Mzima kicking soil loose
Daily updates
July 1st
Today Lesanju, Wasessa and Sinya lead the orphans to Msinga Hill where there is still a lot of food for them eat as the dry weather has forced most of the wild elephants to this area in search of food. At around 11am the water tractor arrived at the big water hole, the tractor driver had to sit there to guard the water until the orphans arrived the wild eles drink all the water. A dust bath was the favorite activity today and Mzima entertained the rest of the orphans and the keepers with his great skills of soil dusting. Sinya stood close to him waiting for him to leave so that she could use that spot to rub her bottom on the edge of the gully.
Orphans enjoying the dustbath
Sinya
July 2nd
Shimba and panda joined their friends at the stockades to eat the delicious grass given out by the keepers that cannot be found anywhere in Tsavo park. After having their fill, Dabassa and Taveta walked towards the stockade water trough to have a few gulps. Dabassa was bullying Taveta today and gave a slight push from behind that transformed into a wonderful and vigorous strength tasting game. As the two enjoyed their play, Rombo, who is Taveta’s great friend, watched them and then got a chance of playing with them but Taveta and Dabassa teamed up and pinned him on the ground leaving him with no room to move a leg or hand. Rombo had to scream for help and Wasessa rushed forward and chased the naughty boys away.
Shimba
Panda at the stockade
Rombo and Dabassa
July 3rd
With Lesanju at the front, they all went up the hill where they settled to feed. Kenia, her friend Ndii and Rombo chose to feed near the fence that runs along the research offices where they get soft leaves by grabbing them on the other side of the fence. The rest of the herd with Lesanju and Wasessa at the front, browsed calmly along the slope of the hill. Shimba and panda were also on special watch as no one is ready to see another accident like that of Shimba and the lions that left Shimba with permanent scars.
Lesanju on Msinga Hill
Kenia
Ndii feeding
July 4th
Kenia and Ndii both joined in the pushing game with Taveta and Dabassa today whilst Wasessa and Panda browsed in what used to be Emily’s old stable where they picked some dry grass and leaves.. At noon the orphans were led back to the stockade where the babies have milk. The older team quenched their thirst and walked to the stockade mud hole where they had a few splashes of water and mud before heading back to the bush for the day’s feeding.
Panda with Wasessa
Orphans in the mudbath
Taveta in the browsing field
July 5th
The babies were in a jovial mood after a wonderful night in their respective stables. Wasessa had to be left alone at one of the feeding points because she never wants to share the copra with the other young orphans. When Lempaute saw there was a plate without an owner she quickly walked over to it and started scooping the copra and the cubes into her mouth. When Wasessa saw this, she came charging but this did not scare Lempaute who continued to eat without even looking at her. When Wasessa saw that Lempaute was not running away, she stopped beside her they both went on to eat the copra together.
Lempaute browsing
Wasessa and Lempaute sharing copra
July 6th
Panda and Shimba were here in the morning having breakfast with the rest of the group. The baboons, who have been avoiding the stockade for several months are back so it has become difficult for the orphans to have their morning feed in peace. The zebra tried hard to chase the baboons away but in vain. He returned to the copra and continued to feed with the eles as the baboons picked as much as they could whenever they got a chance. Wasessa got fed up with the disturbing baboons and in agitation she almost flattened a male baboon that was sitting close to her. The baboon jumped up and ran to a rock for safety.
Panda with Shimba following
Orphans walking in the park
Wasessa chasing a baboon
July 7th
Trumpets and screams filled the air as the orphans once again met at the stockade compound for their morning breakfast. After sharing the copra cake and the dairy cubes, the orphans played for a while before heading out to the bush for the days browsing. Lesanju led them east of the park and they settled on the slopes of Msinga hill. Tassia and Mzima left the group and continued higher up the hill where they found lots of food. At noon the two boys did not come down forcing the keepers and the rest of the group to leave them behind until they returned later in the day after the juniors milk feed and were all reunited again.
Tassia browsing
Mzima going op Msinga Hill
Oprhans browsing on the hill
July 8th
The new baby Mbirikani is getting used to the keepers and milk bottles. The keepers can now feed her milk by climbing over the rails. The snare wound on her leg is healing slowly and she is now less traumatized as she can see the people here are friendly . Lesanju and Wasessa always report to Mbirikani’s pen to check on her. The new baby is very happy when the other orphans pay her a visit. When they leave, she is left behind trying to push the door open so that she can walk to the field with them but it is too early as her wounds are not fully healed.
