We continued to rescue an influx of orphans throughout the month, as the drought continues to grip many parts of Kenya. Latika, whose stockade sits between many of the new arrivals, has appointed herself the official welcoming committee. The newcomers stand close to the partition between their stockades, and Latika will nuzzle them with her short trunk. She wakes up periodically throughout the evening to check on her new friends and share her greens with them. Latika is one of the gentlest members of the Nursery herd.
Naleku continues to show more and more affection towards the three youngest members of the Nursery herd. Despite being more affectionate towards Nyambeni, Mzinga and Mageno she continues to remain by Kerrio’s side and Kerrio is often accompanying her when she is with the younger three. As Naleku is the current matriarch, it is always important that she befriend the newer rescues as this shows the rest of the herd that they are welcome. Although sometimes the orphans will make up their own minds and choose to dote on the new arrivals before her.
Today, Naleku spent most of her day with the younger trio and Kerrio. Although Kerrio is not the best at sharing Naleku’s attention, this is something she has had to get used to. None of the nannies such as Olorien, Kinyei, and Kindani will tolerate her bullying the little ones. Kerrio seems to prefer spending time with Nyambeni, Mzinga, and another newer rescue, Shujaa, but she doesn’t have much time for Mageno. This may be because Mageno is bigger than her and more independent.
Neshashi was very badly behaved today. As soon as she finished her midday bottle of milk down at the mud bath, she went charging towards Rafiki and shoved him away from his bottle. Rafiki, who was so unsuspected, fell over and yelled out in protest. The Keepers all rushed around him and assisted him up and chased Neshashi away, telling her off for being so mean. Neshashi spent the rest of the mud bath in the naughty corner.
Mukutan continues to be the loudest in the Nursery herd. He complains a lot more than Kerrio, who is close to him in age, but Kerrio is also more spoiled than he is. Kerrio also likes to bully Mukutan, so he tends to keep his distance from her. He does, however, love spending time with Nyambeni, Mzinga, Shujaa, and Mageno. Sadly, most of the time he is chased off by Kerrio. Today, however, he seemed to be planning his revenge.
As Kerrio was busy with the younger group, Mukutan stood by watching her every move. He seemed to be waiting for her to move away from the herd and once she was a bit isolated, he charged at her and knocked her over. Kerrio didn’t have enough time to see who had hit her because as soon as she got back up, Mukutan had already run off. As he was running away, he thought he had evaded all discipline, but sadly for him, he had been spotted by Olorien. Olorien managed to catch up to him and chased him away from the herd, telling him off.
Neshashi, Oldepe and Roho have undergoing their training of running on and off the translocation lorry for several months now and they have all gotten so used to running down to the translocation lorry for all their milk feeds. Today, however, the lorry had been moved and the trio was therefore unable to do their training or enjoy Lucerne pellets at every milk feed, and this upset them all. Every milk feed, the trio would start running towards the stockade compound and the Keepers would have to run after them and stop them, ushering them back to the herd. They were all so unhappy, rumbling and grumbling at their Keepers.
Esoit and Bondeni are the best of friends, and they continue to get along so well, constantly engaging each other in various games throughout the day. This morning, Esoit was the first to wake up and charge around the stockade compound. As soon as Bondeni’s stockade door was opened, Esoit went running over to Bondeni, to greet him. Bondeni came barreling out, and the two engaged each other in a wrestling match, and chased one another around the stockade compound.
The bulls had a bit of a break once out in the forest, as they both settled down to browse with the rest of the Nursery herd. Esoit, however, was still full of energy and tried to challenge Bondeni again to a wrestling match, but this game did not last very long as Bondeni returned to his browsing. Esoit then ran around playfully back kicking his friends as he would change browsing locations. Back kicking his friends, is something this younger bull loved to do.
