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DIARIES : |
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Monthly Diary Reports
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Wendi and Ol Malo were intrigued by this newcomer; Selengai and Sunyei viewed him with overt suspicion, whilst Tomboi and Napasha pretended not to even notice his presence, yet looking sideways at him with obvious curiosity. As for “Madiba” his main focus was “the blanket”, something that has persisted since. Each day has seen him becoming a little stronger and sturdier on his legs and he is feeding well, and gaining weight rapidly. We are very pleased with his progress so far. Ol Malo is gentle and loving and eager to dominate the attention of any visitor whilst Taita is beginning to look positively robust, as is Napasha who is bordering on being “fat” – not a bad thing in a baby elephant who are essentially so very fragile in infancy. Selengai is a little glutton, with plump wobbly cheeks, always focused on her milk, and Sunyei continues to capture the hearts of everyone by being a real little “show-off” and very playful. Tomboi is a true “Tomboy” who likes throwing his weight around (literally), but it is little Ndomot and “Madiba” who have dominated the month, and kept us firmly anchored to base over the festive period when most people manage to escape and we, too, had hoped to do so! All the Nursery inmates are thriving. Napasha’s tusks are just visible through the lip, which means that he is approaching a milestone – his second birthday – and time to move up a rung and join the others in Tsavo. Taita and Olmalo are firm friends, Olmalo a very gentle and friendly character and a great favourite amongst both elephants and humans alike. Napasha and Tomboi are real “boys”, more independent than the girls, whilst Selengai and Sunyei are quiet and sweet, Selengai still very hooked on her food! Sunyei is a Nursery favourite, for she is so tiny for her age, and although she is now 5 months old, she is a little smaller even than 6 week old “Ndomot”. No doubt she will suddenly shoot up, as have others before her. Wendi, is very much a confident Nursery Elephant Boss, lording it over everyone, human admirers included and not beyond asserting authority by giving unsuspecting onlookers a shove. This is behaviour she copied from Mweya, and something that we have to discourage! Nursery elephants were introduced to Taita, viewing him through the bars of the door. One by one they were ushered in to physically meet him, amidst great excitement. Napasha and Olmalo were curious and friendly, but Wendi, Tomboi, Selengai and little Sunyei were a bit wary of the newcomer. They were brought to pay their respects in the morning, after the noon mudbath and in the evening until “Taita” had calmed down sufficiently to be able to join them, which happened on the fourth day after his arrival. Wendi, like Mweya, tends to be a bit “pushy” with strangers, probably having copied this trait from Mweya. Tomboi has taken up the cue, and now also enjoys throwing his weight around visiting humans, and Selengai is beginning to do the same! This, the elephants view as “amusement”, but it is, of course, unacceptable behaviour that has to be checked while still young. Now that all these orphans are bigger, the “cattle prod” may have to be produced in order to re-establishl discipline! Little Sunyei still needs the comfort of a hung blanket in order to take milk, Napasha is a glutton who bellows when the last bottle is empty, and tries his luck at trying to snatch that of others, Tomboi and Wendi are mischievous, playful rascals and Selengai thinks mostly of food! At this point in time, “Taita” wins the award for good Nursery behaviour and Olmalo for the most gentle and friendly member of the group! Being a very sensitive little elephant, Olmalo usually likes to remain close to Napasha, who prefers to feed apart from the others. She obviously thinks he should not be all alone. Selengai and Sunyei, the two smallest calves, enjoy playing together and have formed a strong bond of friendship that will undoubtedly last a lifetime, whilst Wendi keeps a motherly eye on them all, happy to allow Olmalo and Napasha more independence. Napasha is something of a glutton, bellowing with disappointment whenever the last bottle has gone down, which is usually long before the others have finished! Selengai comes a close second in terms of appetite, whilst Olmalo, Sunyei and Wendi like to savour their milk and take their time, seemingly enjoying the frustration of Napasha and Selengai whilst doing so! Every day fun is had by chasing the warthogs, many of whom now have tiny piglets, and often the noon mudbath is disrupted by the appearance of one of our two, now independent, rhinos, Magnum or Makosa. Tomboi is popular because of his spirit and mischievous character, whilst Olmalo is loved for her gentle nature. Napasha is a loner, self sufficient and independent whilst Selengai is friends with everyone and anyone, but mostly hooked on her bottle! Natasha is now plump and settled, having initially suffered from bloat, his digestive system having been deprived of milk for some time. He is a hungry little elephant, who never wants to be starved of food again, and who bellows every time his allocation of milk is finished! He is also quite a loner, rather like Mpala, but has been befriended by Ol Malo, of whom he is very fond. Ol Malo, like Wendi, views herself also as a Mini Matriarch, with little Sunyei as her special baby, and Napasha also her particular responsibility. Tomboi enjoys romping with Napasha and is an exuberant and mischievous little character who chases the pigs, plays endlessly and is a favourite with everyone, whilst Selengai thinks first and foremost about food and is simply a member of the mini gang. Wendi, as always, is very protective of her charges, and, like Mweya, not averse to shoving a visitor paying too much attention to any of them! After a very shaky beginning, Wendi has turned out to be one of the healthiest of our infant elephants, who managed to cut her first molars without any problems, something that is unusual. Very soon Tomboi decided that having another boy in the fold, even though a bit bigger, had to be a good thing, and once Wendi had accepted that he was not a threat to her position as Mini Matriarch of the Nursery group, she, too, greeted him warmly and welcomed him to the group. Selengai, who is a very self sufficient little elephant, and law unto herself and her bottle, pretended not to not to take much notice of a newcomer, living only for the next feed! She has shot up, and is the picture of health now, with the chubby cheeks of a thriving baby. Like most elephants who mourn the loss of their mother and family acutely, Napasha had difficulty in sleeping for the first few nights, and cried a lot throughout the hours of darkness. However, after about 4 days he settled down, and each day finds him a little happier and, like Selengai, hooked on his milk. He is remarkable in that he never showed any sign of aggression towards humans, despite being of an age when we would expect this. Wendi has turned into a very responsible little Matriarch and not nearly so pushy as before. Tomboi is, indeed, a “tomboy” – boisterous, playful and essentially mischievous, whilst Olmalo and Selengai are somewhat reserved who simply get on with doing their own thing.