Mbirikani having a bottle of milk
Mbirikani's snare wound getting treatment
Orphans having a drink
July 9th
Mbirikani’s wound has to be treated every two days. Cleaning the wound with antibiotics and then applying the wound magic dust called green clay. The trick is a bottle or two of milk and she’ll stand there quietly for the keepers whilst they clean her wound and remove the dead skin and puss. Kenia and Ndii are always close to her in the nights and the three have become good friends. Most of the time Kenia is putting her trunk in the gaps between the bars that separate their stables to touch the new baby, which is a way of assuring the new calf that things will be alright.
Applying clay to Mbirikani's leg
Kenia munching on Lucerne
Ndii lifting greens
July 10th
The orphans started the day on a high note. After finishing their copra they went to clear the compound of the disturbing baboons that were everywhere, darting from one corner to the other. First Taveta took on a naughty male baboon who wanted to have the copra by force and he almost got the intruder but the baboon escaped by running through a thorn scrub. Most of the orphans led by Lempaute and Sinya walked to the fence line to on the trees that are on the other side of the fence before heading east, where the orphans had to walk in a straight line as the path is very narrow on the slope of the hill.
Lempuate reaching for greens
Taveta eating Lucerne
Sinya walks away from the stockade
July 11th
The orphans wanted to browse on the eastern slopes of Msinga Hill, where there are a lot of scrubs and bushes that the orphans like most, and where it is not frequented by wild elephants. Mzima and Tassia are the happiest orphans in the group as they were where they wanted to be. In the afternoon, the orphans climbed down and walked to the big water hole. After the midday feed Rombo, Kivuko, Dabassa, Layoni, Taveta and Ndii entertained the rest of the group with some wonderful wallowing, before the orphans went to have a dust bath in the gullies above the mud hole. Taveta and Layoni had a small misunderstanding over a spot in the gully that each wanted to roll. Wasessa, who was close by, separated the two before they were out of hand. The babies left the gullies after getting their bodies completely dry.
Rombo having milk
Kivuko downing her milk
Layoni having his milk
July 12th
Orphans opted for the field than the slope or at the top of the hill today. Kenia led them down to the main park where they browsed peacefully until half past ten. As they started their way slowly to the water hole, Tassia and Layoni stepped aside and engaged in a strength tasting game. After tusking for a couple of minutes, Tassia and Layoni followed the others who had already started the walk to the big water hole. After quenching their thirst, Lesanju walked to an acacia tree and started dust bathing. Sinya followed her and then Kivuko. Lesanju again started leaving the water slowly and the others followed a few minutes later.
Tassia and Layoni strength testing
Lesanju dustbathing
July 13th
At around 11.45am the orphans came across a wild elephant family who were browsing on the route that leads to the big water hole. This was a friendly wild herd and they allowed our orphans to say jambo to their young family members. Sinya grabbed the opportunity to meet and greet a tiny calf in the family and at that moment, the two became inseparable. Lesanju broke away from the group and instead stayed with the wild herd browsing until 3.00pm. From there, the orphans were led back to the bush by Sinya and Tassia. The evening session was calm as the orphans went deeper in the park and browsed silently until 5pm when they returned to the stockade.
Sinya goes to greet the wild herd
Wild herd with a little calf
Lesanju
July 14th
After their morning routine the orphans led by Lempaute, Sinya, Kenia and Dabassa started spraying their body with muddy water. Lesanju, who was left behind waiting for Mzima and Tassia who were browsing on the hill, finally arrived at the big water hole. Upon seeing her friends, she let out a loud rumble that made Wasessa, Ndii, Kenia and Kivuko jump to their feet and stretch out their trunks in greeting. Lesanju watched Rombo and Layoni enjoy the wallow and made sure that the older orphans didn’t disturb the younger boys. After having enough fun, the orphans returned to the field where they browsed until evening.
Orphans mudbathing
Dabassa digging wet soil
July 15th
After leaving their stables in the morning, the orphans headed straight to eat their copra before proceeding to the Lucerne area where they found fresh grass waiting for them. It was Mzima’s turn to lead the group while Lesanju stayed at the back which is not her right place. With Mzima at the front, the elephants marched along the slopes of Msinga hill slowly picking whatever they could find edible on the way. Mbirikani was visited by the vet today who came to clean her wound and redress it, applying the green clay on the wound, the vet left Mbirikani to enjoy her meal.
