Each elephant is born with their own unique character, but they also pick up habits from their friends. For instance, Kerrio never walks past a tree with holes in its trunk without curling her own trunk inside to check for water. Having learned this habit from Kerrio, Mzinga now does the same. This month, little Olomunyak started tagging along with Mzinga and copying her behaviour. Every time Mzinga dipped her trunk inside a tree trunk, Olomunyak would parrot her, extending his tiny trunk to double dip. Standing side by side — taught by the best teacher, Kerrio — the two friends enjoyed their secret drink.

Mageno has always been unusually nurturing for a bull. As a new rescue, he was a wonderful big brother to Mzinga and Nyambeni, playing an integral role in their healing journeys. Now that he is older, he continues to dote on all the Nursery babies. One afternoon, Olomunyak dawdled behind after the mud bath, because he was waiting for one of the Keepers. As the young boy stood on his own, two buffaloes started walking in his direction. Watching this unfold, Mageno heroically ran back to Olomunyak and faced off the danger, standing strong with his ears flared. As the buffaloes made a hasty retreat, Mageno shepherded his little brother back to the herd.

Wamata, the smallest and newest addition to our Nursery herd, has become a great favourite among the older girls. She still has some weight and condition to gain, but she is settling in well. One day, a Keeper handpicked wild fruit from a tree and gave it to her, as she was too short to reach the tasty treat. The following day, as Muwingu plucked fruit off the same tree, Wamata stood under its branches, gazing skyward with a wistful expression on her little face! We took pity and picked more fruit for her to enjoy. 

As we shared last month, the death of Mokogodo left Latika with a bruised heart. For a time she took out her sadness on younger orphans like Pardamat, Olomunyak, and Taroha. Of late, she has become her caring, gentle self again, focusing her attention on little Wamata. 

Mukutan and Choka are the oldest bulls in our Nursery herd. Mukutan is the dominant bull — but only just, because Choka is also very strong. The boys are evenly matched and enjoy testing each other’s strength. One day, a sparring match became particularly heated and neither would give up. When we whistled, they ignored us. When Sileita, Muwingu, Mushuru and Sholumai tried to separate the bulls, they failed. In the end, Choka emerged victorious — but only because Loldaiga joined in on his side! With two against one, Mukutan had no choice but to admit defeat and walk away.

Mischievous young Pardamat is up to his old tricks. One afternoon, he padded to the milk feed, gulped down his milk, and ran at Talek — a little girl who drinks slowly and carefully, enjoying every drop rather than downing her bottle. Pardamat did his best to grab the bottle from her mouth and out of the Keeper’s hands. Two of us saw off the naughty boy, taking him a few metres away for a timeout and standing guard so the others could enjoy their milk in peace. Pardamat trumpeted loudly in protest, as if he were the innocent party!

Shujaa takes a completely opposite approach to milk feeds. In contrast to the rest of the herd, who find the quickest route to the Keepers holding bottles — in Pardamat’s case, bowling over anyone in his path — Shujaa often diverts along the way. Some days, he pauses to collect sticks from the ground or get a drink of water before casually ambling over for his milk.

Mushuru is an orphan of opposites. She is the only big girl who loves to play pushing games with the boys, but she is also a caring older sister, especially to Olomunyak and Wamata. She is often found either cavorting with the bulls or fussing over her favourite babies.

Kamili is another unusual female. Rather than doting on the babies, as most girls do, she sometimes delights in antagonising them! At one memorable mud bath, Talek, Olomunyak, Shujaa, and Latika were enjoying a peaceful browsing session. Kamili approached the group and began nipping the little ones’ tails, one after the other. Latika didn’t know what was going on, as Talek and Olomunyak merely changed position or faced another direction. When Wamata toddled over to join the small group, Kamili bit her tail, causing the little girl to scream. Culprit revealed, Latika drove Kamili away with an enormous shove.

Sileita is happiest when covered in a wriggling blanket of baby elephants. We often find her doing her best imitation of an enormous cushion, lying on the ground and inviting the small ones to play on her. Needing no encouragement, Talek, Taroha, Olomunyak, and Pardamat take turns propping their front legs on her belly and clambering atop the mini matriarch.

