‘Class One’ may be the youngest orphans at Ithumba, but they are certainly the most vocal! While Larro and Mukkoka mind their own business in the morning, Naboishu and Musiara have a standing feud over who stands where. For some reason, both boys are determined to stand at the far right when they have their milk bottle. Every morning, they get embroiled in a vigorous fight to get this coveted position. Strength-wise, they are evenly matched, but Naboishu has an extra flair for drama. He lets out an ear-splitting bellow, which also serves as an alarm clock to everyone in the compound!
The ex-orphans arrived early in the morning before the orphans were let out. Orwa and Bomani lined up along the wall with Pare, Mteto, Sapalan, Karisa and Maramoja, thinking perhaps that the Keepers might make a mistake and give them some milk too. The two boys forgot that they are big and have long tusks so it was easy for the Keepers to distinguish them from the others, unfortunately for them! Bomani and Orwa shook their heads in disappointment when the Keepers skipped them. They walked down to the water troughs to console themselves by drinking water. It appears Pare and Sapalan were laughing at them, but they made sure that they were not facing their direction otherwise they would have faced it rough from Bomani and Orwa! Lucerne was distributed and all the orphans shared it equally. Mapia and Jotto briefly engaged in a strength testing exercise but were stopped by Bomani who pushed the two boys away.
Kamok had a tough time when she walked close by Ithumbah’s baby Iman. Ithumbah, apparently aware of Kamok’s reputation of pushing youngsters, thought it best not to let Kamok close to her baby, and whipped Kamok with her trunk to avoid seeing her only baby being knocked down by Kamok.
On their way to browse the orphans came across some guinea fowl. Esampu, Mundusi, Sattao and Dololo decided to chase them out of their way. The birds didn’t hang around to be trampled on by the baby elephants and flew away leaving the orphans charging and trumpeting. Jotto met with a buffalo and tried to charge at it, but the buffalo stood its ground and even threatened to push Jotto. Jotto retreated. Ndiwa saw Jotto and decided to come and help him. When the buffalo saw that Jotto had back up from a friend it immediately changed its mind and decided to run off, knowing it couldn’t stand up to two young elephants!
Orwa and Bomani followed the orphans to the bush and browsed together with them for the better part of the morning. Kuishi and Pare had a brief conversation with Bomani and shortly afterwards resumed browsing. Kauro, Mteto, Malima, Sapalan and Jotto took a break from browsing and had a game of rolling on the ground. Rapa came over and picked Sapalan for a pushing game.
At mud bath time, Kauro came in carrying a bigger stick than usual, as is his habit before having his milk bottles. The weather was chilly and none of the orphans wanted to wallow in the mud bath. In the afternoon Malima settled to browse with Larro while Mteto, Sapalan and Mundusi teamed up together to browse. In the evening, Sattao led the way back to the stockades for the night.
Mapia and Jotto met outside the stockades in the morning. These two boys are on sparring terms nearly every day as they try to establish who among them is more dominant! Watching them wrestle, we think Jotto might emerge as the winner one day, despite Mapia’s thick-set body and strength.
The orphans were joined by the wild female known to us as ‘Queen’ and her family, and started sharing lucerne before being joined by the ex-orphans. Queen is most respected by the ex-orphans and they dared not get too close to her. Only Mteto joined and interacted with Queen’s family as she tried to bond with the two babies in her herd. As the orphans left for browsing, Mteto lagged behind but later joined the orphans in the Kone area. Karisa spotted two buffaloes and charged at them and the buffaloes ran away. As usual Karisa went back and decided to join the ex-orphans today.
Out in the bush Ndiwa settled to browse with Sapalan while Enkikwe settled to browse with Kuishi. The day was getting hotter with each passing moment. Eventually Sattao led the first group to the mud bath for the noon milk feed. Mischievous Larro attempted to steal an extra bottle of milk several times, but the keepers were very alert. It was very hot and the orphans participated fully in the wallowing exercise in the main mud bath. The afternoon remained warm and the orphans took a break from feeding to relax for awhile under a tree. On their way back to the stockades just before 5pm, the orphans headed for a small roadside mud bath to keep cool.
Twenty-five wild bulls were waiting for water in the morning. Narok, Makireti, Kilabasi, Kofi, Lenana, Lapa, Sunyei, Siku, Saba, Ithumbah, Iman and Kalama joined the orphans in the morning for lucerne. After finishing, Nabulu led the way out to browse. On their way Larro, Naboishu, Dololo, Sattao and Pare spotted some guinea fowls. The young elephants always delight in chasing such smaller creatures so the group set about charging and trumpeting at the birds. The trumpeting scared the birds away.
The orphans settled to browse in the Kone area. Mundusi and Kauro had a morning pushing game that lasted for quite sometime. Jotto engaged Malkia to a pushing game and thereafter had a game of rolling on ground.
Malima led the first group of dependent orphans to the mud bath for their milk feed, while Ambo led the second. After having their bottles, the orphans only wallowed for a short time as several wild bulls came in and disrupted their swimming. Mteto got out of the water and went to soil dust on the pile of loose soil, while Rapa enjoyed climbing on Mapia. A young bull that has short tail like Kanjoro showed up with some big bulls.
In the afternoon, the orphans settled to browse west of Ithumba Hill. The rest of the day was quiet as the orphans concentrated on browsing in these prevailing dry conditions. In the evening, the orphans passed by the small roadside mud bath and cooled-off there before proceeding back to the stockades.
It was a quiet morning when the orphans left their night stockades and settled for lucerne. No ex-orphans were present and the dependent orphans enjoyed having the area to themselves. Shortly later, a lone buffalo emerged from the east and settled for water at the one of the water troughs. Jotto walked down and tried to intimidate the buffalo but the buffalo wasn’t bothered at all by Jotto’s threats. Maramoja, Kauro and Mundusi came down to assist Jotto but the buffalo remained adamant about standing its ground and having a drink. Eventually it was only Karisa who managed to drive the buffalo away and he pursued it until it disappeared. Pare was enjoying rolling and scratching on the ground but was disrupted by Musiara who came over and tried to push him up. Mundusi played with Jotto while Ambo played with Malima.