Down at the mud bath, during the orphans’ midday milk feed, Roho was enjoying playfully climbing on the older girls’ backs as they were all wallowing in the muddy water and on the dust mound. Roho would not give Olorien a single moment of peace as she was rolling around, and he kept climbing on her back and sliding off. Eventually, Kinyei came over to help her as she could see Olorien growing more and more frustrated. Kinyei rumble at Roho before charging at him and chasing him away. The Keepers eventually had to step in to stop Kinyei from chasing him, before leading the Nurser herd back to the forest for the afternoon.
Naleku, being the matriarch, has now also made herself the decider of which younger orphans the older girls can spend time with and when. The older girls all know each other so well, and they have even learned the temperaments of their newer friends, such as Sagateisa. Unlike Ziwadi, Kindani and Kinyei, Sagateisa can be quite rough with the younger orphans and her peers. That is why Naleku is often hesitant to let Sagateisa spend any time with the younger ones.
Nyambeni, Mzinga, Shujaa, and Mageno are the youngest members of the Nursery herd and they have been quite happily doing their own thing, together away from the herd. Sagateisa was avidly watching them and decided to make her way towards them. Unbeknown to her, Naleku was watching over the little ones and immediately saw her walking towards them. Naleku quickly stepped in, chasing Sagateisa away from the younger group and then remaining close to them for the remainder of the morning. It was not long before she was joined by Kerrio and Olorien, who also remained close.
Suguroi is another member of the Nursery herd who has fallen in love with her mud baths. No matter the weather, Suguroi will immediately head over to the muddy pool and try to get in. This afternoon, she was having a wonderful time with Roho and Sagateisa. As soon as they arrived at the mud bath, they all downed their bottles of milk and then charged over to the pool. They had a lengthy mud bath, wallowing and rolling around as the rest of the Nursery herd looked on.
When the new orphans arrive at then Nursery, the Keepers often wait a while before letting them join the herd out in the forest. On occasion, some rescues will settle faster than others. Generally, their first day out is a little bit hectic as they are meeting the other orphans.
The latest arrival in the Nursery herd, Shujaa, has also fallen in love with his milk feeds and has settled into the herd swimmingly. Recently, no matter how far the Nursery herd is from the milk feeding points, Shujaa will start to make his way back ahead of the herd. Today, he made his way all the way down to the mud bath area and not finding any of the Keepers there, rushed back to the stockade compound where the Keepers were preparing the milk. He was quickly escorted back to the herd, and after the orphans had their milk bottles the Keepers led them much further into the forest so he wouldn’t disappear again.
This afternoon, after the orphans finished their 3 o’clock bottles of milk, Shujaa, Kerrio, Choka, Mageno, and Taabu all enjoyed a playful moment in the mud pool. Kerrio was submerged in the water, as Choka kept trying to playfully climb on her back. Taabu then came waltzing over and pushed Choka away so he could have a playful moment with Kerrio, whilst Choka then played with Mageno and Shujaa, rolling about.
Kerrio remains the apple of Naleku’s eye. Although Naleku is spending more and more time with the little ones such as Nyambeni, Mzinga, Shujaa, and Mageno, she will often be in the company of Kerrio. The duo will spend most of their day together, checking on the younger orphans and then moving off to browse, and dust bath together.
This morning, however, Naleku did something she has never done before which was let Kerrio proceed out to the forest with the herd whilst she waited in the stockade compound for Nyambeni, Shujaa, Mzinga and Mageno. She was stood right outside their doors rumbling at them and reaching her trunk over their stable doors greeting them. As the Keepers opened their doors, Naleku briefly greeted Shujaa and Mageno, then extensively greeted Nyambeni and Mzinga, the two little girls. She escorted the little girls to the forest, with the boys following from behind.
Mageno and Shujaa have settled in well with the herd and they are quite fond of spending time with the rest of the herd and didn’t seem to mind not being escorted by Naleku. Once in the forest, they quickly broke off and settled to browse with Choka, Taabu, Lodo, and Roho.