Mzima enjoying copra
Heading out for the day
Mbirikani getting her wound dressed
July 16th
Lesanju led her group west instead of east today and before going far, the group split into two. Lesanju and about five babies including Shimba climbed the hill as soon as they negotiated the first corner leaving Wasessa and the rest of the babies walking along a narrow path at the foot of the hill. Panda walked close to Wasessa and Kenia with Lempaute walking in front of them like an escort. Although he is slow most of the time due to his injuries, Shimba was happy to join Lesanju group up the hill.
Shimba out browsing
Panda in the bush browsing
July 17th
Today the orphans were all afraid of going into the mudbath except Layoni who volunteered to check the temperature of the water for them. He walked to the center of the pool and slowly dipped his trunk in the water and then used his front leg to kick the water and stir the mud. Dabassa and Tassia waited eagerly on the edge of the pool for Layoni to start rolling but instead Layoni scooped trunk fulls of mud and sprayed it behind his ears. The older girls came to check what he was doing and when they saw muddy water on him, Wasessa, Lesanju, Sinya, and Lempaute joined him and also had a quick splash and spray before running to the acacia tree near the water hole where they have made a huge bowl of dust and started rolling and dust bathing.
Layoni and Tassia
Wasessa dustbathing with the others
July 18th
Feeding in the field went on smoothly today with the orphans paying no attention to the wild elephants that were browsing about a hundred meters from where they were. Even Tassia, Taveta, Layoni, Rombo and Dabassa who like running towards wild herds when they are close busied themselves with bushes and grass never lifting their heads to see who was around. At 11am, Layoni who is becoming greedy every day, led Kenia, Dabassa, Taveta, Ndii and Kivuko to the big water hole where they get their noon feed. Because of the cloudy weather, the orphans did not go into the pool to wallow but quenched their thirst in the troughs.
Rombo munching away on Lucerne
Kivuko coming for milk
July 19th
The orphans enjoyed feeding throughout the morning and at noon, before Dabassa took charge of the milk babies leading them to the mud hole. The weather was not on their side once more and this forced them to have a dust bath only. Dabassa very much wanted to wallow but walked away when he checked the water’s temperature with his trunk and found that it is not good to go in. Lesanju, Sinya, Wasessa, Mzima and Lempaute went on to browse in the nearby bushes waiting for the babies to finish playing.
Dabassa scratching with a stick
Lempaute in the bushes
Walking to the field
July 20th
The older orphans led by Wasessa first walked to Mbirikani’s pen to check on her. They stretched their trunks through the bars and touched the new baby while she returned the greetings by doing the same. After a minute, the older girls left Mbirikani to have her breakfast silently and went to eat the copra cake. Mbirikani wanted to follow them but she is still on medication and can’t be allowed to follow them.
Wasessa with ears spread
Lempaute enjoying green vegitation
Mbirikani with a keeper
July 21th
After finishing the copra, dairy cubes and Lucerne, the orphans washed all this down with gulps of water before cruising away. They were led up the hill by Taveta and Wasessa where they browsed between the rocks. The milk dependents split from the main herd and started the journey to the big water hole where they had their midday feed and as soon as they downed their bottles, they went to drink water and wait for their older mates to arrive. When Lesanju and the remaining team arrived. Wallowing did not take long as the weather is still not very hot. Rombo, Taveta and Dabassa started a tug of war with Taveta in the middle and Rombo and Dabassa on the head and tail respectively, they pushed back and forth.
Having a drink at the stockade
Browsing on the hill
Rombo and Taveta playing
July 22th
Mbirikani got her wound dressed by the vet and the keepers today. Her leg is healing slowly and there is a big improvement compared to the first day she came in. The wound was cleaned with warm salty water and she was given antibiotics and then green clay. Turning to the rest of the herd, Mzima led the orphans to the field but they seemed not in the mood for going out. Mzima decided to turn and started coming back to the group and this gave Dabassa and Sinya a chance to take the lead and they happily did this while playing with their trunks entwined.
Dabassa and Sinya
Mzima kicking up roots
July 23th
Panda enjoyed her time with Wasessa this morning who taught her how to play with her trunk. She showed the baby how to swing and stretch her trunk in a standing position. Panda happily copied what her mentor taught her and actually she did better. Lesanju and a few other babies that were left behind eating the Lucerne decided to go to the hill instead of coming back to the stockade for water. They browsed individually waiting for their friends who were still having fun around the compound. Kivuko kept her distance as usual. We don’t know why but she loves to browse some distance from the other orphans. Even when going to the bush or coming back home, you’ll see her keeping a good distance from the others. Maybe it’s because she is tusk-less and does not want to get into a brawl with those with huge and long tusks.