Larro led the first group to the mud bath today while Naboishu led the second. Again it was quiet at mud bath time as only ex-orphan Challa showed up for water. The orphans had their milk feed then proceeded for a drink of water from the trough. Only Rapa decided to get into the mud bath for a short wallow. The afternoon was well spent as the orphans concentrated on browsing. Later, the orphans headed for a roadside mud bath before heading back to the stockades for the night.
It was a beautiful morning today as the orphans came out of their stockades and walked down to have lucerne. A big group of ex-orphans and wild elephants were eagerly awaiting to share lucerne with junior orphans. Ithumbah, with our youngest ex-orphan baby Iman, were among them, as well as Naserian with her baby Njema. All the orphans shared lucerne together before the dependent orphans walked out to browse in the bush.
It is still very dry at Ithumba. Mukkoka stretched his trunk high into tree branches above to try and reach greener leaves. It was a very hot day and some of the orphans sought shade under nearby trees. Sapalan and Rapa started playfighting as they made their way to the mud bath for the noon milk feed. The orphans had their bottles and went to the main waterhole to cool off and swim. Some wild bulls arrived and joined them wallowing. Rapa started mounting on Naboishu in the water, while Malkia rolled around with just her trunk poking above the water as a snorkel, thoroughly her swimming session. When they were done swimming, they got out of the water and went to dry themselves off in the red soil, before returning to browsing.
It was a very hot afternoon, but the orphans struggled on to find enough food to fill their tummies until they walked back to the stockades in the evening for their milk bottles and the supplement food the Keepers put out for them in their rooms.
It was a very busy morning with the dependent orphans gulping down their milk bottles before walking out of their respective night stockades to the lucerne feeding area. Some ex-orphans and wild elephants also chose to join them and they all shared lucerne peacefully. A buffalo arrived and joined a small group of wild elephant bulls drinking from the water trough, and they didn’t seem bothered about the buffalo joining them.
Toda Ambo was the most active baby in the mud bath! He was rolling and trumpeting and thoroughly enjoying himself along with Kuishi, Enkikwe, Sana Sana, Mapia, Jotto and Malkia. Musiara and Challa decided to swim a bit later, after all the other junior orphans had got out, and so they shared the water hole with some wild elephant bulls instead. Mapia and Jotto started having a dust bath on the piles of loose soil after their mud bath, to help them dry off and make a nice layer of soil on their skin to act as barrier from the hot sun. The two bulls later started playfighting as they walked to join some of their friends who had already resumed browsing in the bush. Some more wild bulls arrived to play and cool off in the main mud bath. A group of African Wild Dogs also visited the mud bath for a drink and a quick dip to cool their hot tummies.
The orphans concentrated on browsing for the rest of the afternoon, to ensure they had enough to eat before returning home for the night. Upon their return the Keepers made sure to distribute some supplement food to the orphans as well as feeding them their usual bedtime milk bottle, including branches and dairy cubes. We are happy to note that Kithaka is doing better and slowly improving, with the swelling on his leg reducing.
Some African Wild Dogs visited the compound this morning for a drink on their way out to hunt but the Ithumba dependent orphans weren’t afraid of them. They continued feeding on lucerne and didn’t seem bothered at all.
The dependent orphans met with some ex-orphans and wild elephants at the lucerne feeding area. Ithumbah and her baby Iman were among them. They interacted while feeding on lucerne until it was time for the dependent orphans to begin their day of browsing out in the bush. Esampu stayed behind as she was captivated by Iman and Noah, Ithumbah and Nasalot’s babies, and was enjoying looking after them. Esampu walked with them for a bit towards the bush, but the babies came back running towards their mums. Iman went straight to her mum and spread her ears in excitement.
Out in the bush all the orphans were busy searching for something to eat. There was quite a wind blowing so when they made their way to the mud bath for their noon milk feed, none of the orphans opted to swim and there were no wild elephants present there either. The orphans had their bottles and a drink of water before going straight back to browsing. Mapia started playfighting with Rapa while Pare engaged Esampu, and later they followed their friends to the bush.
As the day progressed it warmed up somewhat, so the orphans opted to visit the small roadside mud bath to cool off. When he came out Sapalan opted for a dust bath to dry off. Nabulu was struggling to get out as the edges were very slippery, and she had to find a different place to exit. Mukkoka led the herd back home in the evening for their milk bottles.
Back in the stockades Kithaka is still improving slowly but surely and is positively responding to treatment which is wonderful.
Some wild bulls and ex -orphans were eagerly awaiting the babies to come out of their night stockades this morning. They know the Keepers won’t distribute the delicious lucerne supplement until the young orphans are out! As soon as the dependent orphans walked down to the feeding area the Keepers opened the lucerne store and started throwing the bales out for all the elephants. There weren’t too many ex-orphans though so there wasn’t too much competition and all the elephants really enjoyed.
Out in the bush all the orphans set about browsing fervently. Kuishi was busy breaking some tree branches and feeding on them, with some of the younger orphans like Naboishu and Larro watching and copying.
When the orphans went to the mud bath later in the morning, they found a quiet venue as no ex-orphans were there. They had their milk feed and walked to the mud wallow to both cool down and play in the water. Ambo and Musiara were the most playful today and they enjoyed wrestling while in the water as well. There were a few huge elephant bulls resting patiently under the tree near the water trough. One of the big bulls was resting his heavy trunk on his tusks, a sign of ultimate relaxation.