It was quite a chilly morning as the Nursery herd was beginning their day. Although it hadn’t rained, there was still a lot of dew on the ground and on the leaves as they were arriving in the forest. As a result, the orphans decided to make their way to the open plains, and none were eager to walk through the denser parts of the forest as the dew was cold on their skin. The first to brave the forest was Rafiki. Because he is used to wandering off on his own, he was quite happy to head off to browse. This morning, however, he led the whole herd further into the forest, as they were now all eager to browse.
As the orphans were running down for their 9am bottles of milk, the Keepers noticed that sweet Ziwadi was not enjoying the colder weather at all and was in fact shivering a bit. As a result, she did not want to move to the milk feeding point so one of the Keepers came running up with her bottle as two of the Keepers were huddling near her. As soon as she gulped down her bottle, she warmed up immediately and was now ready to move around. She immediately followed the Keepers back to the Nursery herd, where she huddled amongst them, keeping nice and warm.
Taabu and Mukutan also seem to be like sparring siblings at the moment. Whenever they set eyes on each other, they immediately start fighting like two toddlers and chasing each other around the forest. Mukutan has replaced Choka as Taabu’s annoying brother, and the Keepers think that this may just be because of how old they are, and they are both trying to find their place within the Nursery herd.
This afternoon, however, during their midday milk feed, they were getting too angry with one another. Taabu kept trying to engage Mukutan, but he was not interested and kept walking away. As Mukutan peacefully settled near one of the water troughs, out of nowhere Taabu came charging over and he shoved Mukutan down, as if frustrated that he would not play. The Keepers quickly stepped in and chased Taabu away, telling him off as they did so. Mukutan then got up and slowly walked away to a quiet corner.
Later in the day, Tingai noticed him being quiet and walked over to check on little Mukutan, making sure he was okay. Tingai and Mukutan then spent the afternoon together, quietly browsing near each other and Mukutan was thoroughly enjoying her company.
This afternoon, the Nursery received a new rescue which arrived just before the orphans returned to the stockade compound for the evening. As the orphans were now running home for the evening bottles, Naleku and Neshashi immediately noticed the new arrival, and both stopped right outside the stockade to say hello. The girls were pushing and shoving at each other so they could be the first to issue greetings, their evening bottles forgotten. Eventually, the Keepers had to usher them to their stockades so they could have their bottles and settle down for the night.
As the orphans were browsing in the forest, Roho, Oldepe and Neshashi snuck away and made their way back to the stockade compound to hopefully feast on some of the leftover pellets. Although their training has been paused as we continue to wait for the rains in Tsavo, the trio continue to insist upon going to the translocation lorry for their milk feeds, and Neshashi is always trying to sneak off. As they arrived at the stockade compound, the lorry itself had been moved, so there was nothing for them to feast on.
Failing to find any leftover pellets, the trio walked over to greet their favourite rhino, Maxwell. Max had finished all his Lucerne pellets and was now having his morning nap in the sun. Roho began to pull at Max’s gate, trying to wake him up and get his attention. This immediately woke Max up, who came waltzing over to see who was at his gate. They had a short interaction before some of the Keepers came to usher the trio back to the forest. After greeting his friends, Max settled back down for his nap in the sun. The trio were led all the way back to the Nursery herd.
Bondeni continues to be such an unpredictable personality. Some days he is very gentle and calm, but most of the time he is looking for ways to cause mischief. During the midday mud bath today, he was entertaining all the visitors by walking up and down along cordon, greeting all his supporters. At one point, however, he gave one of the visitors a fright as he blew his trunk in their face. The Keepers quickly stepped in and ushered him back to the center of the mud bath.
Once back in the middle, Bondeni now began to charge all around the mud bath. He was soon joined by his big buddy, Esoit, and the duo ran up and down and through all the other orphans. They would even run along the rope, entertaining all the visitors with their chaos. Eventually, the Keepers ushered them towards the forest as it was almost time for the orphans to head back to the forest. Once back in the forest, the duo spent quite a bit of time chasing each other around the forest and then settled down to browse with the herd.
