Our Voi 'hospital wing' continues to grow. Chapeyu, Samaa, and Serenget remain in their stockades while they recover from their injuries and regain their strength. They interact often with each other, stretching trunks in greeting and communicating with rumbles.
One night, the Keepers heard a sound in the middle of one night. They walked outside to find Mbegu at the stockade water trough with a wild baby. Come morning, Mbegu and her small friend had gone, presumably back to the baby’s family. She clearly wanted to let him in on a secret — a safe place to drink at her old home.
After being away for a long time, we were pleased when Lasayen turned up at the stockades. He was looking well but a bit thin. Ex-orphans Ndotto, Ngilai, Murit, and Mbegu warmly welcomed their old friend back into the group. Lasayen wandered out from the stockades in the midst of our herd and spent the morning browsing with them over the hill. He continued to visit throughout the month.
Our Voi 'new girls,' Sholumai, Mushuru, and Sileita, are no longer so new — they graduated from the Nursery five months ago! They have settled in well, but they remain just as inseparable as ever. One sunny morning, Sileita led best friends Mushuru and Sholumai to the summit of Msinga Hill, while the others remained at the foot. Another day, the little girl gang headed for the pile of lucerne as the rest of the herd lined up at the feeding trough.
Losoito operates on her own schedule, and no one else's! We often find her rushing to catch up with the herd, because she was lagging behind at the scratching rock or mud bath or dust pile or browsing field. Ironically, she also hates to be last. We were reminded of this one milk feed, when stout Losoito found herself at the back of the pack! She thundered down the hill, trumpeting along the way, in case anyone dared to drink her bottles of milk.
While Losoito takes her time, she does not appreciate when others are even a minute off-schedule. We have to be vigilant, because she often tries to sneak away early to follow the milk truck. One afternoon when her efforts were foiled, Losoito sprinted down in the first feeding group with Ashanti, Baraka, and Dabida. She trumpeted in protest as she ran, because the milk was five minutes late.
Now that Mbegu and co. have semi-graduated to the wild, Lemeki is the new matriarch of our orphan herd. She is an excellent leader and respected by all. Rokka is a fine deputy — she adeptly leads the herd from activity to activity. When Rokka gives the signal, the orphans follow her out to the browsing fields or the mud bath or back to the stockades.
But with that said, the Voi Kids love when their old matriarch, Mbegu, visits. On a wonderful morning, the dependent orphans enjoyed lucerne and range cubes with the visiting ex-orphans — Mbegu, Godoma, Tagwa, Tamiyoi, Murit, Ndotto, Ngilai and Lasayen. Taking advantage of the protective presence of Mbegu, Losoito, Mushuru, Sileita, Sholumai, Rokka, Ushindi, Ashanti, and Hildana lay down for a group dust bath. Hildana was behaving himself — for once! No one dares misbehave when Mbegu is around.
Chapeyu, the injured older elephant we rescued back in February, is looking great. His spear injury is healing and he is putting on weight. Even so, he is reluctant to set foot outside his stable and is accepting but wary of the Keepers. We are not surprised about his attitude, as he is an older bull.
While Chapeyu does not yet join the herd out in the bush, they treat him like a friend. One morning, neighbour Ashanti stretched her trunk through the gaps to trunk touch Chapeyu in his stockade. He stood quietly, accepting her greeting. The two elephants spent a few minutes together, rumbling occasionally, and then Ashanti walked away to the water trough. Another evening, as Akina and Ashanti returned to their room, they paused outside Chapeyu's gate and gently touched his head.
Before she was rescued, a poacher's snare cut off the tip of Ashanti's trunk, which makes eating more challenging for her than other elephants. But she has lots of friends looking out for her. One afternoon, Ashanti was kneeling to scoop up cubes with her short trunk with Thamana on one side and Epiya on the other. Epiya often positions herself next to Ashanti — just in case Hildana tries to be rough.
Mid-month, we were thrilled to welcome ex-orphans Naipoki and Rorogoi back into the fold. We had not seen the best friends for several months. Both looked very well, despite the dry season. Naipoki is heavily pregnant and must be nearing her due date. While it is impossible to predict, we hope to meet a new grandbaby in the coming weeks!
The next day was remarkable for another reason. In the afternoon, we received reports of a thin, solitary orphaned elephant in the Lualeni area. The one-year-old calf was rescued, brought to the Voi stockades, and put in the stable next to Daba, who was only rescued a month ago. He rumbled to her and the two newbies shared trunk-touch greetings. After giving both babies some time to recuperate, they were brought to our Nairobi Nursery, where they will be well looked after.
Thamana is the oldest bull in our Voi dependent herd, but he remains as gentle and humble as ever. He is a great favourite of the Voi Kids — the boys know he will spar fairly with them and teach them his ways, while the girls know he will protect them. One afternoon at the mud bath, little Baraka rested her forelegs on Thamana's belly while waving her trunk in circles. Not every bull would welcome such antics.
Busara is a bold little girl. One day, Busara and Baraka found themselves face to face with Murit. At eleven years old, Murit dwarfs both the girls — but Busara was not deterred! With Baraka watching on, she stood tall and stretched up her trunk to touch Murit and even challenged him to a sparring match. The big-but-mellow bull was careful not to hurt the younger girl.
We have always admired Ngilai's habit of propping some lucerne atop his head, securing an extra stash for later. Although he is no longer stockade-dependent, he still keeps up the tradition. One morning, Mbegu's herd of ex-orphans arrived in the early hours to join the dependent orphans for breakfast. Without skipping a beat, Ngilai carried some lucerne on his head to enjoy later.
The month ended with a lovely hangout. When a wild family approached the water trough, Lemeki — the new matriarch of our herd — immediately walked over to welcome them. Many others followed and soon the wild elephants were surrounded by our orphans. Busara even made friends with several visiting babies and almost got whisked away by them!