It was a very hot afternoon, and everyone was concentrating on finding enough to eat. Mapia and Ambo browsed together in the bush. Later the babies started walking back home in the evening for their milk bottles and to go to sleep for the night.
It was another lovely morning today with the dependent orphans drinking their milk as usual around 6am and walking out to join the ex-orphans and wild elephants present for lucerne. There wasn’t much commotion however as there weren’t many other elephants around this morning. Pare, Kuishi and Esampu started playing after they had their fill of lucerne, before following Larro out to browse.
Just after the dependent orphans left, twenty-year-old Wendi and her herd arrived with a tiny baby at their feet. We couldn’t have anticipated that today would be the day that Wendi would arrive with yet another wild born baby! We did know she was pregnant but thought she might not be due for some time yet! Wendi’s herd arrived slowly and started looking for something to feed on. We started serving them with lucerne immediately after they arrived and confirmed that indeed it was Wendi’s baby. We decided to name her Wimbi. Now Wendi has three children Wiva, Wema and Wimbi. Wendi is a bit of a troublemaker. Yesterday, we had been wondering where she got to — and it was clear she had been busy having her baby! The baby looks healthy and strong, but it was interesting to see that Wema, Wendi’s second born is still breastfeeding too, even after the birth of Wimbi. The two are competing over the right to nurse, with Wema even trying to push Wimbi away. We are happy to see that Wiva, the oldest, is taking very good care of the situation, even pushing Wema away for the newborn baby to get space to breastfeed! We are so delighted to welcome our 52nd wild born elephant baby.
While the orphans were at the mud bath a group of wild bulls came to drink water. They waited patiently for the orphans to have their fill of water before moving in to have their share. The orphans decided not to wallow today and started to walk back out to the bush to continue eating. Kauro and Mundusi chose to browse together. Pare and Rapa took a break from feeding and started playfighting. Later the babies slowly started walking back home in the evening for their milk bottles.
In the stockade compound today, we had some wild elephant bulls visiting to drink water, and a few ex-orphans. Wendi was among them with her new baby. They were lucky today as we fed them a lot of lucerne supplemental food due to Wendi being there with her newborn.
There were only a few ex-orphans present at the compound this morning including Nasalot, Lualeni and Ithumbah and their babies Nusu, Noah, Lexi, and Iman. As well as the ex-orphans there was only one other wild female with her baby, and because there weren’t many older elephants around it was a relatively quiet morning for the orphans today.
As usual once the orphans settled to browse out in the bush, most of them concentrated on feeding before walking to the mud bath for their milk feed. Dololo was the most playful baby in the mud bath today! He was there with other bulls like Musiara, Sattao, Mukkoka and Naboishu and they all enjoyed wallowing and wrestling with one another while buoyant in the water. There was a small group of wild bulls who were resting under the shade of the trees as they waited for the dependent orphans to have their fill of fresh water from the water trough.
Later in the afternoon the juniors met with some ex-orphans while they were browsing - Lualeni and Loijuk and their babies met with the dependent orphans and enjoyed socializing with them for a bit, until it was time for the juniors to head back to the stockade compound for the night.
A big group of ex-orphans including Wendi and her new baby Wimbi visited us at the compound during the day. They arrived late in the evening as well and we gave them some supplemental lucerne grass to feed on due to this ongoing drought.
It was a beautiful morning today as the milk dependent orphans had their first milk bottle of the day before their stockade gates were opened and they walked down to the lucerne feeding area. They were lucky again today as we only had a few other ex-orphans present and two wild elephants. The orphans really enjoyed the morning breakfast feed before heading out to the bush to begin their day of browsing. Once they settled to browse they all looked happy and active. Ambo and Musiara enjoyed a peaceful pushing game. Dololo came over to join them and the three of them started browsing together. Kauro and Sattao were also busy playing close to Mundusi and Mapia who were playing separately. Malkia was browsing together with Larro and every now and then she stopped to pat the younger elephant with her trunk. Later, Larro led the Ithumba dependent herd to the mud bath for their milk bottles and to cool off in the water.
It was another hot day and all the orphans really enjoyed playing in the mud bath, some of them rather energetically. Larro stood confidently between two wild bulls in the mud bath as they all enjoyed the refreshing water together. The Ithumba mud bath is the only place for many miles around where a fully grown elephant has the space and enough water to submerge their body and properly cool off. When she came out Malkia started digging at the ground with her tusks, tossing up loose turf and generally playing.
In the afternoon the orphans concentrated on browsing again. Some of them busied themselves digging down for roots while others reached high into branches with their trunks for fresh leaves above, that other animals could not reach.
Wendi and her three babies visited the stockade compound during the day again today. We gave them lucerne before they wandered off into the bush again.
It was another quiet morning with a few ex-orphans and only two wild bulls present at the stockade compound. Mutara’s herd were there with her baby Mambo. They all shared lucerne and interacted together. Mambo’s nannies, the other females in Mutara’s herd like Suguta, were being very protective of him and hiding him between their legs. Mambo is a very well looked after baby elephant with so many females doting on him!
Mapia led the orphans to the mud bath later in the morning, where they had their noon milk feed before going over to the waterhole to swim, as it was another very hot day. All the orphans really enjoyed wallowing because there were no other wild elephants or ex-orphans around to share the space with. Musiara and Mapia started playing and at one point Musiara tried to climb on Mapia’s back to show that he is becoming a big bull. Mapia then went up to his old friend Jotto and started patting him with his trunk. Musiara wasn’t done playing and demonstrating his strength however, and he walked over to Pare to start a play fight with him as well. The orphans had some water from the water trough and just as they were leaving, a big wild elephant bull arrived, and he too enjoyed the mud bath to himself.
The orphans concentrated on feeding for the rest of the afternoon as they know how dire and dry it is. Jotto stretched his trunk as high as he could into the branches above to reach some nice leaves. The orphans went to cool off in the little water pool near the Ithumba Camp where they could splash water behind their ears, before Malima led the herd back to the compound for the night.
