Our new babies — and firm best friends — Tytan and Notty are improving day by day. The black rhino, who was rescued last month after his mother fell off a cliff, and the little zebra, who also lost her mother under similar tragic circumstances, have already formed a strong bond and do everything together.
Every morning, they stroll slowly out to the forest with their Keepers, managing to walk in step despite one animal having short, thick legs and the other long, thin ones. They drink their bottles side by side, browse quietly in the forest as a duo, and walk back to the stockades at lunchtime.
As the tiniest elephant in our Nursery herd, Kipekee is universally adored and extremely spoiled. We wonder if all the attention is going to her head! On the first morning of the month, Mzinga and Talek made a beeline down to Kipekee's door and waited outside. To our surprise, the blue-blanket-clad baby sidestepped the welcoming trunks extended in her direction and headed past her big sisters up the path to see Muridjo. They had no choice but to about-turn and follow her!
There seems to be an unspoken agreement about a fair nanny rotation for Kipekee duty. Mzinga, Talek, Nyambeni, Kamili, and Muridjo all take their turns. However, Kamili sometimes pulls rank and chases away the other nannies, so she can have Kipekee all to herself. Kamili was never a particularly nurturing elephant, so it’s lovely to see this new side to her.
Meanwhile, we witnessed big steps for Wamata, our former Nursery baby! Rather than pushing Arthi and Kipekee, who have ousted her from her role of adored baby, Wamata was almost looking after them one day. She trunk touched each in turn affectionately while they browsed in the forest. Could she be turning over a new leaf and transforming herself into a nanny?
Wamata may be young, but she is more than capable of looking after herself. One morning, Pardamat was misbehaving at the mud bath. After emptying his own two bottles, he tried to snatch a bottle from Wamata. Before we could intervene, the plucky little girl had dealt with the situation. Despite being over a year younger, she shoved him hard, whereupon Pardamat turned tail and sheepishly headed for the other side of the wallow.
Taroha is one of those remarkably mellow, nurturing bulls we refer to as ‘gentle uncles.' His character is similar to mini matriarch Kerrio's. He is the oldest bull at the Nursery, but he never bullies the others or provokes them. Sometimes he even turns his back on conflict and often he protects and cares for the younger ones.
One afternoon out in the field, Taroha did behave aggressively but only to defend two of the younger orphans. He was keeping Kipekee and Arthi company as, for once, the older girls were busy elsewhere. As the three browsed quietly together, from nowhere and for no reason, Pardamat charged over and pushed Arthi away. Taroha reacted immediately and disciplined the bull with a strong shove.
We did not realise that, despite being far away, Kerrio had seen what Pardamat had done to Arthi. She ran over to support Taroha — together they drove the naughty bull away and did not allow anyone near Arthi and Kipekee for the rest of the day. Kerrio may ignore minor misdemeanours, allowing the other nannies to take the lead, but when the issue is serious, she steps in and means business!
Talek is Taroha's counterpart, in female form. Over the past two years, she has grown into a strong but quiet girl who hates conflict. She does not push back when others push her, even if they are smaller than her. She does everything with great consideration, even mealtime — she slowly and carefully drinks every last drop of milk, then plods over to the soil mound for a dust bath.
Nyambeni is such an interesting character. She is caring and nurturing... but then, things change! In the afternoon at the mud bath one day, Nyambeni was being a 'kali mama' again. When little Wamata made the mistake of walking over innocently to browse next to Kipekee, she was rewarded with a shove for doing nothing wrong. We decided that it was time for Nyambeni to join fellow miscreants Latika, Kamili and Pardamat in the naughty corner!
Beautiful Kerrio is growing up. Our mini matriarch is becoming more independent, usually choosing to be with her herd but occasionally striking out on her own. One morning, when we whistled to the orphans, gathering them together so we could send them down to the mud bath for a milk feed, Kerrio did not respond. Rather than running for her milk, she continued to browse. We found her in a clearing on her own, browsing contentedly. Her behaviour shows that she is getting ready to graduate and embark on the next stage of her journey back to the wild.
Arthi, who was only rescued in August, is adjusting to Nursery life at his own pace. Our new boy is so sociable and friendly towards not only other elephants but also his Keepers. He often approaches a Keeper with his trunk held high in greeting. He does not push or play rough with anyone.
Arthi is also our new vocalist. On his way down the path to the mud wallow, he begins trumpeting for his milk, warning us that he is on his way and very hungry. After gulping his bottle, he likes to demand another, loudly. But one day was different. To our great surprise, Arthi walked quietly to the wallow, accepted a bottle, drank his milk and ambled on to browse on greens. We have become so used to his shouting that it was as if he was not there!
Just like us, elephants have distinct preferences and personalities. Some delight in massaging their faces and the undersides of their trunks against the dry ground, while others show little interest in such indulgences. Latika is decidedly among the enthusiasts. We often find her savoring an extended facial massage while the rest of the herd browses around her. Occasionally, little Olomunyak — a fellow self-care connoisseur —joins her in this ritual.
It has almost become a routine for Maxwell to wait by his gate in the early mornings. He knows that the orphaned elephants — particularly Mzinga — will come calling. Sometimes she visits on her own, sometimes she comes with Taroha or another friend. When the elephants touch the rhino with their trunks, Max stands still and enjoys the moment until they continue on her way.
Mzinga continues to be our rhino lover. Emerging from her stockade one morning, she made a beeline for Tytan’s room. She pushed and pulled his gate and rumbled while the rhino stood warily at the back of his stable. He was not sure what to make of this extremely friendly elephant! Hearing Tytan squeaking, Maxwell knew exactly what Mzinga was up to. He enjoys their morning meetings and was standing by his gate in expectation. When Tytan did not come forward to his gate, Mzinga abandoned her plan and headed over to the blind rhino's gate where she was joined by Olomunyak. The two elephants draped their trunks on the rhino for a few minutes.
Mzinga loves rhinos, and Olomunyak loves warthogs. Before heading out to the forest one morning, he enjoyed a wonderful play time with the warthog piglets who visit the stockades every day with their mothers. They are still so little that, if Olomunyak meant business, he could stack the game in his favour. But our playful boy was taking great care not to hurt the pigs. He chased them around the stockades with their mothers looking on.
On 21st October, a second rescue was flown up to the Nursery from Voi. The female calf was only rescued a few days ago and is still unused to her new human-elephant family. We put her in the stockade next to Daba, the orphan from Voi who arrived the previous day. That morning, Daba spent a short time outside his stockade. We tempted him out with a bottle of milk and he roamed around the area with seven Keepers watching over him. Once he had explored the area, we shepherded him into the row of four empty stockades so he could have more space.
The arrival of Tytan has created some waves with Max. It is going to take time for our Nursery ‘patriarch’ to come to terms with the presence of a new rhino. Max was very accepting of Raha and the two rhinos would occasionally stand on either side of his gate together, but she was a female. Tytan is male — and Max knows this. His habits have changed as he is keen to establish that he is the senior rhino at the Nursery.
Significantly, Max has shifted his midden to a new location. He is sending a signal to the new rhino — not only marking his territory with his dung, but also extending it. One day, when Max sensed that Tytan was walking up the path, he ran at the fence and pushed against it. The baby rhino increased his pace and jogged away to the forest. We call Max’s name to calm him down, and with time, we know he will get used to Tytan.