The dry season stretches onward in Voi, without a rain cloud in sight. There was one storm that fell towards the Galana, but that was it. It is a very difficult time for all wildlife, but elephants feel the brunt of the dry season particularly keenly. They are a species who need plentiful vegetation to sustain themselves, and when browse is so difficult to find, they really struggle.
The Voi orphans walked out of their night stockades, excited for the new day. Tamiyoi, Tagwa and Emoli ran for their morning milk bottles, then immediately proceeded to the lucerne pellet and grass feeding area. A few minutes later, Ngilai and Emoli were already having their morning pushing game. Pika Pika calmly fed on lucerne next to her adopted motherly figure, Ndii, but she became jealous when Araba got too close. She pushed her away from both Ndii and Kenia.
The orphans then exited the stockade for their day out in the Park, leaving Mashariki, Tundani and Ndotto behind to finish every last piece of lucerne they could find. Ndoria was being a bit of a bully to Godoma as they walked along and kept pushing her, but Mudanda ran over to rescue Godoma and push Ndoria away.
In the afternoon, the orphans walked down Msinga Hill for the noon milk feed and immediately proceeded to the mud wallow. Ndotto splashed about a little in the water and then walked over to the pile of loose soil for a fun dust bath. After playing around the mud bath for about 30 minutes, the orphans resumed browsing and spent the afternoon on the grasslands before returning to the stockades for the night.
The orphans came out of their stockades to have their milk bottles, enjoy lucerne, and bond around the stockade compound. Ngilai stood next to one of the terraces, posing with his right foot up. Ndotto was standing next to him and evidently contemplating initiating a pushing game but decided against it. Later, Ngilai scratched his trunk on the terrace while Sagala and Tagwa sparred against one another. Eventually Ndotto relented and invited Ngilai to a wrestling game. Ngilai soon left in favour of looking for his playmate Emoli, leaving Ndotto posing against the terrace wall.
Tagwa was enjoying a good scratch against a rock, while Ndotto challenged Arruba to a sparring game having been abandoned by Ngilai, and the two spent the rest of their time in the stockade compound playing with one another.
The orphans browsed quietly throughout the morning until it was time to go for their noon milk bottles and a drink of water next to the baobab tree. Lasayen splashed for a little while on the edge of the mud bath while Ndotto thoroughly enjoyed fully immersing himself and swimming about in the middle of the pool. Ngilai scratched himself against Ndotto while they were both in the water, but Ndotto moved away as he didn’t appreciate being used as a scratching post! Ndotto then messed about, posing on the edge of the mud bath. Ndoria and Suswa quietly drank from the water trough and Araba scratched against the big baobab tree. Soon the orphans left the water hole to resume browsing at the foot of Msinga Hill for the rest of the afternoon.
The orphaned elephants left the stockades at their own pace today for their daily bush walks. They settled at the foot of the northern side of Msinga Hill, overlooking the mud hole at the baobab tree.
Panda, Naipoki, Suswa, Embu, and Ndotto calmly settled to browse together, all facing in the same direction. Tundani rested his trunk on Ndotto’s back, enticing him into a sparring game, but Ndotto didn’t seem interested and just walked away. Emoli and Pika Pika spent the morning messing about and playing. Emoli then tried climbing on Pika Pika, which annoyed her and caused her to walk away. Murit lured Godoma into a sparring match out on the grasslands. Tundani invited Mashariki to a wrestling match but was turned down. He then turned to his favourite sparring friend, Ndotto, who finally accepted. The two enjoyed a fun push game, entwining their trunks and wrestling with one another. Mudanda chose to browse and play with Araba for a while, as Godoma relaxed on the ground next to them. Panda approached Godoma to check she was okay. She patted her with her trunk and, upon finding out that all was well, walked on to join her friend Naipoki.
Ishaq-B browsed peacefully while Panda and Kenia stood leaning against a tree waiting for the milk vehicle to arrive from the stockades, bearing the milk dependent babies’ noon milk bottles.
