Seven months ago, in December 2025, Kamili graduated to our Umani Springs Reintegration Unit alongside her friends Kerrio and Latika. Initially, she blossomed in her new home: Within weeks of moving to the Kibwezi Forest, Kamili's ears — which remained stubbornly folded, a symptom of the poor condition in which she was rescued — completely unfurled and she continued to put on weight.

But towards the end of May, Kamili grew a bit off-colour. Dr Lawi came to assess the patient and administered antibiotics. The following day Kamili was back to her bright self — once again, she ran in order to be first to the bottle feeding point and then joined in all the rest of the day's activities, including the mud bath.

We have been carefully monitoring Kamili's progress in the weeks since, and unfortunately, she hasn't recovered to the degree we had hoped. While her spirits are high, she remains quite thin and hasn't regained all her condition. We determined the best course of action would be to bring her back to the Nursery, where we have the resources in place — on-call veterinarians, technology, and even closer oversight — to get to the bottom of whatever ails her.

To make the process as seamless as possible, the moving truck was parked at Umani for a couple of weeks prior, giving Kamili time to re-familiarise herself with it. The move commenced in the early morning hours of 21st July. Showing true leadership, Kerrio understood the situation and did her best to smooth the process for her friend. She escorted Kamili to the truck and even walked aboard with her. The girls shared milk bottles side by side before Kerrio disembarked and bid her friend farewell. Elephants are remarkably intuitive, and everyone seemed to know that what was happening was in Kamili's best interests.

The drive to Nairobi was smooth and uneventful. Kamili was accompanied by Peter, one of her original Nursery Keepers who also helped her move to Umani. She was calm and appeared to be reassured by his presence.

Our precious cargo arrived at the Nursery just before dawn. After Kamili had some time to settle, we gathered the rest of the herd as a welcoming committee. It was so sweet to witness how the sleepy orphans suddenly sprang into a frenzy of excitement when they realised it was Kamili! There was instant recognition — Mzinga, Nyambeni, Talek, Muridjo, Taroha, and Olomunyak were thrilled to be reunited with their old friend. She is in a nighttime stockade next to Pardamat, who no doubt will keep her entertained with his roguish antics.

Kamili has already had blood work done, as we work towards getting topsides of her root issues. She is feeding well and has slotted right back into the Nursery routines, trundling around with the rest of the herd and enjoying the quiet, cosseted pace of life here.

Kamili's journey has always been a winding one. She was discovered in the 2021 drought, as our field manager was en route to a different orphan rescue. These were difficult times in Tsavo, and she was clearly in her final hour had help not arrived. Even once she was at the Nursery, we struggled to bring Kamili back from the brink. It took a full year of incremental recovery until she finally started to fill out and grow stronger.

On a whole, Kamili has improved tremendously over the years — but her condition does seem to ebb and flow. Some elephants are simply more delicate than others, and with time and care, we're often able to bring them back to health. We are hopeful that, cocooned back at the Nursery and with all the resources we have access to in Nairobi, that will be the case with Kamili.

You will be the first to know of any updates, and in the meantime, rest assured that Kamili is happily ensconced in her original home, spoiled night and day by the Keepers and orphans who love her so.