Little Panda
Lesanju on the hill
Kivuko in the field
July 24th
Taveta decided to stay behind and scavenge for the copra cake pieces while the other members of the family went to eat the Lucerne. Our new baby Mbirikani is doing well and the wound on her leg continues to heal. She is happy with the treatment she is getting from her new family of elephants and human. Fresh greens, Lucerne, water and milk every three hours is what she needs and she is getting the very best care. She is a very jovial character now and has turned from an aggressive wild elephant to a beautiful lovely little calf who is a favorite amongst the Voi keepers. We believe she will be out with Shimba and Panda in the next few weeks when her wound has healed.
Taveta waiting for the others to finish milk
Shimba enjoying lucerne
July 25th
Shimba and Panda had a wonderful time browsing in the fenced area where they got the untouched thorn trees that they loved most. Shimba can be seen grinding and chewing the branches of the thorns as if he was eating sugarcane. Panda kicked and up rooted small scrubs that had very sweet roots. She moved from one small brush to another while Shimba continued to munch the thorn branches. The two continued like that until noon when they came back to the stockade for milk. Shimba and Panda will join the other orphans when the big boy is completely strong and can walk properly. But very soon they will get a new friend and Mbirikani will join them sooner the leg heals.
Shimba browlsing on thorn tree
Panda busy browsing
July 26th
The keepers had to move Shimba and Panda back to the yard today when they saw fresh prints of a lion where they were browsing. On the other side of the fence there is a lot of food but with lions around the keepers did not want to take a risk so the orphans were moved to the area near Malaika house and the main water storage tanks. There is lots of green vegetation there and the two friends really enjoyed it.
Orphans mudbathing
Kenia, Ndii and Wasessa browsing
July 27th
After being chased away several times from stealing copra, Wasessa is starting to behave these days. She can now be seen eating the cake with the others without too much fuss. Sinya, Rombo, Layoni, Lesanju, Dabassa and Mzima were the first at the Lucerne zone. Each can be seen munching as much as they can and no one is sharing with the other. After having enough, Sinya left for the water trough but on the way, she came across a herd of impalas that she started to charge. The impalas were very clever, they just crept under the fence and stopped on the other side where they watched Sinya trumpet and run around as if she was out of her mind. When she saw that getting the impalas was out of question, Sinya ran trumpeting towards the water hole and settled to drink.
Sinya eating Lucerne
Layoni picking up grass
July 28th
Shimba and Panda were given their share of Lucerne near the water storage tanks at Malaika house today and Shimba seems to love it more than Panda. After having eaten almost everything, Lesanju accompanied by Ndii, led the other babies back to the water trough and after a quick drink, they all headed to the field for browsing. The orphans decided to browse on the slopes of the hill for the whole day. They did not go to the water hole or come back to the stables.
Ndii playing at the stockade
Lesanju in a gully
July 29th
Dabassa and Ndii settled for a strength testing game that did not even last for a minute before they got bored with it. Lempaute saw it was good to have a nice rub on a rock while Wasessa, Lesanju and Mzima picked thorn seeds by stretching their trunks high to get to the ones that are at the top of the tree. All this time Lempaute watched them from her scratching rock and was not interested in joining them. Lempaute walked over to Ndii and she started showing the little girl and Dabassa how to stretch the body on a heap of sand and also how to count press ups to fifty without breaking a sweat. After finishing her class with the kids, Lempaute saw some delicious leaves on the other side of the fence and decided to grab some. Today a one year old elephant calf was rescued at Taita Ranch. The calf was by itself and we don’t know what happened to the mother.
Lempute scratching
Dabassa and Ndii playing
July 30th
The new baby that came in last night was not in very good shape but spent the night in one of the holding pens near Mbirikani. The keepers had to put her on a drip to try and save her life. Everything was tried to help her but it was all in vain. Late in the night at about midnight, she gave up and passed away.
Mbirikani greets the new comer
Kenia running
Mzima going into the water
July 31th
Another rescue report was received from Lualeni Ranch in the Taita area. Lualeni camp guides who were doing their normal game drive with a group of Italian tourists came across a one year old calf that was alone. The message arrived at the stockade at around 10:30 am where they quickly assembled their rescue gear and set off to Lualeni. The team arrived and quickly managed to tie up the calf and load him into the pick up to get him to the closest airstrip at Salt Lick Lodge. The calf was put on a drip by the DSWT Nairobi Rescue team who had come down in a plane to bring the calf back to the Nursery with them.
Ndii showing her tusks
Shimba with trunk lifted
Kenia mudbathing