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The new orphan spent the entire night on IV drips having arrived in a completely collapsed state and obviously dehydrated to such an extent she was almost unconscious. The IV drips worked wonders on the young girl though and by the middle of the night she had gained enough energy to stand on her own four feet and then even better than that, she managed to drink some milk formula as well. The next day she looked even better and was feeding on greens. When the other orphans came out of their pens, it was funny to watch Kuishi, Malkia, Maramoja and Mbegu all milling around the new babies stable; Kuishi and Malkia kept yelling out as they wanted to meet the new little one; but she is not yet strong enough and the keepers began to walk out to the forest so they had to follow. Kuishi and Malkia remained quite restless in the forest though and they kept trying to sneak back to the compound to see if they could meet the new one. They yelled out again in protest but soon settled down to browse with the others as the keepers moved deeper into the forest. We called the new girl Maisha.

Kuishi was very naughty today at the public visit which is out of character for her. After all the groups had downed their milk bottles and dispersed to feed on the Lucerne pellets, Kuishi started being quite the bully. She ran from one pile of pellets to another picking a small amount from each then moving on to the next one. She seemed to target the piles that other orphans were enjoying and pushed them out of the away. At one point she head butted little Tamiyoi so hard she fell on her hindquarters in the mud pool. Poor Tamiyoi had a hard time trying to exit the mud bath and when she finally got out she avoided Kuishi who was being driven away from the pellets by the keepers as punishment for her behaviour. Kuishi then kept herself busy by chasing the warthogs that were at the mud wallow also looking to feed on the lucerne pellets.

Yesterday ended with a new baby elephant arrival and this young baby spent a fairly peaceful night under the care of a new human family. Even though he is an older elephant he shows very little aggression which we expect from elephants orphaned at all older age. Kauro, the oldest elephant at the nursery, welcomed him and comforted him by touching him with his trunk. This let the newcomer know he was in a safe place and he was clearly grateful to be rescued. When Kauro left the stockade to go out into the bush the new baby was very upset and banged hard on his stockade walls as he wanted to join his new friend. It isn’t time yet for this young bull to be let out of the stockade as he needs time to adjust and accept his human family and the magic taste of milk formula. Poor Kuishi has been transferred to another stockade to create space; an idea she did not welcome and she spent the night yelling in protest. When she was let out from her stockade she ran straight to her stockade to inspect the situation and find out why she was moved. She was very unhappy to find the new baby in Kauro’s room and Kauro in her room!

The day started with a chilly morning and the orphans were reluctant to leave their nice warm bedrooms. When their stockade doors were opened Ambo, Malima, Tamiyoi, Jotto, Sattao, Musiara and Luggard only took a step out then quickly turned back into the stockade to avoid the early morning drizzle. Even Ndotto, Lasayen and Kuishi were reluctant to walk out. Only Mbegu and Kauro were seen out and about ready to head into the field. Mbegu was very busy, making regular returns to the stockades calling out in low rumbles to the other orphans to try and encourage them to head out to browse. Finally her efforts worked and they started walking out one by one slowly to the field. However, even out in the forest many stayed reluctant to start their morning browsing and only Ndiwa, Mundusi, Maramoja, Kauro, Lasayen and Rapa appeared relaxed. Today, little Maisha and Emoli are showing positive progress. They are now looking calm, relaxed and happy, finally overcoming the trauma and stress from losing their mothers and accepting their new lives and family. The two are lovely friends and spend their days together within the bushes abutting the stockade compound. Today we also received another new baby from the Masai Mara who is about 3 years old and in good health.

Ngilai woke up in a playful mood and was busy trying to invite everyone he came across into some morning games but none of the other orphans were interested in playing. As they walked into the forest he did his best to get some attention from the others by bush-bashing, trumpeting and pushing Murit, Luggard, Malkia, Kuishi, Mundusi and Mteto to encourage them to play but none were bothered. When he realized no one was paying him any attention he changed his mind and tried to engage the keepers who were enjoying their morning tea. The keepers shooed Ngilai away to play with his peers but Ngilai ignored the warning and laid down amidst the keepers, rolling playful to get their attention and those of the little babies who were close to them. Little Maktao saw Ngilai lying down and came running to play with him. He thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to clamber over a bigger boy like Ngilai. Maktao’s game attracted Musiara and Sattao who then joined in the climbing and sliding game over Ngilai and they all had a lovely morning playing.

Musiara likes playing with Sattao and often invites him to play a wrestling game. Today they had been sizing each other up in a lengthy game but then Sattao started applying more strength and pushing too hard. Musiara maintained calm but Sattao continued charging and attacking him. Eventually Musiara decided to defend himself by charging back. Tagwa was browsing close to the pair and Sattao seemed to know Tagwa was keeping an eye on him. When she saw Musiara teaching his new friend a lesson, that it was only a game not a fight, she stepped over the keepers and moved towards the duo. The keepers thought she was bringing peace but that wasn’t the case. She was so hard on poor Musiara, and Sattao assisted her by head-butting him as well. At this point the keepers stepped in to rescue poor Musiara. However, after hearing Musiara’s screams for help, Malkia came rushing in and charged Tagwa even though she had already been sent away by the keepers. The keepers had to go after those two to bring calm and peace back to the group. At the public visit the first group had lots of fun when Jotto and Malima led them into the mudbath after finishing their milk bottles. It was only Godoma and Kuishi who settled to eat the lucerne pellets but later they joined the rest of the babies in the mud pool as well. Pare then started mounting little Tamiyoi and surprisingly it was Rapa who came to her rescue and pushed Pare off.

It has become part of the normal routine for all the babies to assemble at Namalok’s and Sapalan’s stockades before heading out into the forest. Sana Sana, Malkia and Tagwa are usually the first three to pay the new arrivals a visit. However, this morning Mundusi and Mteto spoiled the morning’s interaction when they started fighting. Mteto then also fell out with Kuishi when she tried to snatch a branch from her mouth. Eventually Kauro took control of the situation and he didn’t care who started the fight, he stopped it by taking the branch away and disciplined them all, sending them off in different directions. Meanwhile at Namalok’s gate Mundusi was having a rough time with Ndiwa. Again it was all about browse, and Maramoja stepped in and took the branch away but handed it to Ndiwa and drove away Mundusi. All the fighting resulted in less time for interaction with the new babies and it was soon time to leave them behind and go into the forest. Today Kiko joined the elephants in the field early in the morning. Malkia and Ngilai tried to push him away from the herd but he kept dodging them by running around the bushes and coming back. He was in a very naughty mood and when a documentary film crew arrived the keepers had a hard time controlling him. He must have seen them coming from a distance and immediately came over and started chasing them around. He wouldn’t listen to his keepers commands and then started trying to kick the smallest elephants! That was when Mbegu, Godoma, Ndotto and Esampu intervened and charged him, trumpeting all the while. Eventually they managed to chase him away and the keepers were thankful for the older orphans help!