Napasha scratching himself against a tree
Daily updates
October 1st
Napasha led the other orphans out into the bush today, all having taken water early. At mudbath, only Napasha went in.
October 2nd
It was a cool day. Selengai led the orphans to the mudbath, where Napasha pushed Tomboi about.
Orphans in the mudbath
October 4th
Before proceeding to the mudbath, Napasha contested the lead with Yatta, but could not withstand her strength, and surrendered the leading position.
Nasalot and Napasha
October 5th
Taita and Tomboi spent most of the morning in a test of strength, without an obvious winner. In the end Nasalot came in to separate them.
Tomboi, Taita and company resting in the mudbath
October 6th
The orphans were in a very jovial mood today, running here and there breaking bushes. At mudbath Napasha had a wonderful time, after which he dusted himself.
Napasha and Nasalot having a soilbath
October 7th
It was a hot day, so all the orphans enjoyed their mudbath, Yatta, Wendi and Napasha rolling around as though in competition. At around 2.30 p.m. we spotted a lone wild elephant some distance away and mistook it for Imenti. We tiptoed towards it, but the wild elephant detected our presence and fled, which puzzled the orphans, all of whom raised their trunks to try and scent him.
Wendi
October 8th
It began drizzling with rain at 8 a.m. Olmalo and Tomboi ran to the Keepers for shelter, so they were taken under a nearby tree.
Olmalo is taken under the trees for shelter
October 9th
At mudbath 2 warthogs and some baboons were drinking when we arrived. The warthogs fled when they saw the elephants, but the baboons just sat down and watched. It was too cold for the elephants to feel tempted to go in.
Tomboi
October 10th
Mulika and Selengai led the orphans out of the Stockade to the bush today, with Olmalo remaining close to the Keepers. In the evening, Wendi took the lead back.
Selengai and Olmalo
October 11th
In the morning Napasha had an altercation with Taita, so Yatta intervened to restore order. On the way to the mudbath the orphans came across baboons, which Yatta and Nasalot chased off.
Taita and Olmalo
October 12th
Before leaving for the mudbath Taita decided to test his strength by pushing Nasalot, who did not retaliate, but simply kept on browsing.
Taita with Sebastian
October 13th
Kinna and Napasha were the first to leave the stockade. It was a very hot day, and all the orphans had to fan their ears to keep cool.
The orphans returning to the stockades
October 14th
Close by the Stockade, Napasha came across a tortoise which mesmerized him, because it retreated into its shell! Napasha stretched out his trunk to smell it, and then tried to kick it, but the Keepers prevented him from doing this.
Napasha
October 15th
Light rain fell this morning, which excited the orphans. Tomboi and Olmalo played happily in the damp soil, rolling around together.
Yatta communicating to Napasha
October 16th
It was a cool day. At 11 a.m. Napasha amazed the Keepers by setting off at a brisk pace towards the mudbath to check whether his share of milk had arrived. The rest of the orphans decided to follow.
October 17th
Selengai, who seldom leaves Mulika, spent most of today browsing close to Yatta. Shortly before returning to the Stockade, Napasha held and pulled Tomboi’s tail, which made him yell, drawing the attention of Mulika, who ran to rescue him.
Mulika scratching against Napasha
October 18th
At mudbath, the orphans were very excited to have visitors – Dr. Sheldrick, Robert Carr Hartley and the Sheldrick Trust US Directors, who came with the Senior Warden, Daniel Woodley. All the orphans spent time intermingling with the visitors, especially Wendi, who began to show off, sitting down in a funny way and rolling on the ground in front of the audience. Meanwhile, Napasha, who is always very greedy, took to overturning the water bins, hoping to find more milk!
October 19th
On the way into the bush today, we came across the spoor of wild elephants. All the orphans were very interested, but the spoor was heading South. It was a cold day, so there was no mudbath.
October 20th
The orphans took water shortly after leaving the Stockade, and then headed out to browse.
October 22th
As an initial precaution the orphans were seperated into two groups – those bitten by the dog, and those not bitten. Yatta led Kinna, Nasalot, Napasha and Tomboi, whilst Mulika led the bitten elephants i.e. Selengai, Taita, Olmalo and Wendi. Mulika was very distressed without Nasalot, and kept on screaming and running in search of Yatta’s group, whilst Taita rumbled in distress for his friends, Taita, Olmalo, Wendi and Selengai.
A bite mark on the right hand side of the hind leg
October 23th
For the second day, the orphans remained separated and were still very unhappy at being separated. At noon the Vet ame again and vaccinated the unbitten five i.e. Yatta, Kinna, Nasalot, Napasha and Tomboi. In the evening the orphans were re-united and allowed to mix freely. Yatta placed her trunk on the backs of Selengai, Taita, Olmalo and Wendi, welcoming them back into the family. Nasalot on the other hand welcomed Mulika, who rumbled lovingly and flapped her ears.
October 25th
Olmalo and Tomboi appeared tired in the morning, due to insufficient sleep. Two dikdiks had passed the Stockade during the night, “whistling”, which scared them, the encounter with the dog still very fresh in their minds.
October 26th
The orphans browsed together quietly throughout the day.
October 27th
Napasha pushed Taita during the noon bottle milk feed. In the evening Mulika led the orphans back to the Stockade.
October 28th
Kinna led the group out today. At mudbath, Napasha and Wendi engaged in a playful shoving game.
October 29th
At around 4 p.m., Mulika, Taita, Wendi, Olmalo and Selengai receied another injection from our Vet.
October 30th
The day was very hot, so the orphans browsed under the shade of trees throughout the day.
October 31th
The day’s events for the 31st will be incorporated into the November Diary