the next game commences. Their games are also sometimes ended by Maisha the matriarch and Nabulu the second in command.
Today, the boys were wrestling for quite some time that eventually Nabulu walked over to separate them and it was as though she wanted to make sure that they still spared some time to browse and get their fill of greens. The two bulls were quick to walk off in different directions, settling to browse not too far from Nabulu.
Not only is Maktao playful but he is also very caring to the younger orphans in the Nursery herd. When the older females are busy, or have perhaps walked off a bit too fast, Maktao will take it upon himself to look after the younger orphans and walk slowly with them. He has been seen looking after Bondeni, Kindani, Kinyei, Olorien, Naleku and Ziwadi. He even seems to have taught Bondeni his climbing game, which is to climb on the backs of the other orphans whom are lying down. Although Maktao is excellent at looking after the younger orphans, Larro is never too far away making sure that everyone is behaving and well.
All the orphans were so excited this morning as they began to head to the forest. Maktao being the most playful was the first to get the games underway as he began to chase Mukkoka, Kiombo, and Larro around the stockade compound. Whenever one of them would try to standstill he would start chasing them again. Whilst Maktao was busy chasing his friends, Maisha walked over to Maxwell’s gate with Bondeni, Kindani and Kinyei to greet the magnificent black rhino standing his gate.
Bondeni, who is also a playful little character, started his own game of mock charging Maxwell and then running off. This game was of course supervised by Maisha who made sure that the little bull didn’t hurt himself. Max stood there for some time before heading off to this Lucerne pellets. As Max walked off, Maisha gathered all the orphans and started to lead them out to the forest.
Unbeknown to Maisha, Kiasa had already walked off to the forest ahead of the others and she seemed to think that she was being followed by the rest of the Nursery herd. Kiasa got to the forest and appeared to suddenly realise that none of the other orphans were behind her. She started to rumble and trumpet loudly, as if to look for the rest of her herd. As soon as Maisha heard her, she responded with a deep rumble and trumpet and she dashed off to go and find her. As soon as Kiasa appeared from the thicket all the orphans trumpeted in excitement and they then settled and walked off to the forest together.
Larro is such an easy-going elephant and she is always so friendly to all the other orphans. Due to her gentle nature, she is often one of the first orphans to meet the new arrivals at the Nursery or to be put next door to any new orphans. Last night, we received a new rescue and the Keepers chose to move Larro next door to him, to keep him company and help him settle down. Larro was happy to change stockades and she was very calm next to the new arrival.
The Keepers believe that she will one day be a fantastic matriarch and she will settle into that role swimmingly. Throughout the evening, she could be seen checking in on the young arrival, rumbling to comfort him and smelling to see if he was alright.
In the morning, Nabulu, Maisha, Kiasa, Naleku and Maktao all walked over to greet the new rescue and check in on what had been happening throughout the evening. Larro came out of her stockade and was quick to greet the other orphans before they all headed off to the forest.
Ziwadi and Olorien continue to be the best of friends and will often not want to be away from one another. This morning, as the orphans were walking off to the forest, it began to drizzle and the Keepers decided it would be better for Ziwadi, Bondeni, Kindani and Kinyei to remain in the warmth of their stables and as Olorien is getting stronger the Keepers thought it would be nice for her to remain with the herd.
As soon as Olorien got to the forest however, she suddenly seemed to realise that Ziwadi wasn’t with her and she immediately turned back towards the stockade compound. As the Keepers realised, she was looking for her friend, they decided to walk her back to the stockades where she could be with her friend. It wasn’t long before the rain stopped and Bondeni, Ziwadi, Kindani, Kinyei and Olorien were able to join the others in the forest.
This afternoon the orphans enjoyed their 3pm bottles of milk down at the mud bath. Bondeni was having the best time dashing around the mud bath, playing with his Keepers and the other orphans. Ziwadi and Kindani were also having fun chasing the warthogs around from the mud bath and then dashing back to the rest of the herd. Their games continued for a good few minutes before Maisha and the Keepers led them back to the forest for the remainder of the afternoon.
It was another chilly overcast morning with sporadic heavy showers. As such, Bondeni, Kindani, Kinyei, Ziwadi and Olorien stayed in the warmth of their stables. Roho and Naleku, being slightly stronger and better adapted to Nairobi weather, were quite happy to follow the rest of the Nursery orphans out to the forest. Roho and Naleku have also always enjoyed being out in the rain so the Keepers did not feel the need to leave them in their stables.
Once the rain had stopped and the morning started to warm up slightly, Maisha, Nabulu, Kiasa, Larro, Mukkoka, and Naboishu were all enjoying a long mud bath in some of the puddles out in the Park. Roho and Naleku were quick to join them and Roho immediately started his climbing game of trying to climb on Maisha, Nabulu and Kiasa.
Maxwell also decided to enjoy a mud bath this afternoon. He didn’t seem bothered by the overcast weather at all as he rolled around in the mud, covering every inch of his body in mud. He could even be seen rubbing his horn against the ground as if to sharpen it and make it look even more spectacular. Once he was finished rolling around, he walked around his stockade scratching the side of his belly against his walls and then settled down again to browse on his greens.