Emoli and Ngilai were busy wrestling by the stockades as their friends fed on the lucerne grass at the far end of the compound.
Panda stood at the edge of the terraces, swaying her trunk from side to side. Murit came over to greet her and they both held trunks for a bit before Murit moved on towards the soil pile. Ngilai commandeered him before he managed to reach there however, and they immediately started wrestling with one another. Sagala scratched on the best rock in the compound just as the others started to walk out of the compound for their daily browsing session. They settled on the open grasslands on the northern side of Msinga Hill.
Later, the orphans walked down to the milk feeding area and proceeded to the baobab tree for a mud bath. The weather was cloudy and the orphans decided not to have a mud bath; they quickly turned around to continue browsing after drinking water.
After the morning milk feed, Ngilai led the way over to the feeding area and all the orphans followed him. Suswa was left behind, looking perplexed as she stood in front of the milk feeding area stretching her trunk out, as if requesting for a bottle of milk from the Keepers. She didn’t receive any attention, however, as the Keepers were busy dishing out the lucerne supplements to the rest of the orphans. Besides, Suswa has been off milk formula for quite some time now! In the end, she decided to give up and join her friends.
Ngilai and Emoli were enjoying one of their usual morning sparring sessions while Ndii and Pika Pika came for a drink from the stockade water trough. Tagwa and Tamiyoi stood on the soil pile, probably setting themselves up to be the leaders of the morning — and sure enough, as soon as Sagala joined them, they all immediately set off out to the bush. The orphans settled to browse at the foot of Msinga Hill throughout the morning.
Tundani picked on Ndotto for an exciting wresting match, and Mudanda attempted to invite Arruba, but she turned down her request and walked away. The milk-dependent orphans sprinted down in groups of 3 and 4 for their noon milk feed and later all the orphans had a lot of fun in mud bathing games before walking back out to the bush to continue browsing for the rest of the afternoon.
Ngilai ran down to feed on the lucerne grass right after his milk feed, closely followed by Emoli, Godoma and Lasayen. Ndotto remained standing in the milk feeding area, asking for an extra bottle of milk, but the Keepers wouldn’t oblige him. Finally, he gave up and vented his frustration out on Tundani! He walked straight over to him, and they both engaged in a head-to-head wrestling game. Pika Pika bullied Araba slightly as she moved too close to Ndii while feeding on the lucerne pellets. Araba just surrendered and walked away from the jealous Pika Pika to join Mashariki in browsing.
The dependent Voi orphans then left for their daily bush walks under the leadership of Tamiyoi, Tagwa and Sagala, closely by Godoma, Mbegu and Murit.
After the morning patrol, there were sightings of lions laying in ambush at the mud wallow area. The Keepers turned the orphans around to spend their day on the southern side of the Msinga Hill, away from the lions.
The orphans had their afternoon milk bottles in the stockade compound today and stuck around to enjoy a mud wallow and dust bath before resuming browsing along the Msinga Hill just next to the stockades. Before they left for the afternoon, Lasayen went to stand along the terraces picking up the remaining lucerne pellets he could find there, while Ishaq-B, Sagala and Pika Pika played on the soil pile rolling around and throwing soil everywhere.
Ngilai took on Emoli in a fun game this morning, chasing each other around the compound. Ndotto was watching and invited Tundani for their own wrestling match. Tundani was busy feeding on some lucerne pellets but he accepted the sparring invitation.
Sagala went to scratch against the twin trees while Ndoria scratched against the favourite rock. Naipoki came to drink from the trough alongside Araba and Rorogoi. After drinking, Araba decided to step inside the water trough while Rorogoi stood posing against the terraces.
As usual, Tamiyoi guided the herd out to the bush for the day. This morning, however, her usual partners Tagwa and Sagala were left behind. After a short distance, she realized her friends were not with her, so she stopped and rumbled, looking back for where they could be. Lasayen and Godoma took over the lead, as Tamiyoi didn’t want to go any further without her friends Tagwa and Sagala.