Suguroi continues to be an alert and boisterous member of the Nursery herd. Although she can be shy, most of the time she does behave slightly more bullish than most of the other girls as she is always on high alert when the Keepers approach, flaring her ears at them. She can also be a bully towards the adolescent orphans. Despite her bully ways, she enjoys spending time with Kindani, Kinyei, Sagateisa, and more recently she has been getting closer to the younger ones such as Nyambeni, Mzinga, Shujaa and Mageno. The Keepers have been impressed with her caring nature towards the younger orphans recently, and they are now pondering as to whether she may be the next matriarch in the making.
When in the forest, Suguroi has been spending more and more time following Mzinga and her little group around. She has become their big shadow, especially to Mzinga. Mzinga is more than happy to have her company. Often, she will be seen trunk hugging them and sharing her greens with them.
Nyambeni is currently the youngest member in the Nursery herd. Despite being so small, she is certainly full of confidence and not afraid to stand up for herself when the others try to push her around. Nyambeni, like many of the orphans, is very protective of her milk bottle and when she is having her milk, she does not like any of her peers coming near her but being so little she doesn’t have to fight off any of the bigger orphans yet.
She has also quickly learnt how to use her little trunk to browse and pick the freshest greens from some of the shorter bushes, learning all these skills from the older orphans and her Keepers. The Keepers will often hand pick grass and leaves for the younger orphans to help them browse and learn which greens to grab. Lastly, she has quickly learnt the routine of the Nursery, she knows when it is time to wake up, time for her milk, time for her mud bath, and time for her to go home. The Keepers are so proud of how well she has settled into the Nursery herd.
Sagateisa remains a quiet girl. Much like Ziwadi, she is selective about when she wants to be part of all the herd antics. Unlike Ziwadi, however, she will go straight into the mud bath to wallow. When it starts to get too busy with all the other mud lovers, she will often move to her own quiet corner. If the other orphans are being too rowdy, she will get out of the mud bath and move off to the dust mound.
This afternoon, she was apprehensive about entering the mud bath and moved far away from the Nursery herd, but then she appeared upset to be on her own. The Keepers tried to usher her down to the muddy water to join the others, but she was reluctant and remained on her own. The Keepers eventually decided to give her a helping hand and sprayed her with some mud and water, which she thoroughly enjoyed.
Later in the afternoon, Suguroi and Sagateisa enjoyed a wonderful moment in the mud bath together, just after their 3 o’clock bottles of milk. Both girls were happily rolling around before they were joined by Lodo, Latika, Kamili and some of the others.
This morning, Bondeni and Roho engaged each other in a wrestling match. These two bulls have remained close, but they do not play as much as they used to before Roho began his training. The Keepers were overjoyed to see them challenging each other as they are of similar sizes and really put up a challenge against each other. After a long wrestling match, they chased each other around the forest, bush bashing and knocking over some of the dead barks in the forest.
Tingai remains the shyest bull in the Nursery herd. Although he is certainly growing in confidence, he will not challenge the bigger bulls. This afternoon, Bondeni barreled over to Tingai and tried to engage him in a strength testing match, but Tingai just ran off and hid within the forest. This excited Bondeni, who now thought they were playing a game of hide and seek. Tingai, being smaller, was able to run away faster within the forest and hide behind the bushes. After a few minutes, Bondeni came back to engage Roho, leaving Tingai to browse in peace.
Lodo has become quite a fussy milk drinker of late and has started to refuse his bottle during certain milk feeds. The Keepers immediately noticed that he was drinking slowly and then started to reject his bottle, which left them puzzled. One morning, however, they noticed that he was specifically trying to steal some of Sagateisa’s milk, and Sagateisa is on a slightly different formula to the others. The Keepers immediately decided to try this milk formula and he loved it. Apparently, he simply no longer enjoyed the original brand of formula he was receiving and wanted to change it up. Once he started to receive the different formula, he eagerly gulped down his bottles.