Wendi visited the compound again today and we provided them with some lucerne. Her second born Wema is still trying to breastfeed from her mum despite Wimbi having been born, but slowly she is coming to terms that the new baby is the one most in need of mother’s milk, with some slight encouragement from the oldest Wiva too!
The ex-orphans were visibly excited to see the dependent orphans coming out of their stockades this morning after their milk feed, as they knew that it would soon be lucerne feeding time! Wendi and her new baby Wimbi were among the ex-orphans. Wimbi was nursing and at times Wema was also trying to breastfeed; sometimes they were both nursing at the same time, so it is good that Wendi is getting the extra supplemental food. When they were done the dependent orphans walked off to begin their day of browsing, leaving the ex-orphans behind.
Ndiwa and Dololo decided to browse together this morning while Esampu concentrated on stripping some bark off a tree branch to eat.
Later in the morning they walked to the mud bath to have their milk feed, after which some of the orphans decided to wallow. Musiara was the most playful today, together with Mteto. A wild bull with one tusk arrived and when he got into the mud bath as well, most of the orphans decided to come out and give him his space. Mteto came out of the water and started drying off by rolling in the loose soil. Mundusi came over next to Mteto and started playing and climbing on her. Ex-orphan Challa showed up, walking slowly and majestically towards the water trough for a drink where he met with some wild bulls. Later some of the dependent orphans joined the wild bulls for a drink as well, which they didn’t mind and they interacted freely around the water trough, each elephant being able to quench their thirst.
It was very hot in the afternoon and Maramoja, Sana Sana, Ndiwa and others decided to stand and relax in the shade for a while. As they made their way slowly back towards the stockades, Rapa decided to deviate to the small roadside mud bath where he started playing to cool off.
In the compound today we had a large group of ex-orphans decide to visit us with Wendi and her babies among them. At one point Wendi’s baby Wimbi fell in the water trough but we managed to get her out okay. She walked off with Wendi into the bush.
Ithumbah, Iman, Naserian and Kinna with their babies Njema, Kama and Kaia were waiting outside the Ithumba compound this morning. Ithumbah’s baby Iman was busy posing for photographs that the Keeper was taking this morning, before running back to her mother. When they were done with their usual morning routine, the orphans walked out with their Keepers to begin their day in the bush.
Naboishu busied himself with browsing and didn’t want to play with any of the others who invited him to do so, like Musiara and Dololo. Sattao took a break and started rolling and playing in a sandy area, before waking up to play with Rapa. Dololo started playing with Mukkoka, having been turned down by Naboishu, until it was time for the next milk feed.
A big group of wild bulls and ex-orphans were present at the mud bath when the orphans made their way there just before noon. The dependent orphans had their milk, and some decided to walk to the mud bath to cool off. They didn’t stay long though and had some water from the water trough before walking out to continue with their afternoon of browsing. Only Ambo and Rapa were the most playful in the water and decided to stay longer than anyone else.
Kamok, Malima, Malkia, Nabulu and Sana Sana led the browsing session in the afternoon. Later they decided all the orphans needed to cool off in the heat of the day, so they led the herd to the small waterhole where they all splashed themselves vigorously and enjoyed cooling off before making their way back to the stockades for the night. Kithaka is still at the Ithumba compound and is improving day by day and we are happy with his progress.
It was a very busy morning today as the compound was full of ex-orphans and wild elephants who had came to drink water and some had come to share lucerne as well. Wendi and her three girls Wiva, Wema and Wimbi were among them, along with Ithumbah and Iman. Wendi is still allowing Wema to breastfeed sometimes, as well as her newborn Wimbi.
Out in the bush all the orphans were concentrating on browsing. It was funny at one point to see Sapalan pulling the unusual maneuver of even lying down to reach some green vegetation. He stayed there for some time until he was satisfied, at which point he got up and started sharing some roots with Malkia. Some African Wild Dogs passed by on their hunting mission, but they ignored the orphans, and vice versa, and carried on their way. Enkikwe and Mteto browsed together and later the orphans made their way to the mud bath for their midday milk bottles.
The orphans chose to swim after their milk feed and Jotto was the most playful in the water today. When they were done, they came out and went to the pile of loose soil, kept topped up by the Keepers, to dry off. Kauro was already there, dusting himself as he does not like mud bathing most of the time.
It was a very hot afternoon but luckily around Ithumba there is still vegetation to find, and the orphans are the lucky ones – they know when they return home, they will be given supplement branches and dairy cubes, so when they walk home in the evening they always speed up at the end, excited at the prospect of their milk bottles and dairy cubes awaiting them!
The dependent orphans interacted with the ex-orphans present as usual, like Wendi and Ithumbah with their babies, before walking out to the bush when they had their fill of lucerne. Oltaiyoni’s group including Roi, Olsekki, Tusuja, Naseku and Galla still show up on a near daily basis to share lucerne with the dependent orphans too, but they choose to sleep out at night nowadays.
Out in the bush some of the orphans were peeling tree bark from trees, while others were digging up roots for food using their front feet to slash and their trunks to pull. This is a very hard time for all wildlife but luckily our orphans will be okay. When they arrived at the mud bath the orphans only found a few wild bulls there enjoying a drink. Only a few of them wanted to wallow in the main mud bath; Rapa, Jotto and Musiara were the most playful today as they splashed and rolled around in the deepest part of the water.
The orphans had a peaceful afternoon of browsing but they felt very hot, so decided to pass by the waterhole along the road before heading home in the evening. A number of them stayed there to wallow for a little while longer, like Ambo, Jotto, Mundusi, Esampu and Malkia. These days Karisa doesn’t stay with the dependent herd during the day and prefers to hang with Oltaiyoni’s group, but towards this time in the afternoon he leaves them to make his way back to the stockades to feed on the supplements of lucerne pellets and dairy cubes before being locked in for the night with the other dependent orphans. Kithaka is still on medication and thankfully seems to be improving every day.