Ndotto and Tundani enjoyed their usual morning wrestling games over beside the terraces. Later in the morning, Rorogoi, Ndii and Suswa were busy browsing as Ndotto spent some time with his best friend Lasayen. Sagala was busy digging up roots from the ground with her foot. Araba, Tundani and Ishaq-B watched her do this and decided to follow suit. The orphans later walked down the hill for their afternoon milk feed and then on to the mud wallow beside the baobab tree below.
Mashariki plunged into the water trough, drinking and splashing, while Ngilai and Emoli enjoyed sparring just before Mbegu joined in. The orphans had a busy mud wallowing session. Pika Pika and her adopted older sister Ndii had a lot of fun playing in the water hole. Ngilai was seen constantly pursuing Emoli to play. His best mud bath playmate, Ivia the buffalo, has remained in a different area due to the continued presence of lions.
Lasayen was scratching against the terraces as Ngilai and Emoli had their usual morning sparring games in the stockade. The orphans finished feeding on lucerne pellets just as Tamiyoi was already on her way out to the browsing grounds, leading the way alongside Godoma, Tagwa and Sagala.
The orphans settled down to browse at the foot of Msinga Hill, walking and feeding on all the tasty shrubs they could find throughout the morning. At one point, Ndoria snatched a branch from Ndotto’s mouth, which he couldn’t seem to do anything about, while Mudanda chose to bond with Arruba, playing and sparring with her. Rorogoi went over to show Ndotto some love by patting him with her trunk, which she continued to do while walking together with him down for the afternoon milk feed.
As the orphans waited for the vehicle carrying their bottles to arrive, Tundani engaged Ishaq-B in a wrestling match. Being a cloudy day, the orphans didn’t have much of a mud wallowing session; instead, they turned around as soon as they had finished drinking some water and resumed browsing.
After the morning milk feed, Ngilai went for a dust bath, rolling and messing about on the soil piles in the stockade compound. He was joined by Emoli and the two engaged in a wrestling match on the soil. Mbegu started rolling on the ground, just on the edge of the stockade mud bath. Emoli saw this and quickly ditched Ngilai and ran over to Mbegu, trying to climb on her and sliding down her tummy. Having been abandoned, Ngilai started scratching on the rock behind them. Godoma decided to take on Lasayen in an exciting sparring match, but not long after, they decided to walk out to the bush for the day.
Just before noon, the orphans walked down to the mud wallow area for their milk bottles. Ishaq-B and Panda stopped to have a drink from the water trough before taking a quick splash from the mud wallow. Panda then decided to step into the water trough to cool off and the orphans later resumed browsing peacefully for the rest of the afternoon.
The sun was shining bright this morning, and so were the orphans! After having their milk bottles, they decided to hang around the stockade compound for a while, playing and bonding as they fed on the lucerne pellets and grass. Ngilai took on his favorite playmate Emoli for a wrestling challenge. Mbegu stood next to Godoma at the favourite rock in the compound, trying to impress Godoma into some scratching games, but she didn’t seem to be interested! Pika Pika was posing and showing off next to the water trough while Panda stood guard watching over her. Lasayen came around and he and Pika Pika faced each other head-on for a sparring game. Panda didn’t seem to mind, so they carried on pushing one another and holding each other’s’ trunks in a wonderful, friendly encounter. Kenia also enjoyed a good scratch on the rock while Araba and Murit played with one another.
Eventually, the orphans left the stockade compound for their daily bush walk and settled on the slopes of Msinga Hill to browse. In the afternoon, they came down the hill for their milk feed and afterwards they all walked down to the mud wallow. Tamiyoi was showing a lot of love towards her best friend Tagwa at the water hole area, leaning against and petting Tagwa with her trunk. These two have been great friends since their Nursery days and it is always so heartwarming to see these friendships continue and flourish in the wild.