Lodo remains the gentle uncle of the Nursery herd and continues to watch over all the younger orphans as well as keep them company in the forest. He also spends a lot of time with the other older bulls such as Oldepe, Roho, Esoit and Bondeni. Choka, Taabu, and Mukutan all enjoy spending time with him and even shy Tingai will go and browse near them. He is everyone’s favourite uncle!
This morning, Olorien was in one of her naughty moods. As the orphans were being led out to the forest, she decided to sneak off back to the stockade compound, where she tried to steal greens from some of the newer rescues, who were within the stockades as they still needed to gain their strength. Naughty Olorien was trying to grab their freshest greens and treats, even though she had access to loads out in the forest. One of the Keepers came running down and chased her back to the forest, and then some of the other Keepers replenished their greens.
Once back in the forest, the Keepers had to keep a very close eye on her as she kept trying to play hide and seek with them and wander off when they weren’t looking. At one point, she even tried to hide behind a bush, but as she is taller now, she was not well camouflaged, and the Keepers were able to quickly spot her and usher her back to the herd. After several attempts, she finally gave up and the Keepers were also able to relax once more.
Olorien remains the protective nanny of the younger orphans and whenever some of the younger bulls such as Choka and Taabu try to approach she will always chase them away. The bulls must tread very carefully when she is around.
Latika is famous for her short trunk and continues to use her unique techniques to get to the freshest grass and greens, such as kneeling on her front legs or rearing up to get the nicest branches. Although her trunk is unusually petite, she does not have any issues browsing. She can be a little shy, but she will always be seen browsing in the company of Kamili or Ziwadi, as well as the gentler bulls such as Lodo and Tingai.
Latika’s stockade is now in between all the new rescues, and she is such a welcoming companion for them all. She will greet them every morning and every evening and share her greens with them and she won’t dare to steal their greens. The newer rescues stand close to the partition between their stockades, and Latika will nuzzle them with her short trunk. Throughout the evening, she will sleep and then wake up once more to feed on her greens, each time checking on her new friends and munching away on her greens. Latika is one of the gentlest members of the Nursery herd.
With all the new rescues arriving at the Nursery, the orphans have had to shift stockades. Bondeni is now neighbouring Taabu and Choka, while Kindani and Kinyei moved closer to the older girls. Suguroi is the most recent to have been moved, next door to Naleku. Suguroi and Naleku have always gotten along very well, so they both seem to be quite happy to be nearer each other as they spend quite a bit of time near one another during the day.
When the Keepers first moved Suguroi, she protested a little bit before settling down near her friend Naleku. Although they get along well, the girls try to steal each other’s greens all the time. They will often be heard playing a game of tug of war, pulling the greens back and forth from each other’s stockades. Suguroi is such a tough opponent that Naleku didn’t manage to steal any greens and then turned her attention to Roho’s greens. Roho was fast asleep, so she was able to steal some of his greens before settling down for the night. As she slept, Roho stole some of his greens back, before settling down once more.
As the orphans were getting ready for their 9 o’clock bottles of milk, the Keepers decided that one of the newer rescues was ready to have their first day out with the rest of the herd. As the orphans were finishing up their 9am milk feed, Naleku, Roho, Esoit, Kindani, Olorien and Kinyei were led back to the stockade compound to welcome Weka out for the first time. Weka was a bit apprehensive at first, but once out in the forest, she was very happy being greeted by all the Nursery babies. The Keepers kept a close eye on the naughty culprits such as Bondeni.
During the midday milk feed, Weka already appeared to have formed a friendship with Mageno, who is of a similar age to her. Mageno was being amazing and led her to the milk feeding point and then directed her to the mud bath, were they both stood on the edge of the mud bath splashing mud about. The Keepers were so happy to see her spraying mud around as this is sign that she was feeling stronger and healthier. They had a wonderful time together and Mageno even led her back to the forest with the rest of the herd.