Bondeni, although smaller in size, is so full of personality. When he is out in the forest and seems to decide he has had enough of browsing for a few minutes, he will often dash over to his Keepers and start chasing them around, sometimes wrestling with them when he catches them. The Keepers can always be seen laughing and smiling at this young bull and they are always very happy to engage him in these games. He even reminds the Keepers of Kithaka who was also very playful at such a young age.
When Bondeni finishes his milk bottle down the mud bath, he will often walk over to the water troughs and try to have some water. As he is still quite small, he really has to manoeuvre his trunk over the side of the trough and then bend down to get the water, but he is always successful and will then have a few gulps of water before carrying on.
Olorien is quite a quiet young girl and she is quite happy to just follow along with the other orphans. Much like Ziwadi she loves to browse but she also loves her milk and she will often walk over to the milk wheelbarrow to see if there is any spilled milk she can steal. Throughout the day, she and Ziwadi will happily browse together and they both love their greens so much that they will rarely ever stop to play with the other orphans. They are like two peas in a pod when it comes to their love of browsing.
It was a beautiful morning in the forest with the orphans. Thanks to the heavy rains over the last few weeks there are some decent mud pools throughout the forest for the orphans to cool off in. This morning, Maktao was enjoying a long mud wallow with Naleku and Roho and some of the other orphans in the Nursery herd. Maktao was even letting Naleku climb on his back and scratch against her stomach.
Roho also loves to climb on the other orphans’ backs, especially the older girls such as Kiasa, Maisha and Nabulu. As soon as he saw Naleku climbing on Maktao’s back he quickly decided to join in and was happily trying to climb on his back too. However, as soon as Maisha joined them in the mud bath, he quickly turned his attention to her and left Maktao and Naleku to continue their own games.
Maktao was having so much fun in the muddy waters that even Naboishu came in and joined him. As Maktao was lying Naboishu thought he would try to climb on his back but being bigger in size Naboishu was a bit too heavy and Maktao decided to quickly stand up and let the younger bull slide into the mud. Naboishu then enjoyed a short mud wallow near Maktao before walking out the muddy water.
It is not very common to see a bull of Maktao’s age be as caring to younger orphans as they will normally leave this role to the females.
The orphans’ moods can sometimes change depending on the weather, much like humans they tend not to be as excited about the cold rainy days. This morning was yet again quite cold with sporadic showers throughout. The orphans seemed quite calm and quiet just browsing near one another to keep warm. The three boys, Maktao, Kiombo, and Mukkoka didn’t even seem in the mood to have any wrestling games and were just browsing quietly with the others.
Their quiet morning was suddenly interrupted by two fighting male impalas as they were making such a noise, chasing each other around the forest. Olorien, Bondeni, Naleku, Roho, Naboishu, Larro, Mukkoka and Maktao were all caught off guard by the impala and they quickly began to trumpet and rumble and when the impala heard them, they quickly ran off. The Keepers having heard the orphans trumpeting and rumbling quickly came over to calm them all down and make sure the impala had moved off.
Maisha, Nabulu, Kiasa and Kiombo all stood their ground, smelling their surroundings and making sure there were no other animals around before returning to the herd. Maisha and Nabulu even let out a loud trumpet warning any other animals away.
Today, Ziwadi and Olorien weren’t very keen on following the rest of the Nursery herd and always wanted to go off on their own and browse where they wanted to. The Keepers had to keep a close eye on them as they didn’t want them wandering too far away but they were happy to let them browse just off away from the others.
After the orphans finished their 9am bottles of milk, Naboishu, Mukkoka, Naleku and Nabulu all decided to walk off in their own direction and browse away from the rest of the Nursery herd. The Keepers weren’t surprised as some days the orphans prefer to break off in their own little groups, only coming back together when it is time for their milk bottles.
When it was time for the orphans to have their midday bottles of milk, Naboishu could be heard shouting from deep in the forest in excitement for his next milk feed. As soon as the other orphans heard him, they all knew it was time for their milk and Naleku, Nabulu, and Mukkoka all followed Naboishu back to the milk feeding point. With Naboishu in their group, the Keepers had no trouble seeing where they were and getting their bottles ready. After their milk, the orphans all settled to browse together.
Today, Kindani decided to lead her own group of orphans in the forest. She was happily leading Ziwadi, Olorien, Bondeni and Kinyei to the browsing spot of her choice. One of the Keepers was closely following them making sure they weren’t too far from the older orphans. Kindani seems to be showing personality traits of a future matriarch and the Keepers are always excited to see them grow into their own characters and this was quite a big step for the young girl. She is such a gentle girl and is always so welcoming to the other orphans.
Once the orphans had settled back in the forest after their midday bottles of milk, Kiasa, Maisha and Nabulu were enjoying a strength testing match against each other. They were all happily chasing after each other and pushing against one another. Roho even tried to get involved in their game but as the three girls are so much bigger in size, he seemed to decide that this may not be the best idea and quickly stepped away and just continued to watch them.
The orphans had a lovely afternoon in the forest.