The orphans came out of their stockades for their milk feeding in the early morning hours. When Pika Pika was done with her bottles, the ever-doting Ndii, Kenia, Panda and Ishaq-B escorted her down to enjoy some supplement lucerne grass being laid out by the Keepers. This group of five teamed up to browse throughout the morning out in the bush, until releasing Pika Pika to go for her noon milk feeding later in the day.
When the orphans arrived at the baobab tree water hole, there was a small wild elephant family who had already helped themselves to some water and were quietly relaxing under one of the commifora trees. Rorogoi, Emoli, Mudanda, Mashariki and Embu proceeded to show off in front of all the other orphans and the wild elephants, jumping into the water and enjoying their swim. Their game succeeded in attracting two wild elephants who came over to watch them, although they didn’t get too close. Pika Pika wanted the wild elephants to join them, so she started to walk towards them, but Ndii, Kenia, Arruba, Ishaq-B and Panda blocked her way. Instead, they tried to engage her in numerous games to try and distract her! Soon, more wild elephants started streaming in. The orphans decided to afford them due respect, leaving the waterhole to make way and allow them to drink and cool off, too.
Ndotto decided to employ a few different tactics today in his wrestling games with Tundani. Tundani is a couple of years older, but Ndotto is big and strong and clever too! To prove himself to Tundani, Ndotto stepped into the water trough and raised his nose up, all in an attempt to try and look tall and threatening.
After arriving out in the bush to browse today, Ngilai and Emoli — who didn’t have the chance to play in the stockade compound this morning — engaged each other in a full-on sparring match that lasted for quite a while. Off to the side, Mbegu was busy browsing with Tagwa. Every now and then, Tagwa would stretch her trunk out towards Mbegu’s mouth to see what she was browsing on and if she could have some of the same.
The weather was fairly cold when the orphans arrived at the water hole. Naipoki wanted to step into the water trough to cool off, but after putting only one foot into the water and realizing how cold it was, she quickly got out again. None of the orphans wanted to swim today, so after drinking enough water, they carried on with their afternoon of browsing.
The orphans seemed extra excited this morning after the milk and supplement feeding, messing around and playing with one another. Sagala rubbed herself against one of the terraces as Godoma stood on top of the terrace, watching. Ndotto and Tundani engaged in their usual sparring match — but this morning, Ndotto was evidently no match for Tundani and ran away in defeat!
Tamiyoi, Sagala and Tagwa placed themselves strategically close to the compound gates, ready to take the lead and escort their friends to the browsing grounds on the northern side of the hill. The orphans browsed in single file, with lucky Pika Pika enjoying some wonderful browsing company from, Kenia, Ndii, Araba, Arruba, Ishaq-B, Panda and Naipoki.
After the noon milk feed, the elephants decided to walk down for a swim in the mud bath as it was a little warmer today. Godoma and Lasayen lay in the middle and deepest part of the waterhole, rolling around and really shining in their swimming antics. Emoli was jealous of their game as he went marching over to force himself between the two, making sure he separated them and brought an end to their fun. Panda skipped the water hole mud bathing competitions and instead jumped inside the water trough to cool down! The orphans had a lot of fun around the waterhole for an hour or so, before leaving for their afternoon of browsing.
The orphans finished their activities in the compound this morning and walked towards the peak of Msinga Hill. Here, they can still find quite ample browse to feed on, as lower down the vegetation is becoming rather depleted. After reaching the top of the hill, Tagwa was seemed a little tired and took a short nap, leaning against of the big rocks. Araba browsed close to Tagwa, as Ndii and Kenia embraced their adopted baby, Pika Pika, and ushered her about as she browsed.
Cheza, Ivia, and Diria, the orphaned buffalos and zebra, fed on the southern side of Msinga Hill as there are still lions in the area. We heard them roaring last night.
Everyone really enjoyed browsing until it was time to come downhill so the milk-dependent orphans could have their noon milk feed. The orphans had a lot of fun at the mud bath and messed about in the water for a while. Panda and Arruba were guarding Pika Pika, who wanted to stay back and play with Suswa. Suswa was really enjoying the mud bath on her own, rolling about and splashing water everywhere. Eventually, the four all came out of the water together and joined up with the rest of their friends to browse.