As the days go by, the orphans grow in both temperament and size, and their personalities evolve and change. Rafiki, for instance, has stopped being such a Houdini. Now, he is spending more and more time amongst the herd, instead of wandering off on his own adventure. The Keepers cannot be too relaxed, however, because some days he still goes missing and today was such a day.
This morning, as the orphans were getting ready to run down for their 9 o’clock bottles of milk, Rafiki hid behind some bushes and then disappeared. As the Keepers were doing the final head count, they realized he was missing, so a little search party set off. They found him further in the forest, browsing in one of the herds’ favourite browsing spots.
Rafiki’s closest friends are Lodo and Tingai. They have been spending more and more time browsing together and will follow each other around the forest. Tingai and Lodo are very gentle like Rafiki, and they all have similar temperaments.
Suguroi continues to be an excellent nanny. She is especially protective of Mzinga and Nyambeni, but sometimes she can even be protective of Kerrio. She also protects Shujaa and Mageno, but maybe because they are bulls, she doesn’t feel as though they need as much protection as the girls.
Roho has become a bit of a bully during the milk feeds and maybe this is because he is used to having his milk on the translocation lorry, away from the rest of the herd. These days the Keepers are having to give him his milk in the last group, just to make sure he doesn’t push and shove any of the others whilst they are drinking. This was very much like naughty Kiasa, who would always push and shove the others wanting more milk.
Ziwadi continues her sweet routine of drinking from all the water troughs in the morning by dunking her head in the water and sipping through her mouth. During the midday mud bath and 3 o’clock milk feed she can also be seen bending down to the water troughs and sipping water, although she does this far less than in the mornings. In the evenings when she comes home, she will also sometimes stop at the water troughs.
Oldepe was being very naughty this afternoon down at the mud bath. As Bondeni was finishing his milk, Oldepe walked over to him and started to back kick him, trying to steal his bottle. Bondeni was not impressed, rumbling, and grumbling at him and eventually Bondeni shoved him away. Oldepe tried to come back but the Keepers stepped in, chasing him away.
Neshashi and Lodo this evening, were moved to new rooms as the Nursery needed more room for new rescues. Both were not eager to change rooms and they through quite the strop as they were being escorted to their new stockades. The Keepers had to try very hard to entice them with their milk bottles and after a couple of attempts eventually managed. After complaining a short while, they both settled down to eat their greens.
All the orphans were in a great mood this morning as they were starting their day. They started making their way out to the forest around 6am, following each other one by one, in single file. Once in the forest, they all settled to browse peacefully amongst each other.
Nyambeni was in a very playful mood this morning when it was time for the orphans to head down for their 9 o’clock bottles of milk. Once she finished her milk bottle, she started to challenge Mzinga to a strength testing match. They were busy chasing each other around the bigger orphans and then push against one another. Eventually Mzinga got a little rough, so Suguroi stepped in to separate the two. Once they had settled, Suguroi led the Nursery herd back to the forest where they browsed until it was time for their midday bottles of milk.
As they were browsing, Kerrio and Naleku snuck away from the rest of the Nursery herd and moved off to their own corner to browse. They walked a bit further into the forest but as the Keepers could still see them, they were happy for them to do their own thing.
This morning was one of the rare occasions in which Neshashi led the Nursery herd out into the forest. She led them all the way to one of their favourite fields, where they all settled to quickly browse. After their 9 o’clock milk feeds, Neshashi, Naleku, Lodo, Roho, Bondeni, Kindani, Kinyei and Olorien were led back to the stockade compound to welcome another one of the new rescues out to the forest. The new rescue was a bit nervous but quickly settled amongst the herd. Ziwadi was too busy browsing to immediately notice the new arrival but eventually she went and greeted them.