Enkikwe walked right up in amongst some wild elephants as they stood drinking from the water trough this morning, which they didn’t seem to mind and let the young elephant share water with them. As usual these days Ithumbah and Wendi with their babies were among the ex-orphans present, who shared lucerne with the dependent orphans, as well as some wild elephants too! Everyone is appreciating this extra bit of help at the moment.
The orphans continued their method of browsing these days which includes stripping bark and digging up nutritious roots for sustenance – very normal dry weather habits for elephants. Mteto used her trunk to stretch up high into branches as well. Mukkoka decided to take a break from browsing to play with Naboishu, and Jotto decided to do the same with Kauro. Kauro is very playful these days and later he switched to playing with Ambo. It’s as if he is trying to test his strength against different elephants, as he changed again to playing with Esampu, and finally to Mundusi. Some African Wild Dogs who have a den nearby passed by the orphans, who didn’t pay them any attention and continued browsing. Just before going for their midday milk feed, Pare decided to start a game with Musiara and settled the wrestling match by climbing on Musiara’s back to show him who was boss.
Only Lenana and her baby Lapa were at the mud bath when the orphans arrived. The orphans found them busy playing in the shallows of the water and enjoying cooling off. Larro, Malkia, Esampu and Rapa enjoyed the mud bath as well.
It was a hot afternoon and many of the orphans sought shade for a while. They resumed browsing a bit later but once again made sure to pass by the small waterhole on their way back to the stockades. Maramoja, Mukkoka, Mundusi, Ambo and Kamok splashed about excitedly, before following their friends. Karisa is still arriving back at the stockade compound before any others as he believes he might get extra supplements that way!
The ex-orphans in Wendi and Ithumbah’s herd arrived this morning just on time, just after the dependent orphans had finished up with their milk bottles. Wiva was seen taking extra care of her new sister Wimbi, while their naughty mother was busy antagonizing some of the other elephants in the compound this morning. The ex-orphans seemed hungry, which we deduced by the speed at which they were eating the lucerne supplement. The dependent orphans decided not to hang around very long as there was quite a lot of commotion with so many elephants around, so they began their day early and walked out to the bush to browse.
There was a group of wild elephant bulls wallowing when the orphans arrived their for their midday feed. They had their milk and a few of the orphans like Larro, Rapa, Maramoja, Malkia, Musiara, Ambo and Mapia walked over to the waterhole to swim and play. Musiara loves being protected and looked after by Maramoja and Malkia who escorted him to the water and watched over him while he swam. The orphans then went for a drink from the water trough and interacted with a few of the wild bulls there too, before walking back out to the bush.
All the orphans focused on browsing this afternoon. Ambo and Kamok later walked to the waterhole along the road to cool down before heading back to the compound for the night. Pare and Mundusi followed them and started playing there too, and eventually all the other dependent orphans decided to join in. They all came out and had a dust bath to dry off before walking back to the Ithumba compound.
It was a busy morning as we had a large group of wild elephants as well as ex-orphans from Wendi and Ithumbah’s herd at the stockade compound this morning, waiting to join in with the lucerne feed. Kamok was pretending to be on her best behaviour towards Iman while her mother Ithumba was around, but as soon as Ithumbah walked ahead Kamok back-kicked Iman, before walking off herself. We don’t know why Kamok is so unfriendly to the other babies, especially when she is so sweet with Ambo. Nasalot’s baby Noah is becoming very popular in the area because he is so playful and friendly. He was playing with Iman and later went on to play with a wild baby. He was fooling about all over the place, eventually lying down to get his mother’s attention. Mambo was also present with his mother Mutara and her herd, and playing with Noah for a while as well.
The orphans really enjoyed browsing this morning as it wasn’t very hot. We watched Pare cleverly climb on a rock in order to reach some green leaves high up in a tree.
While the orphans were at the mud bath later in the morning, some wild bulls arrived but waited their turn to have a fresh drink of water. Among them was a very big bull who looked very tired and was resting his head on the tree as he waited for water. As it was still cloudy the orphans had their bottles and some water and then decided to head straight back out to browse. Dololo was the last one and at the back of the herd, as he decided to stretch and scratch against the tree for a bit after his milk feed.
Ndiwa flapped her ears to keep cool while she browsed this afternoon. Most of the orphans concentrated on browsing and weren’t very playful. Mukkoka, Malima, Nabulu and Malkia decided to lead the herd towards the small roadside mud bath so that those who did want to splash some water behind their ears could do so.
Wendi, Mutara, Nasalot and Lenana with their babies visited the stockades in the evening as well. They were given some lucerne which they enjoyed before walking off into the bush later once it got dark. Kithaka is still on medication and he is still improving slowly but surely, and we certainly aren’t rushing him. He must have had a very bad fall, perhaps a couple of times, to cause so much damage and swelling to his leg, but we are happy to see him improving.
Ten wild bulls were present this morning, enjoying drinking water that is always available at the stockade water troughs all the time in these dry conditions. We always make sure the toughs are filled from our borehole nearby. Mutara and her herd, Nasalot and her small family, as well as Olare, Galla, Siangiki, Oltaiyoni and Olsekki from what we called the ‘late-night gang’ also joined the dependent orphans for lucerne this morning. A spotted hyena late heading back to its den this morning passed by close to the water trough, drawing the attention of the wild bulls drinking there. One of the bulls spread its ears wide open and trumpeted, scaring the hyena and forcing it into a trot to disappear faster! Fourteen African Wild Dogs also showed up for water and quickly disappeared the same way they had come. Malkia and Maramoja socialized with baby Mambo as they happily enjoyed learning how to take of little ones, until it was time for them to head out to the bush.