The orphans maneuvered their way along the rocky slopes of Msinga Hill to the northern side. From there, they overlooked the baobab water hole.
At the baobab water hole in the afternoon, Godoma posed along the edge of the mud wallow while Rorogoi excitedly splashed about inside. Mbegu also played along the edge of the water hole, rolling around just on the outside so as to get nice and muddy, without having to fully submerge herself. Ndii chased some Egyptian geese who had come for a swim, while Ngilai and Emoli skipped the mud bath and enjoyed a sparring match right outside the mud wallow. Rorogoi was clearly enjoying the water the most, playing, splashing, and digging at the edge of the mud bath with her smallish tusks. Tagwa stood serenely beside by the water trough drinking, while Godoma continued to pose — but now against the water trough. Every now and then, she dipped her trunk into the water to splash about. Tundani came over to join her and swished his trunk from side to side.
Later, some wild elephants arrived at the baobab water hole. They interacted with the orphans for a short while and then left to continue browsing.
The milk-dependent orphans greeted the morning with deep rumbles, as they could hear their bottles being prepared and were eager to enjoy their breakfast!
As soon as their stockade gates were opened, they came sprinting out as fast as they could. Pika Pika bellowed as she ran, aware that her friends were trying to overtake her and worried they might steal her bottle. The orphans then all settled for some lucerne pellets and range cubes before leaving the stockades for the bush.
It is indeed very dry out there, and the browsing pace of the orphans was deliberately slow to try and collect as much food as they could find. At the baobab tree water trough, a wild elephant herd joined them for a drink. One of the wild elephants had a very tiny calf, only a few days old, and it was very interested in greetings the orphans — much to their delight! However, its family was very protective and firmly blocked the orphans from approaching the calf. They left soon after drinking. Tamiyoi, Tagwa and Emoli attempted to follow them, but just then another wild elephant herd arrived, and they decided to return with them. The orphans had a wonderful time at the mud bath and played for quite some time there. Emoli and Mbegu entertained themselves by chasing some geese, before the orphans left to continue with their usual afternoon routine.
We received an early morning call from the rangers at Rukinga Ranch regarding a newborn orphaned elephant calf who had wandered into one of their field-camps, yelling out for company. Presumably, her family had been dispersed by roaring lions that were on a hunting mission close to one of the area’s water holes. The stockade mobilized a rescue team, who left at 5am. In the meantime, the Rukinga Ranch scouts managed to catch the calf. Aside from a few external bruises from running into a fenceline, she was in good condition, but very thirsty and exhausted. After having a milk feed, she fell fast asleep on the rescue mattress for about an hour, before being airlifted to the Kaluku Neonate Nursery.
Meanwhile, the Voi orphans had a busy day of browsing and trying to find enough food to eat. Ngilai and Ndotto had a fun time chasing guinea fowl and seemed satisfied when they flew up into the nearest trees. Lasayen came over to join the game, but the birds had already all disappeared. Kenia and Ndii, of course, spent the day with their favourite Pika Pika. Araba managed to find some love and attention from Ishaq-B today. It seems like Emoli was jealous of all the fun and games Ngilai was enjoying with Ndotto, and he made a point of coming in between them later at the mud bath, preventing them from playing and trying to engage Ngilai in some games all to himself.
In the evening, the orphans slowly made their way back home to the stockades for their milk bottles and to go to bed.
The orphans spent time playing around the stockade compound after having their bottles this morning. Ndotto was trying to climb on Tagwa, but this made Tundani jealous, so he pushed Ndotto off Tagwa and then engaged him in a full on sparring match.
Arruba had also been watching and she seemed really annoyed with Ndotto, too. Arruba is good friends with Tagwa and she won’t stand for any bullying. She also came over to fight Ndotto and teach him a lesson! The Keepers could see how annoyed she was feeling, as her temporal gland on the side of her face was streaming.