Roho continues to be a bit of a bully but in the mud bath he is extremely playful. This afternoon, he was amongst the first to submerge himself in the muddy water and he was quickly joined by Naleku, Olorien, Kindani and Kinyei. As soon as the girls joined him, he began to playfully climb on their backs, but Kindani and Kinyei were not having any of it and wallowed for a short while before getting out. Olorien and Naleku just grumbled at him and rolled around so he would slide off. They enjoyed a nice wallow before heading back to the forest.
Once in the forest, Neshashi snuck off to head back to the stockade compound but one of the Keepers spotted her and stopped her in her tracks, ushering her back to the Nursery herd.
Neshashi woke up in a bad mood this morning. She was particularly stroppy during the 9 o’clock milk feed, when she started to push the littlest members of the Nursery herd. The Keepers were so puzzled as to what was wrong with her, but she didn’t want Mzinga, Shujaa, Nyamabeni, Mageno or Weka anywhere near her. The Keepers and Suguroi quickly stepped in, chasing Neshashi away.
During the midday milk feed, Rafiki kept trying to sneak away back to the forest. He only managed a few steps before one of the Keepers stopped him and ushered him back to the mud bath, but he kept trying for the entire time. Eventually, one of the Keepers escorted him to some of the nearby bushes where he settled to browse before following the rest of the Nursery herd back to the forest.
Latika was so busy browsing this afternoon that she almost missed her 3 o’clock milk feed. The Keepers were ushering all the orphans down when they noticed her refusing to follow the herd down and insisting on remaining in the forest. One of the Keepers stayed back with her, slowly ushering her down and when she suddenly realised that none of the other orphans were around, she started to walk faster down towards the mud bath. After downing her bottle, she returned to her browse.
This morning, Lodo refused to leave his stockade. It was a nice warm morning, so the Keepers were surprised by his behaviour and the Keepers struggled to get him out. After a couple of minutes, he finally emerged. As they were waiting for Lodo, Bondeni was busy engaging Taabu in a wrestling match. In terms of wrestling matches, Bondeni seems to be the number one uncle for this as he is always happy to engage the other orphans in these games. Once Lodo was finally out, the Keepers walked the Nursery herd out to the forest.
Whilst the orphans were busy browsing in the forest, two big male buffalo came walking through the forest. This gave the Nursery herd a huge fright and the big guys, Naleku, Neshashi, Roho, Oldepe, Kindani and Kinyei went to the front of the herd to protect them. All of them were rumbling and trumpeting at the buffalo, flapping their ears and warning them away. Eventually the buffalo grew tired and carried on their way, but Roho wanted to follow them to chase them off. The Keepers quickly stepped in, stopping him, as they didn’t want him following the buffalo.
During the midday milk feed, Mzinga kept trying to steal Nyambeni’s milk, pushing her. Mzinga got cross and pushed Nyambeni away, so one of the Keepers stepped in between the two, ushering Nyambeni away.
Nairobi has been beautiful and sunny. As a result, the orphans enjoy two mud baths most days, at the midday and 3 o’clock milk feeds. Mud baths are so important for elephants, as it protects their skin from sun, keeps them cool and protects them from flies and other pests such as ticks. The Keepers are always happy to see the orphans enjoying their mud baths.
The mud bath lovers in the Nursery herd are Suguroi, Roho, Oldepe, Naleku, Choka, Esoit, Olorien, Kerrio, Lodo, Kinyei, Neshashi, Mukutan and Kamili. Whenever they finish their milk bottles, they all head over to the mud bath and submerge themselves in the cool water. On the other hand, the orphans who are not so eager to always mud bath are Kindani, Tingai, Rafiki, Sileita, Latika and Bondeni but with the warmer weather they too have been mud bathing more often.
This afternoon, during the orphans’ midday milk feed Roho, Esoit, Olorien and Naleku were all having the best time rolling around in the pool and splashing mud all over the place, even hitting some of the visitors. It was funny to watch because as they were splashing about, Kindani and Tingai were doing everything they could to avoid the mud bath and being splashed. They were walking right along the rope, staying as far away as they could but they were being hit but some of the mud flying around. Eventually they settled to browse on some of the greens.