Later in the morning, Kamok and Enkikwe had an argument for some reason, we were not sure what it was about. The argument resulted in a pushing game that lasted for quite sometime before Kamok decided to withdraw. Musiara, Dololo, Ambo and Larro concentrated on breaking the top soft branches of trees as they tried to make sure they filled their tummies today. The drought continued to bite, and we hope that the rains might come sooner rather than later.
None of the orphans wanted to wallow after their midday milk feed as it was suddenly quite cloudy. Sana Sana had a brief and friendly pushing game with Jotto on their way back out to browse. Later, Jotto played with Mapia before winding down his pushing games of the day with the younger Sattao. In the afternoon, the clouds cleared giving way to sunshine. The heat became too much for the orphans and this prompted them to seek out some shade to relax under for a while. Kamok led the herd to cool off in the roadside mud bath on their way back to the compound for the night.
Nasalot, Nusu, Noah, Sunyei, Siku, Saba, Makena, Mutara, Mambo, Turkwel, Sities, Suguta, Kainuk, Kanjoro, Taita and several wild bulls joined the orphans this morning. The vocal Naboishu was the first one to leave his stockade whereupon he met with Nusu, who was trying to block his way from the exit. Naboishu didn't want trouble with anyone, especially a baby with his mother in the vicinity, so he walked past Nusu very quickly, keeping a safe distance. Maramoja, Esampu and Mteto appeared to be competing over who was best suited to look after little Mambo. When it was time to leave, both Mteto and Esampu refused to go with their dependent friends and instead stuck with Mutara’s group, acting as young nannies. Mteto eventually decided to leave and follow her friends, but Esampu remained behind and enjoyed spending time with Mambo without any other competition. Mutara and her group headed east into the bush, taking Esampu with them.
Out in the bush, Jotto engaged Pare in a pushing game while Dololo played with Ambo. The orphans enjoyed feeding on trees that have been felled by bigger elephants, incidentally providing food for the orphans who are not strong enough to do so, and other species too. The drought has forced elephants to knock down some bigger trees so they can get enough food as we all await the rains.
At mud bath time, only Mapia, Rapa, Enkikwe, Pare, Dololo, Malkia, Sana Sana and Malima wanted to swim in the mud bath. Mapia and Rapa had an argument soon after leaving the mud bath which resulted in a fight. When the going got tough for Mapia, he turned around and showed Rapa his back as a sign of respect and surrender. In the afternoon, Kamok teamed up with her Ambo and Nabulu to browse, as Sapalan and Enkikwe browsed a short distance away from the others. It was very hot and the orphans decided to pass by the road side mud bath to cool off before heading back to the stockades for the night. Esampu stayed out with Mutara’s herd and didn’t return this evening.
Esampu, who had spent the night outside with Mutara’s herd, arrived back at the stockades early before dawn in the company of Nasalot, Nusu and Noah. They relaxed outside waiting for daybreak and for the dependent orphans to be let out so that they could share lucerne with them. After the orphans were let out, naughty Nusu tried to block them at the exit point. Rapa and Mundusi were annoyed by this small boys’ actions and ganged up to drive him away. Nusu couldn't match the strength of the two boys and decided to surrender and ran to his mother Nasalot.
When the orphans were done with their supplemental food, Sana Sana led the way out. Jotto and Malkia had a private meeting which soon turned into a pushing game. Kauro passed by and intervened, separating the two from fighting. Rapa engaged Sapalan in a strength testing exercise that ended in a draw. Later, Malkia settled to browse with Maramoja, and we wondered if they were scheming on how to best punish Jotto. Jotto saw the two girls together and seemed to think the two girls were discussing on how to gang up against him as well, and he walked off far away, concentrating on reaching leaves high in the trees to get enough strength to defend himself in case the two girls attempted to ambush him! Karisa teamed up with ex-orphan Kibo and walked off into the bush. Ndiwa settled to browse with Larro as Kuishi took care of Naboishu.
It was very hot when the orphans were at the mud bath and all of them decided to get into the water to wallow. Challa joined the orphans briefly, before disappearing again. In the afternoon, the orphans settled to browse west of Ithumba Hill and later they decided to pass by the roadside mud bath to cool off before making their way home for the night.
Ex-orphans Chyulu, Cheka, Orwa, Meibai, Nasalot, Noah, Nusu, Lualeni, Lulu, Lexi, Ithumbah, Iman, Namalok and several wild elephants with their babies showed up this morning for the lucerne breakfast. Mapia engaged the playful Noah in a pushing game as Naboishu teamed up with Orwa from some water at the water trough. After having their fill of lucerne, Larro led the dependent orphans out to the bush.
The orphans traversed the dry browsing field in an effort to find the best vegetation to feed on. Some of the bulls were in a playful mood, despite the fact that it is so dry at the moment. Kauro played with Mundusi while Jotto played with Mapia. Sattao engaged Musiara in a pushing game while Rapa invited Pare to play. Pare declined Rapa's request however as he wanted to concentrate on eating. Ambo, Dololo, Malima and Nabulu seemed very happy when they came across a tree that had been knocked down by a wild elephant the previous night. The four orphans feasted on the branches which were now easily accessible to them on the ground, and only left when they felt that they had taken enough from the fallen tree.
Later in the morning Sattao led the first group to the milk feeding area while Jotto led the second. After the babies had their eleven o'clock milk feed, Dololo led the orphans for a mud bath. Musiara was the last one to leave the water after enjoying wallowing to the maximum. Mapia, Kuishi, Ambo, Enkikwe, Malkia, Mukkoka and Ndiwa settled for a soil dusting exercise soon after leaving the mud bath.