Eventually, Ndii came over to separate the cross Arruba from Ndotto. She led everyone out to the bush to browse, forcing the two to abandon their fight and join their friends.
The milk-dependent babies sprinted to grab their delicious morning milk bottles before settling down with their friends at the lucerne feeding area. Then it was Emoli and Ngilai’s turn to run the show and show off their pushing games. Ngilai engaged Emoli from the top of one of the terraces and managed to impress Emoli so much that he dashed about in excitement. Emoli ran back and forth trumpeting happily, attracting the attention of most of their friends!
On seeing their exciting game, Arruba and Ndotto started their own sparring match. Apparently, it wasn’t as exciting as Ngilai and Emoli’s, which drew a substantial number of spectators! Ngilai and Emoli later coiled up their trunks, congratulating each other for their exemplary performance.
A male orphaned elephant was found in a completely collapsed state today. He was rescued by both the Voi Keepers and the SWT/KWS Tsavo Veterinary Unit, who brought him to the stockades to be stabilized with medicine and drips. He was terribly thin and had clearly been completely consumed by the challenging dry season we find ourselves in. We fear the worst but will do all we can for this poor elephant.
The orphan we rescued yesterday remains in one of the stockades on a drip. Mbegu, who is in the upper stockade, noticed his arrival and chose to forgo her milk bottle to go reassure him, telling him that he was indeed in the helping hands of the Keepers. Mbegu has always been a very loving elephant.
Around 10am, the new arrival was assisted to his feet. He ate some very fresh and lush green grewia leaves, browsing very slowly and carefully.
There is still a pride of lions hanging around the baobab tree area, which forced the Keepers to take the orphans to a different browsing area. At noon, they had their milk bottles at the stockade compound. This didn’t seem to trouble the orphans, however. They had a lot of fun playing in the stockade water hole. Since Kenia and Ndii have been more preoccupied with Pika Pika these days, Murit noticed that Araba has been more available for games and wrestling matches. He decided to invite her for a short sparring match, before they joined their friends who were leaving for the afternoon browsing session.
It was a cloudy morning today, which was an encouraging sign of impending rain. The orphan elephants came out of their stockades full of energy, guzzling their morning milk bottles before playing briefly in the stockade compound and then leaving for the day to browse. Sagala went to take up her favourite position at the head of the herd, leading her friends out to browse. Tamiyoi and Tagwa had been canvassing this role the most recently, and today Sagala thought it should be her turn.
Lions were heard roaring the whole of last night, but a monitoring patrol in the morning found the pride had moved further away from the orphans’ browsing area.
After the afternoon milk feed, the orphans were joined briefly by a wild elephant herd who came for a drink from the baobab tree water hole. The wild elephant herd didn’t stay long though and left soon after the orphans arrived at the mud bath. Sagala, Tagwa and Tamiyoi tried to follow them for a little bit, as they had some calves with them, but the calves’ protective brothers and sisters forced the three of them to turn back.
Panda has decided to avoid mud bathing with her younger friends and instead prefers to play at the water trough, sometimes stepping inside to cool down! Panda secured some spectators and supporters in her water trough antics in Embu and Mashariki, who stood watching her throughout her playing session.
Emoli was in a very excitable mood and charged off to chase waterbucks and zebra who approached the water hole to drink. He was soon joined by Rorogoi and Godoma, and once the trio thought they had chased the plains game off far enough, they triumphantly returned to their friends, rather boastful about their efforts to protect the waterhole. It wasn’t long before the orphans started to walk off across the grasslands to continue browsing, and the rest of the plains game got a chance to move in for some water.
After the morning milk, lucerne pellet and grass feeding, Emoli and Mbegu managed to get Pika Pika away from her adopted older sisters, Kenia and Ndii. Emoli utilized the opportunity to play a sparring match with Pika Pika but then started to try and climb on her. He was lucky to see Ndii, Kenia, Arruba and Ishaq-B charging over and quickly ran off for his safety. The four big girls collected Pika Pika and led the way out to browse for the beginning of their browsing day.
