Although she frequently visits her human family, Squeaky has been intensely private about her own family. She keeps her babies hidden away and has never introduced us to them — that is, until this month! One afternoon, we were delighted when Squeaky turned up with several tiny squirrels in tow. Just as we feel when our orphaned elephants introduce us to our wild-born young, it means so much that Squeaky invites us into this part of her life. 

Apollo the orphaned rhino:

Much like January, February was a month of leisure for Apollo. It remains hot in Tsavo, which leaves him with little energy or desire for hijinks. Instead, he prefers to loll in the mud bath or laze beneath the big baobab tree. Even in a state of repose, however, Apollo cuts a very impressive figure. His fourth birthday is approaching, and before our very eyes, our baby rhino is becoming a formidable fellow. 

Similar to children, rhinos behave differently as they mature. When he was younger, Apollo kept everyone on their toes (quite literally) with his naughty disappearing acts. Now, he is becoming increasingly reserved and stubborn — two famous rhino traits. He is slow to respond to the Keepers and does things at his own pace. Everyone knows better than to rush Apollo; he operates in his own time zone.

The orphaned elephants:

Doldol recently welcomed a tiny new rescue into her midst. We are taking things day by day, as one must with neonates, but we are cautiously optimistic about her progress. Of course, this also means that Doldol must share her Keepers with another. She is happy to be an ‘only child,’ so we worried how she would respond to a new sibling. Doldol surprised us all by understanding the situation and warmly welcoming the calf. In fact, she seems to enjoy the opportunity to be the queen bee. 

At the larger orphan compound, our other little baby, Mwinzi, continues to thrive. Out of all the Kaluku elephants, he loves the mud bath the most. In fact, it is a real mission to get him to vacate the water! He also loves rituals. After having his midday bottle of milk, Mwinzi goes straight over to the big water trough where he has a drink and splashes his trunk in the water. (As such a young calf, he is still somewhat inexperienced with regards to the use of his trunk, but he’s getting there.) After his mud bath, he patiently waits for one of the Keepers to wash the mud away from around his eyes. This is quite unusual, but he seems to like the personal touch!

Surprising all who know her, Rokka has really been behaving herself these days. It’s almost as if she senses that she is the matriarch of her little herd and that a certain level of decorum goes with the role. She unabashedly favours little Mwinzi and always stays close to him. Sometimes, when ‘gentle uncle’ Mayan tries to spend time with the younger bull, she gets jealous and chases him away.

Manda is another elephant who loves his rituals. He has become funnily attached to a mid-sized baobab on the fringes of the Kaluku compound. When the herd heads out into the bush each morning, he breaks away and sprints over to his favourite tree. This causes a big commotion, as the Keepers try to persuade him to join the others. However, he will have none of it until he has savoured a few baobab leaves. They must taste better from this particular tree!

As mentioned earlier, Mayan is Kaluku's ‘gentle uncle.’ As soon as he emerges from his stockade in the morning, he goes straight over to the stables where the smaller orphans are kept. After checking on everyone, he enjoys cold water from the trough. Then, he gets to the main order of business: finding his Freds. We have two Keepers by the name of Fred at Kaluku, both of whom share Mayan’s gentle, quiet nature. Mayan loves to be around them.

Vaarti continues to impress us with his brilliance. As a species, elephants are highly intelligent, but Vaarti takes it to the next level. As soon as he exits his bedroom in the morning, he makes a beeline for the milk mixing area. He knows that this is where the Keepers prepare his bottles — although the area is all cleaned up by the time he gets there — and hopes he can wheedle an extra share out of them. Nothing gets past Vaarti, but he also never kicks up a fuss or causes problems within our little family.

Twiggy the orphaned giraffe:

Worryingly, it is very dry around Kaluku. Although we got some rain in November and December, the months have evaporated most green from the landscape. However, Twiggy has an advantage in her height. She stretches her long neck to its full extension in order to reach the remaining green leaves. Recently, however, she discovered an easier way to get food: Twiggy clocked that Keeper Peter puts out lucerne pellets for Susu and Billy the orphaned elands each morning. As soon as she sees Peter heading off with the bag of pellets in hand, she is in hot pursuit. It is very funny to see the lanky giraffe stretching down in the other direction, legs askew in order to scoop up a pellet or two. Her physiology was not designed for such browsing, but she is very innovative!