In the afternoon, Mundusi engaged Mapia to a pushing game but it was short-lived as Mundusi climbed on Mapia’s back. Naboishu teamed up with Ndiwa and Kuishi and the young boy copied how the two girls were feeding as he knows that they are older and more experienced. In the evening, the orphans passed by the smaller roadside mud bath to cool off before heading back to the stockade for the night.
A wild herd consisting of a mother, four children and a grandchild appeared early before dawn at the compound. The reason for arriving early was simply because the herd didn’t want to miss out on the morning lucerne breakfast which all the elephants in the area have come to learn about. Kanjoro, Garzi, Turkwel and Orwa were all present as well. It's not clear how or when Turkwel became separated from her group as she is usually part of Mutara’s herd. Early before dawn we heard a lion roaring in the distance and perhaps this was the reason Turkwel decided to return to the compound with other friends heading that way. The attack she suffered some years ago, the reason she lost her tail, might conjure bad memories whenever she detects even the slightest hint of lions in the area.
After lucerne, Nabulu settled to drink water with Kanjoro. As they made their way out to the bush, Mundusi engaged Dololo in a pushing game that was cut short by Kamok who happened to be passing close by. She separated the two boys by pushing them away. Kuishi teamed up with Naboishu to browse, while Dololo, Ambo and Enkikwe settled to browse together.
The temperature was moderate and at mud bath time only Pare and Musiara decided to wallow in the mud bath. The rest of the group left immediately after finishing their milk. They joined several bulls who were drinking from the water trough before heading to the slopes of Ithumba Hill where they settled to browse for the rest of the day.
Nasalot, Nusu and Noah were the first to arrive at the stockade compound early in the morning. After the orphans had their six o'clock milk feed, Naboishu led the way out. Nusu, who is always at loggerheads with some of the orphans, unlike his friendly brother Noah, had a disagreement with both Enkikwe, Mundusi and later Rapa too! As soon as the orphans had enough lucerne, Kauro led the way out for the day.
Musiara, Pare, Jotto and Malima had a break from browsing to enjoy a game of rolling on the ground. Maramoja, who happens to be Musiara's friend, came and stood close to Musiara to watch over him and make sure that he was okay. She only left when she was satisfied that all was well with Musiara. After having enough of playing, Musiara engaged Pare in a pushing game. When the going got tough for Musiara, he picked up a heavy stick from the ground and tried to hit Pare with it. Pare grabbed it quickly and threw it aside. Musiara was left with no option other than to walk away and look for Maramoja! Mundusi engaged Enkikwe in a strength testing exercise that lasted for quite some time, but in the end they both got tired and just parted ways without there being any real clear winner.
At mud bath time, the orphans were joined by several wild bulls who they enjoyed wallowing with briefly, before the bulls walked off into the bush. After finishing at the mud bath, the orphans settled to browse in the Imenti area. Kauro, Sapalan and Mundusi left their friends and returned early to the stockades.
Soon after leaving the stockade compound, Mukkoka decided to keep himself busy by playing on the ground as he waited for lucerne pellets. Mteto came over and picked Mukkoka up and walked him over to the lucerne feeding area. Shortly later, the orphans were joined by some ex-orphans. Pare had a disagreement with Kinna’s baby Kama which escalated into a fight. Rapa, Mundusi and Sapalan decided to help one of their own by ganging up against Kama. Kama had no option other than to quit and run away, while Mteto led the Ithumba dependent orphans out of the compound and into the Park.
Pare and Musiara took a break from feeding to have a game of rolling on the ground. Sapalan came across an acacia tree that wild elephants had already started to feast on, and he was delighted to so easily be able to pull the bark off left behind.
At mud bath time it was cloudy and none of the orphans dared to step into the mud bathing water. After finishing their noon milk feed, the orphans joined several wild bulls drinking water before heading back to the browsing field. The afternoon was quiet as the orphans concentrated mostly on browsing. In the evening, Sattao led the first group home while Esampu led the second one.
It was a cloudy morning when the orphans left the stockade and settled for lucerne. The vocal Naboishu led the way out, followed by Mukkoka. Maramoja walked over to Musiara's night stockade and collected him so that they could walk out together. The orphans enjoyed lucerne without any disturbance from the ex-orphans as none of them showed up this morning; only five wild bulls were present at the water trough. Three of the wild bulls joined the orphans briefly for
Later in the morning, Mukkoka engaged Sattao in a pushing game while Dololo played with Sapalan. At mud bath time, the cloudy sky opened and finally gave way to a small shower that was enough to settle the dust. Kamok, Malkia, Rapa, Mukkoka, Larro, Pare, Jotto, Malima, Mapia and Nabulu all lay down to play with the damp soil. Later, Sana Sana led the way back out to browse, followed by Naboishu, Kuishi and Esampu.
In the afternoon the clouds cleared giving way to sunshine again. Musiara and Pare paused from feeding to enjoy a pushing game. Maramoja teamed up with Mukkoka to browse while Kamok settled to browse with Ambo. When it was time to return home, Jotto led the first group back to the stockades.
It was a cloudy morning today which gave us hope that we might receive more desperately needed showers soon. The Ithumba dependent orphans settled for lucerne soon after leaving the stockades as usual. The cloudy morning appeared to have delayed wild elephants from coming to drink water. Shortly later, ex-orphans Loijuk, Lili, Lulu, Kilabasi, Kofi, Makireti and two wild elephants emerged from the east. Mteto and Maramoja ran to meet and welcome them with their trunks in the air for the morning lucerne breakfast. Upon meeting them, Maramoja and Mteto exchanged morning greetings with the wild born babies Lili, Lulu and Kofi before escorting them up to the lucerne feeding area. Sapalan shared lucerne with Pare as Loijuk shared it with her daughter Lili and a wild bull. Nabulu moved closer to Lulu and perhaps questioned her on the whereabouts of her mother Lualeni. Lulu ignored Nabulu and carried on feeding on lucerne. Nabulu didn’t like being ignored and pushed Lulu before walking off. Malkia came over and comforted Lulu as she saw what Nabulu had done.