The orphans browsed in single file, visiting the baobab tree water hole in the afternoon. Ndii, Panda and Arruba kept themselves busy playing with Pika Pika in the water, leaving their first adopted girl, Araba, off to the side. This is a strong signal to Araba that she is no longer a baby to be cosseted, but this also means she has the opportunity to forge new friendships with the other Voi orphans. As if proving this point, Araba saw Godoma in the mud bath and ran over to play with her. She later jumped into the water trough to continue playing, which seems to be the most attractive game for the babies these days!
The orphan elephants then left the water hole and spent the rest of the afternoon browsing high up on the Msinga Hill.
This morning, the orphans headed through the rocky corridor towards the south of Msinga Hill. Cheza, Ivia, and Diria, the orphaned buffalo and zebra, were behind them. However, the Keepers kept up a monitoring patrol in front, who found a big male lion lying in ambush along the very path the orphans were walking. They alerted the other Keepers, who brought Cheza, Ivia, and Diria to browse closer to the stockades for the rest of the day.
The orphaned elephants proceeded with their browsing. The sun shone brightly, forcing them to seek shade under the big rock boulders in that area. A friendly wild eland, who first appeared on the scene and started following the herd about six months ago, reappeared today. Ndotto tried to chase him away, but he persisted and browsed with the elephants for a considerable part of the morning.
Tamiyoi, Emoli, Tagwa and Sagala were the first to go sprinting down for the noon milk bottles, closely followed by the rest of their milk dependent friends. After having some fresh water, Panda jumped into the water trough to chill out. Tundani decided to drink water slightly differently, using his mouth instead of his trunk for some reason! The orphans had a lot of fun in the mud before leaving to browse for the remainder of the afternoon.
The day started well, with the milk-dependent orphans gulping down their milk before joining their older friends for supplement feeding. Mudanda stretched her trunk up as high as she could to harvest green leaves from one of the acacia trees in the stockade compound. She was concentrating on reaching those tasty leaves so much that she missed that everyone else had left the compound! She soon realized and picked up a fast pace to catch up with her friend.
The orphans browsed in single file, moving towards the baobab tree water hole. Emoli was the first to welcome a wild elephant herd that came to join them for water. Soon, Mbegu, Kenia, Ndii and Panda consolidated the orphan herd and moved them away. Mashariki and Tundani contested their decision and decided to remain behind. They were very lucky to interact with a small wild elephant calf. The two later joined their friends, who stood a short distance away soil bathing, before commencing their usual browsing activities for the rest of the day.
The orphans decided to play around in the stockade compound for a bit today after feeding. Ngilai stood at the bottom of one of the stockade terraces, striking funny poses while sparring with Pika Pika and trying his best to impress her. He ended up holding her attention for quite a long time, so the two orphans enjoyed a lengthy yet friendly pushing game.
Emoli and Tagwa, who are Ngilai’s other good friends, were jealous of Ngilai and Pika Pika’s games. Emoli approached them after spectating for some time and eventually succeeded in taking Ngilai away for his own sparring match. Tagwa was forced to seek someone else to play with. This ended up being Murit, who was standing close by..
The orphan elephants then left for the bush to browse up until noon when they went to their familiar feeding spot. Once again, Panda got into the water trough for a swim. She has found paradise here and it has become the norm for her to cool off there! Lasayen posed on the edge of the mud wallow while Mashariki scratched against the baobab tree. Tundani relaxed outside the mud hole, rolling in the loose soil, while Tamiyoi also scratched against the baobab tree. Suswa stood beside Panda, who was still inside the water trough, calmly enjoying a drink.
Later in the evening, we received a call from Rukinga scouts about an orphaned elephant who was lying unconscious in Maungu Conservation Area. We found the poor young bull in a collapsed state, another victim of the ongoing dry season. We rescued him and brought him to our Voi stockades.
