A wild Bull Joins the orphans
Daily updates
November 1st
Emily arrived early to escort the orphans, but without Aitong and Sweet Sally, who joined the group later at 8.16 a.m. Sally “showed off” in front of the others to show them that she was now a “grown-up” and out at night, posing with one back leg crossed and stretching only her trunk towards them as they approached to greet her!
November 2nd
At 3.30 p.m. at the foot of Mazinga Hill where the orphans were browsing, a wild bull of about 12 years approached the group. Laikipia came forward to introduce himself, tossing his trunk forward to hold that of the wild bull. The orphans remained with the wild bull until it was time to return to the Night Stockade.
The Voi orphans at the foot of Mazinga hill
November 3rd
Emily, Aitong and Sally came to escort the orphans in the morning. Sally had an altercation with Mweiga, jealously noticing that Mweiga wanted to be close to Aitong but Aitong stopped Sally, giving each equal attention, touching them both frequently.
November 4th
Salama and Nyiro, who have been eager to show off dominance to the younger bulls, engaged each other in a tough battle, which left Nyiro rolling down like an empty bucket when Salama pushed him down. Emily, who had already joined them in the morning, came to his rescue, and Salama, upon seeing her approach fast, took off!
November 5th
There was a lot of excitement when the orphans joined 4 wild cows, one of whom had a tiny baby of about 3 weeks old. Ndara rushed to touch the baby, but the mother denied her the chance to touch it, by bringing the baby beneath her forelegs. Emily went to comfort Ndara, placing her trunk on Ndara’s head.
A wild cow joins the orphans at Voi
November 6th
Emily, Aitong and Sally turned up to meet the other orphans in the morning. Loisaba, Tsavo, Ndara and Ilingwezi were very happy to see them, charging forward trumpeting with happiness when they saw the three coming down from Mazinga Hill where they had spent the night.
November 7th
There was confusion in the morning when Mweya, Thoma, Morani, Seraa and Mpala tried to chase off two bushbucks, and the bushbucks simply ran amongst the orphans! Chaos reigned until Mweya collided head on with Seraa and both fell down. By the time they got up the bushbucks had disappeared into a nearby bush. At the noon milk feed Solango tried to block Morani from getting his bottle, which made Morani yell. The Keepers came and reprimanded Solango
Natumi playing
November 8th
Led by Emily, the orphans charged 2 giraffes and some zebra who were drinking at the mudbath. Burra and Solango, who were left behind, became alarmed and ran to the Keepers when they spotted the giraffes heading their way.
Emily
November 9th
Emily was late today, but met up with the group out in the bush. Mpala and Burra had a shoving contest, and Mpala became very excited when he managed to push down Burra, but only because Burra’s hind leg got caught in some grass. Mpala trumpeted with happiness, content at having won the bout. In the evening the orphans watched a large group of mixed wild elephant families numbering about 60 heading towards Mazinga Hill. The orphans did not join them, because it was time to return to the Stockade, but Emily, Aitong and Sally probably spent the night with the wild herd.
Some of the orphans joined a wild group
November 10th
The orphans raised their trunks to test the air, and then headed to Mazinga Hill, because Emily was there. Emily came down to greet them and stood quietly close to Natumi, touching her mouth as if to find out how her babies were. Emily then went to fetch Mweiga, who was left some way behind the others. At 3.25 p.m. the orphans briefly joined a wild group of 6 elephants, but did not spend much time with them since the wild group wanted to move on to another appointment.
Natumi welcomes Emily and Aitong
November 11th
Emily and her group (Aitong and Sally) came with a wild bull of Emily’s age to join the orphans at l0 a.m. Natumi appeared jealous, and ignored their presence until the wild bull wandered off. Only then did she go and greet Emily, Aitong and Sally who were busy investigating a hornbill in its nest in a tree.
Voi orphans with their Keepers
November 12th
Burra and Morani had a tussle in the morning, which lasted a long time. The Keepers tried to separate them, but they ran off, and started the battle again! The fight ended when Emily arrived to greet them
November 13th
Emily’s group was not seen all day. Morani fed close to Mweiga, feeling a little insecure. At 4 p.m. Catherine’s wild group of about 10 elephants came to drink water at the Stockade. One cow was very aggressive, charging the Keepers behind the electric wire. They wandered off before the orphans arrived for the night.
Emily and Aitong
November 14th
It was a very hot day, so the orphans took their mudbath early and all had a wonderful mud wallow, except Mweiga, who stood watching. They got a fright near Mazinga Hill when whilst attempting to chase off a baby baboon, the big dog baboon came to the rescue, and chased the orphans off.
Voi Orphans
November 15th
Nyiro was being a pest to Salama, constantly trying to jump on his back. Natumi intervened and chased Nyiro off. Natumi has now taken charge of the orphans, since Emily, Aitong and Sally have been absent now for two days.