Whenever there is rain at night, sleepless nights ensue for at least a few of the babies — and by extension, the Keepers rooming with them and everyone else within earshot. One evening, there was a heavy downpour that lasted for hours. Taroha, Pardamat, and Kerrio had difficulty sleeping. They walked around their bedrooms, rumbling and trumpeting and rumbling again. The Keepers were kept busy trying to calm everyone down.

And sometimes, sleepless nights happen for no apparent reason at all! One evening, poor Weka was very upset. She marched around her stockade, trumpeting loudly and waking everyone up. In recent weeks, hyenas had walked through the compound in the middle of the night, which agitated the orphans — they are safe inside their bedrooms, but understandably do not welcome the unexpected visitors. As we calmed Weka down, we examined the ground outside her stockade, expecting to find hyena tracks. Finding no tracks and no other explanation for her behaviour, we concluded that she had probably had a nightmare. 

Taroha used to spend lots of time with Mokogodo, and now he is gravitating toward our new girl, Wamata. One morning, we kept Wamata in her stable because it was very wet and chilly. As soon as we opened the door of Taroha’s stable, he headed straight for her room and waited by her door. When we opened Olomunyak’s door, he did exactly the same thing. The two caring boys hovered outside Wamata’s room, nudging the door with their heads. We had to persuade them to abandon their quest and join the herd in the forest.

As it turned out, the quest was not abandoned — merely delayed! An hour later, Taroha, Mzinga, Nyambeni, and Kerrio sneaked behind a bush and back to the stockades to check on the little girl, who was still sheltering in her room. By then, the rain had eased off, so we were able to open Wamata’s door. She toddled out, and her four friends ushered her up the path and into the forest, rumbling happily at their success.

As orphans begin to age-out of the Nursery stage, their desire for independence grows. Sholumai often recruits friends to go on private adventures away from the Keepers and babies. One evening, she and her accomplice, Loldaiga, ignored our whistles when it was time to return home. We found the pair deep in the forest, happily feeding on wild fruit. With great reluctance, they trudged home for bed.

Muwingu, our resident tomboy, loves hanging out with the big boys. She can often be found wandering around with Mukutan, Kitich, Loldaiga, and Choka, browsing and playing pushing games. Mischievous Loldaiga seems to be her favourite playmate, as he is happy to accept a challenge and always plays fair. Muwingu also likes to partner up with Muridjo, a fellow tomboy, with a nurturing streak. 

At two years old, best friends Nyambeni and Mzinga are starting to sprout tiny tusks. Mzinga used to often greet little Raha the rhino at the mud bath or in the forest. As they are different species, we did not encourage the friendship. But the heart wants what it wants! One day, Mzinga and Nyambeni snuck away from the herd and found the little rhino in a clearing. The girls greeted Raha with trunk touches and rumbles before we shepherded them back to the herd. 

The rhinos:

This was a difficult month for Raha. On 10th November, quite unexpectedly, she suffered a prolapse in her rectum. When we rescued Raha in 2022, predators had mauled her rear end. Painstaking veterinary intervention rebuilt the area, and it had been well over a year since her last prolapse. This latest development marked a significant setback.

Our vet acted quickly to perform surgery on her rectum, which was successful, but the road ahead for Raha is complicated. She is extremely reluctant to swallow any roughage, as if instinctively aware that passing it will be painful. As a milk-dependent infant, this wasn’t a major concern, but as Raha matures and her body requires a significant amount of leaves, branches, twigs, and bark for sustenance, it becomes a greater issue.

However, we are tentatively hopeful about Raha’s progress in recent weeks. By the month’s end, she was up to longer excursions into the forest and even started nibbling on greens. The path forward is challenging, but we are doing everything we can to support Raha. Her case is complex and unprecedented, but if there is one thing we have learned over the years, it is that animals continually surprise us.

All is well in Maxwell’s world. The cool, wet weather put him in an exceptionally good mood this month. One morning, he had a lovely interaction with Olomunyak. The friendly little elephant stretched his trunk through the gaps in Max’s gate to touch the big rhino. Max stood still, enjoying the attention. It wasn’t long before a posse of nannies whisked Olomunyak into the forest, and Maxwell was left to enjoy a relaxing day with his wild warthog friends.