It was a very cheerful morning today, which was heralded by some raindrops. The orphans were excited to begin a new day in the rain and have their morning milk feed. Ngilai invited Murit for a sparring challenge and when they were done, Murit had an early morning dust bath on the big pile of loose soil. Suswa enjoyed a scratch against one of the terraces. Tamiyoi, on the other side, was stretching and climbing on one of the walls while Godoma collected lucerne pellets. Ngilai took on Emoli for yet another wrestling match. Tamiyoi received a warm hug from her friend, Sagala, and the two spent a good amount of time cuddling before finally leaving for the daily bush walks. Tagwa ran to catch up with everyone and invited Tamiyoi for a sparring game while she was still walking with Sagala, which didn’t bother Sagala.
After the noon milk feed, the orphans had a lot of fun mud bathing. Ngilai went over to wake Emoli, who was lying down and enjoying a lovely dust bath, just so he could engage him in a sparring game. Ishaq-B sat down against the wall of the water hole, swishing from side to side and enjoying a lovely scratch, before joining up with the rest of her friends.
The orphans were at the far end corner of the stockade compound this morning, feeding on lucerne grass. Tundani decided to stick around and inquire about the new elephant that is recuperating inside one of the stockades. He stretched his trunk over the electric fence to greet the young boy.
The Voi orphans then settled at the foot of Msinga Hill to the east. Later, as they waited for the milk vehicle, Tundani and Ndotto entertained themselves in a light wrestling match. Godoma and Mbegu cuddled one another as they fanned themselves with their ears, in an effort to keep cool. Mashariki and Mudanda stood together, doing the same. This was quite unusual, as both elephants usually prefer to keep to themselves.
After the milk feed, the orphans walked down to the baobab tree mud hole to refresh themselves by mud wallowing and later resumed browsing.
Ndotto and Araba were wrestling in the compound this morning as Tundani enjoyed a refreshing drink of water from the trough. The rest of the orphans had already left the compound for their daily browsing walks, leaving Tundani hovering around in the compound. He later tracked the others down and followed behind them slowly but acutely.
At the afternoon mud bath, Lasayen just stood still at the edge of the water, apparently uninterested in swimming. Ishaq-B flapped her ears wide in an effort to cool down in the hot weather. Mudanda and Suswa enjoyed a scratch against the baobab tree after swimming. Ndoria stood drinking from the water trough while Arruba stood there quietly drinking too. Panda seated herself on the edge of the mud wallow, scratching her bottom, as Ndii, Pika Pika and Rorogoi enjoyed a group mud wallow.
The orphan elephants later continued browsing to the south of the water hole.
The orphans left the stockade this morning under the stewardship of Tamiyoi and Tagwa. After browsing for some time, Embu wanted to change their course to move down towards the far northern side of Msinga Hill. However, the older females Kenia and Ndii felt differently and instead moved in the opposite direction, forcing Embu to comply with them.
At the mud bath, the main competitors seemed to be Arruba, Rorogoi and Pika Pika, who vied for attention as they rolled and splashed about in the water like mud fish. Godoma played against the walls of the water hole, but Emoli immediately took her place in that great spot. The rest of the day continued on the western side of Msinga Hill.
It was a happy morning, with the orphans playing in the stockade compound after the milk and supplement feeding. Mudanda took up position against the big rock, rubbing her whole body, while Araba used a small rock to scratch her back and bottom.
As she was walking out to the bush, Mashariki bravely chose to pick the green leaves from the trees and shrubs on the other side of the fence by kneeling and stretching her trunk through the electric fenceline. She later utilized her tall height to reach acacia branches while standing up and stretching her trunk.
The sun was bright and the day warm. The orphans took regular breaks from browsing to seek shade from any trees close by. Six lions were spotted close to the baobab tree water hole, so the orphans returned to the stockades for their noon milk feed and mud bath. They spent the rest of their day browsing to the south of Msinga Hill.