November 16th
Burra and Morani played a pushing game again, and this time Burra was very steady and he won the round. Later, a hyaena merging from a thick bush ran between the orphans’ legs, which left them motionless, and screaming. The Keepers had to spend time calming them down. Emily arrived later to join them at 9.35 a.m.
November 17th
There was a great deal of excitement when Ndara ran hither and thither and met up with Wmily’s group on the way to the orphans’ feeding ground. Emily rumbled a greeting and went to take her, and the two spent the day feeding close to one another.
November 18th
Emily’s group came to join the other orphas at 8.30 a.m. Upon noticing that they were coming Natumi tried to encourage the orphans to go in the opposite direction, but Emily came in to join them, leaving Natumi looking helplessly as all the orphans made a big fuss of greeting Emily. Irima, Nyiro and Lolokwe chased of 6 male impalas, a game that became so fascinating that Mweia found herself also embroiled, chasing the antelope for about 400 metres before returning to join the other orphans.
Irima Lolokwe and Nyiro chased a group of Impala
November 19th
There was rain and thunder during the night. Emily, Aitong and Sweet Sally remained close to the Stockades, and were ready to escort the orphans out in the morning, all enjoying the rain puddles and soft mud.
The orphans returning to their night stockades
November 20th
Emily’s group was spotted feeding high up on Mazinga Hill. Icholta enjoyed leading the other orphans to the feeding area, but found herself in trouble with Natumi, who tried to push her back. A wild bull of 12 years old joined the orphans at 8 a.m. Salama and Laikipia combined forces to play a pushing game with him and spent about an hour with him before rejoining the others on their way to the mudbath.
November 21th
In the absence of Emily, there was a tussle between Natumi and Icholta over who should lead the orphans. Nyiro came to give Ocholta back-up, but suddenly they both turned round to find Emily close by. Icholta slowly disengaged, without even greeting Emily
Ndara greets Aitong and Emily
November 22th
Ndara and Solango had a tussle today, which turned serious, so Natumi charged in to separate them. The orphans joined a group of 7 wild elephants today when Salana tested his strength against an age-mate whom he succeeded in pushing down. Two other wild bulls came to take on Salama, who soon found himself overpowered and rolling down the hill like an empty bottle! The wild Matriarch intervened to come to his rescue, and the two culprits fled.
Solango Soil Bathing
November 23th
The orphans were very happy today, browse being plentiful after the rains. Thjey teamed up in groups of friends to play pushing games. Tsavo took on Sosian, whilst Mukwaju engaged Solango. Mpala went to investigate a dung beetle rolling its ball of dung along the ground, and got very scared when the beetle grabbed onto the end of his trunk, causing him to scream. This brought Emily along, who took Mpala off with her to feed close.
Solango and Mkwaju playing
November 24th
Upon hearing baby screams, Emily, Aitong and Sally came rushing down Mazinga Hill to take charge of the youngsters, taking them back up the hill to browse until it was time for the mudbath.
A wild herd, Voi Tsavo
November 25th
The orphans emerged from their Night Stockade looking active and happy. Icholta lay on Solango, which made him scream, so the Keepers intervened. At 6.37 a.m. the orphans joined a group of 13 wild elephants with whom they remained until the mudbath hour. Laikipia was left behind with the wild herd, but caught up with the others later.
The orpahns join a wild group
November 26th
Emily’s group came to take the other orphans early in the morning. There had been heavy rain the previous night.
November 27th
Mweya chased off a lesser kudu this morning, but upon noticing that none of the others had given her any backing, she returned in a rush, and took it out on Seraa, whom she pushed down.
Catherines group visit the stockade
November 28th
Emily’s group joined the other orphans at 10 a.m., leading them to an early mudbath which they all enjoyed immensely. Natumi lay down and allowed Morani and Mpala to climb onto her stomach, but rose when Mvita came to join them.
Laikipia leads the orpahns
November 29th
Emily’s group joined the other orphans as they were leaving the Night Stockade in the morning, and they all browsed together all day. Later a group of baboons ran down from Mazinga hill making a huge fuss, possibly because of the presence of a leopard. There was a great deal of confusion when they found themselves amongst the elephants, after which they took to the trees.
The wild herds, Voi Tsavo East
November 30th
The rains began early this morning. The orphans enjoyed rubbing themselves again anthills as they made their way out into the bush. At 10.20 a.m. Emily and Aitong charged and chased off two lions who were resting under a tree near Mazinga Hill. After this, Emily’s group celebrated their victory by trumpeting and breaking small bushes, whilst Sally, who was more scared, joined all the others trumpeting in excitement.
Orphans resting under a Baobab