When they were ready, the orphans, led by Larro, headed south of the stockades and ended up settling in the Kone area. It was a quiet morning as the orphans browsed calmly without any major distractions.
At mud bath time the weather was cloudy but warm. Pare, Rapa, Malkia, Mundusi, Esampu, Dololo, Musiara, Enkiwe and Ambo all decided to wallow while the others just had a dust bath and some fresh water. The afternoon remained quiet, and the orphans concentrated on browsing hoping the rain would show up again sooner rather than later.
The morning began as usual with the ex-orphans and some wild bulls joining the orphans for the lucerne feeding and other wild bulls drinking water at the stockade water troughs. Shortly before seven o'clock in the morning, we suddenly felt slight tension around the water trough as some of the bulls retreated suddenly, giving us the full view of a newborn baby on the ground. We were surprised to find that Melia had given birth! Melia herself was also metres away after getting a fright when the baby dropped to the ground. Kitirua, Olare, Kinna, Wiva, Loijuk and the wild mother walked down to see the new baby. Melia just stood there not really knowing what to do at first, but a few minutes later, Loijuk offered to assist Melia in getting the baby up on its feet. Slowly but surely, Loijuk managed to get the baby up and guided it to its mother. She stayed for a while to make sure that the baby was stable, the baby wobbled as it walked, then Loijuk left after making sure that she had played her part well.
From there, Olare, Kitirua and Sities took over from there and stayed with Melia to make sure that the baby was safe. Melia chose to stay close to the compound as she tried to come to terms with becoming a mother. In her teenage years, Melia never played nanny to any baby and she was never vert interested in learning how to nurture youngsters or on becoming a mother. We will see how she will do as a mother, but we are sure she will be okay, and she is lucky that she will always be surrounded by competent and experienced nannies who are always willing to help – such is the way of elephants! Nannies like Olare, Sities, Kalama, Kitirua and even our small orphans Malkia, Mteto, Maramoja and Esampu are always delighted to play nanny to youngsters. We decided to call Melia’s little boy Milo.
The orphans settled to browse in the Kone area. Ndiwa teamed up with Mukkoka and Dololo to browse while Sapalan settled to browse with Enkikwe. When the orphans made their way to the mud bath it was very hot so all the orphans wanted to wallow in the waterhole. Soon three wild bulls showed up however and this prompted the orphans to finish wallowing and give way to their seniors and make space for them.
In the afternoon, Rapa engaged Mapia in a pushing game while Jotto settled to play with Pare. Shortly before evening, Sapalan, Enkikwe and Karisa left their friends and Keepers, returning to stockades early before the usual time to be first to the supplements!
Malkia, Mteto, Maramoja and Esampu had the first opportunity amongst the dependent orphans to interact with baby Milo. Melia gave them the opportunity as she was busy feeding on the lucerne supplements. Olare, who has taken over as the main nanny, had no problem with the young girls spending time with Milo, much to their delight. Maramoja felt happy when Milo attempted to nurse from her. She put her leg forward, just like mothers do to lower themselves for babies to feed. The four girls will make excellent mothers in the future since they are learning so fast about taking care of young babies! Milo walked towards Rapa, unaware of Rapa’s nature, and Rapa threatened to knock him down. Maramoja and Malkia were quick to act and whisked Milo away before Rapa could make his threats real. Naboishu and Kuishi walked down to the water trough to try and get some water. Several bulls had occupied the water troughs however and gave the two menacing looks. Kuishi advised Naboishu that if they wanted to stay out of trouble, then they should not squeeze themselves in between the bulls and so they decided to continue out to the bush instead.
Out in the bush, Jotto engaged Sapalan in a pushing game as the rest of the group settled into a serious browsing session. At mud bath time, the temperature was moderate and only Pare participated fully in wallowing. Malkia got in but only wet her feet. The rest of the group joined several wild bulls who were drinking water at the trough.
In the afternoon the orphans settled to browse west of Ithumba Hill. Kamok teamed up with Ambo and Esampu to browse. Mteto and Sapalan came across an acacia tree that had been stripped of its bark and continued to pull at the leftover pieces of hanging bark as they enjoyed its delicacy.
Kilabasi, Kofi, Makireti, Lualeni, Siku, Lulu, Melia, Milo and Olare arrived early on time to join the orphans to feed on lucerne. Maramoja and Malkia greeted Milo and stuck with him until the orphans were ready to leave for browsing. Ndiwa had a good time with Kofi and even tried to lie down for Kofi to play on her. Kofi wasn’t interested however and walked off. Mteto came over and used Ndiwa as a scratching post for her itchy belly.
After the orphans had enough lucerne, Nabulu led the way out. Pare, Musiara, Naboishu, Ndiwa, Kamok and Ambo took a break from feeding to have a game of rolling on the ground. Mapia engaged Jotto in a pushing game that ended in a draw. Just as Pare was done playing on the ground, Sattao passed by and bumped into him by accident. This annoyed Pare and he quickly grabbed Sattao by the tail ready to bite it. Sattao managed to quickly disengage himself to avoid losing hairs on his tail to Pare! Sattao then turned to face Pare like a gentleman and engage in a normal pushing game to resolve their differences. The pushing game lasted for quite a while before Rapa passed by and intervened, pushing the two boys out of his way.
It was cloudy as the orphans made their way to the mud bath, and after having their bottles they decided to skip the wallowing exercise. The orphans joined several wild bulls to drink water then returned to browsing. The afternoon was quiet with high expectations of receiving some rain! This sadly didn’t happen however and a couple of hours later the clouds were carried away by a heavy blowing wind, so continue to look forward to more rain.