Seraa’s pneumonia of 2 years ago, that almost took her from us, is an even more distant memory, for she is now plump and healthy, Mpala and little Ol Malo who, for weeks, could not sleep at night being so psychologically traumatized, now enjoy untroubled and peaceful sleep, nightmares a thing of the past. Tomboi and Selengai have cut their first molars, over all the teething problems these usually bring and, Wendi, who owes her life to Thoma’s blood plasma, has been one of the fittest babies we have ever had, ever since! She is Mini-Mum to Selengai, firmly in control and resisting any competition for this role, whilst Seraa respects this whim, and is happy to shower Ol Malo with protective matriarchal affection. Morani and Mpala are best buddies, always feeding a little apart from the junior set and always together, and all the babies have greatly enjoyed the puddles, the mud and the greens brought on by the recent rains. We could hardly believe it when, having just recovered from the trauma of Morani, in the late afternoon of the 25TH April, another phone call from Laikipia heralded yet another baby elephant in need of rescue, this time from the Francombes’ Ol Malo Lodge bordering Loisaba Ranch. This calf, like Selengai, was just found wandering alone, but we later heard that a young cow had been speared by Pokot tribesmen on Loisaba Ranch. Obviously associating a terrible experience of loss, fear and capture with being confined alone all night, this baby refused to settle at night, crying constantly and restlessly pacing. This kept Tomboi and Selengai awake, so the next day we moved her to between Seraa and Mpala, putting Mpala in another stable. That night, neither Mpala nor Olmalo slept a wink, so the third night, we returned Mpala to his own stable, and then at least he was happy! But, for 5 nights, Olmalo was uncomfortable in the stable, but finally, she calmed down, and is now happy and sleeping at night. Four orphaned elephants have come in from Laikipia district within the last few months, an indication that things are not as they should be for the elephants in that part of the world. An escalation of poaching is very evident in the North following the decision taken by CITES last year to ease the Ivory Ban. As yet, history does not relate what happened to the mothers of Tomboi, Wendi, Selengai, or the latest Nursery inmate little "Ol Malo", but the fact that they are here is not good elephant news. Since the calf hails from Samburu country, we consulted our Samburu Keepers regarding a suitable name, and they chose "Selengai" which means "beautiful girl". Immediately upon arrival, little Selengai settled in, drinking copious quantities of rehydration and during the course of that first night downing 15 pints of SMA Goldcap milk - not a bad start, although 18 would have been better. She was exhausted and slept well, cuddled up beside a Keeper and covered in a blanket. As usual, she was given the usual prophylactic injectible course of antibiotics. The welcome from the others the next day was very touching. They were all delighted to see her, Seraa acting as a little "mother", but Wendi also eager to play that role, pushing Seraa aside in a determined way. Tomboi looked a little confused confronted by another of exactly his size, despite the fact that he is now three months old! Mpala became immediately protective, facing outwards with ears out, warning all and sundry to keep their distance! That first morning Selengai spent with the others, and even delighted the visitors by appearing at the noon mudbath, but began to show signs of weakness soon afterwards, so was removed to rest nearby. A bout of diarrheoa from newcomers is usually anticipated. Trauma of being orphaned and captured, the journey and different milk, all take a toll. With Selengai, sure enough, the diarrhoea set in, which entailed a course of oral Sulphadimidine to bring it under control, but we were totally unprepared for what followed -seven full days without any sign of a stool, even though the new baby was downing 24 pints of milk each day. We wondered where on earth 21 gallons of milk could possibly be in such a miniature body, but as there were no sign of discomfort, or loss of appetite, we resorted only to the old fashioned remedies of brown sugar, olive oil and eventually a very mild laxative supplied by our friendly chemist. Finally, on the eighth day, it happened to great applause all round! Our Keepers wishfully ondered why all the other elephants could not be like Selengai! Now we wait to see what other surprises this little elephant might have in store for us! Seraa and Mpala are growing apace, and both now have tiny tusks that have broken through the lip and are visible when they proudly raise their trunks to show them off. Wendi is a very assertive little elephant, not unlike Mweya, who has a mind of her own and enjoys displaying her strength by charging the visitors, revelling in the raction! Tomboi obviously admires such antics, and hesitantly sometimes tries to do the same, but is a much gentler personality, and also a diminutive elephant. Wendi adores little Selengai, and wants to be her "mother", shoving Seraa aside whenever she tries to take control of the calf! Seraa is placid and long-suffering, and allows this precocious baby to get away with it and, of course, the time will come when she will have to be disciplined for charging the visitors! |