Recently, Oldepe has become stronger than Roho and in most of their wrestling matches Oldepe will now win. He has even been challenging Neshashi, Kindani and Kinyei and has been victorious against them too. This morning, out in the forest, he challenged Roho to a match. Oldepe was doing so well that instead of fighting until the end, Roho decided to run away into the bushes. This then turned their game into a game of hide and seek, and the two bulls had a wonderful game of hide and seek.
Once he was done chasing Roho, Oldepe decided to challenge Neshashi. Their game lasted a couple of minutes before he spotted Kinyei, who he then ran after. Kinyei immediately turned to face him and challenged him back. She challenged him for a couple of moments, but Oldepe started to play a little rough, so she too ran off but instead of running to the forest, she ran straight to the Keepers for protection. Once Oldepe saw her with the Keepers, he gave up the chase and settled to browse.
Bondeni and Esoit are still the best playmates, and it is very rare that they go a day without challenging each other. This morning, they engaged each other in a strength testing match as soon as they came out of their stockades. As the rest of the herd was still waking up, these boys were chasing each other around the stockade compound and pushing against each other. Their game continued right up until they were in the forest, when they started bush bashing, and rumbling and trumpeting in excitement.
As they were charging around, Taabu and Choka also got excited and challenged each other in their own wrestling match. The two boys were sparring like siblings, pushing at each other and neither of them giving up. They grew so bold that they even decided to tag team in challenging Bondeni. Bondeni was more than happy to engage the two young bulls, taking them on at the same time. They had the best time right up until it was time for them to pause for their morning milk feed.
Mageno has become the leader of the smaller group of orphans, including the newest arrival Weka. Although they also follow the older orphans, Mageno, Nyambeni, Mzinga, Shujaa and Weka have formed the cutest mini herd. They have a new addition to their little gang, Muridjo, who recently had his first day out with the herd. Mageno is a very caring young bull, and he is always showering his younger group with affection, trunk hugging them and watching over them. He has also been a very nice welcome for the newer arrivals as he always so friendly towards them.
Sagateisa has become a tougher girl in recent weeks. These days she is constantly trying to boss around Choka, Mukutan, Tingai, and sometimes even Lodo. As she has gotten much healthier, she is clearly trying to assert herself within the Nursery herd which is why she is starting to pick on the smaller, gentler members of the herd. The Keepers are keeping a watchful eye on her, and when she starts to bother these guys, they are always quick to step in and tell her off. She will most likely settle down once more, and the Keepers are just giving her time.
Rafiki is spending more time with his friends Tingai and Lodo. These two boys are also gentle, so they have formed the gentle trio who peacefully browse with each other and the rest of the Nursery herd. These three boys have also been welcoming to the new arrivals and the younger babies, watching over them when they browse. They are not as boisterous as Roho, Oldepe, Bondeni, Esoit, Taabu and Choka, who are not bullies, but would rather focus on their games than look after the younger orphans.
Recently, Tingai, Lodo, and Rafiki have been accompanying Mageno, Weka, Muridjo, Shujaa, Nyambeni and Mzinga. The mini herd have been happy to have the company of the bigger boys and will follow them throughout the forest, browsing near them and sharing their greens as they browse. Sometimes they will even try to sneak away with the younger group.
Maxwell has been doing so well and thoroughly enjoying the warmer weather. Most mornings, he will start his morning by finishing his favourite greens, the acacia branches, and then heading up to feast on his Lucerne pellets, sometimes sharing them with his friends the resident warthogs. Once he has finished his morning pellets, he will settle in the morning sun for a bit of sunbathing. Later in the day he will head on down to his bottom stockade where he will wallow in his mud bath, cooling off and covering himself in mud. Afterwards you can see a line of mud along his stockade wall where he has been scratching before he settles to browse on his fresh greens before heading to bed.