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DIARIES :
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Monthly Diary Reports
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At around 9.50 a.m. 0n the 07.12.2004, Wendi, who was grazing apart, realised she was alone, and rumbled with her trunk raised. Yatta answered her, and she joyfully gambolled towards her fellow orphans. Napasha walked briskly to welcome her back. Later Tomboi initiated a game, playing with the raindrops, whilst Olmalo decided to take a nap, but woke hurriedly when she heard the footsteps of Napasha approaching. In the afternoon of 11.12.2004 Olmalo and
Wendi left the group to graze apart, but became anxious when
they realised they were alone, running and trumpeting in the wrong
direction. The Keepers called them back, because the others had gone
towards Ithumba Hill. In the evening Tomboi and
Wendi led the group home. On the 23.12.2004 before 11 a.m. Wendi went to stand under shade. Mulika joined her, scratching her neck against the same tree. At mudbath, Napasha and Taita lay down to play together in the mud. The orphans browsed peacefully for the rest of the day. Out in the bush today the 26.12.2004, the orphans split into two groups, one led by Yatta and the other by Kinna. Kinna led Mulika, Nasalot and Napasha; Yatta took Olmalo, Selengai, Wendi, Taita and Tomboi. The Keepers brought the two groups together to take them to the mudbath Natumi’s group spent the morning alone, feeding along the Eastern slopes of the hill. Upon arrival at the mudbath, they were joined by Emily, Aitong and Sally who came from a different direction. At 3.15 p.m. they were joined by Edo, who .... On the 27.12.2004 After mudbath, a blue bird landed on Olmalo’s back, and was dislodged by her trunk. It then landed on the ground just ahead, and Wendi gambolled towards it to chase it away. In the morning on the 08.11.2004, Wendi happened upon a pair of dikdik sleeping and was scared, so trumpeted. This woke them up, and before Wendi could gather sufficient courage to chase them, they ran off. It was hot today, so the orphans enjoyed their mudbath. Mulika and Wendi led the others into the bush today, the 09.11.2004. At noon Wendi and Napasha tested their strength, but Wendi could not withstand Napasha, so ran away. In the evening, because she was so thirsty, Kinna led the orphans back through the mudbath before proceeding to the Stockade. The day on 12.11.2004 was hot, like yesterday, with no sign of rain. At the mudbath Olmalo and Taita went straight in, before taking water, and having cooled themselves returned to drink water. As usual Napasha was first to roll in the mud giving Tomboi, Taita and Selengai a rare opportunity to lie on top of him taking turns, whilst Mulika, Nasalot, Olmalo and Wendi occupied the other side to roll in the mud. For the first time ever on the 19.11.2004, little Olmalo was the Leader, but after a while, stood aside to allow Napasha and Taita to overtake her. By l0 a.m. it was so hot that the orphans moved from tree to tree, seeking shade and flapping their ears. They had a wonderful mudbath, all rolling in the mud as though in competition, but, as usual, Napasha emerged the winner. At around noon, the Vet arrived to inject Mulika, Selengai, Olmalo, Wendi and Taita as a precaution against rabies.
At around 4 p.m. on 29.10.2004, Mulika, Taita, Wendi, Olmalo and Selengai receied another injection from our Vet. Kinna led the group out today (28.10.2004). At mudbath, Napasha and Wendi engaged in a playful shoving game. For the second day on the 23.10.2004, 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. On the 22.10.2004 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.
At around l0 a.m. on 22.09.2004 Kinna tried to take some vegetation from Wendi’s mouth, which annoyed Wendi. A fierce fight ensued so the Keepers intervened to return Wendi’s morsel to her. Napasha fed some distance from the others today, whilst Taita and Tomboi enjoyed a game chasing each other around. The game ended when Taita collided head on with Wendi, who was angry and pushed him hard. During the mudbath Wendi fell onto Olmalo, prompting Olmalo to bellow. The Keepers came to the rescue calling Wendi to stand up. On the way to the mudbath there were 3 baboons in a tree, who, upon seeing the orphans, began shouting. This scared Tomboi, who held onto Wendi’s hind leg for security, until the Keepers send the baboons away. Then Tomboi was very happy and ran forward to be the leader of the others. The day (05.09.2004) was cloudy and cool, so Napasha and Yatta warmed themselves by rubbing up against each other until Kinna came and pushed Napasha aside. In the afternoon Napasha and Wendi tried to sneak back to the Stockade ahead of time, but the Keepers spotted them, and returned them to the others. In the morning on 16.08.2004, Tomboi surprised the Keepers when he decided to suckle Wendi’s ear. Wendi seemed very taken by this, standing still as would a mother cuddling a small baby, then after a minute Tomboi left. Napasha and Taita browsed near the Keepers in the evening. Early in the morning, Mulika led the orphans out of the stockade to the bush. In the afternoon Wendi kept on running here and there, scaring Selengai, Tomboi, Taita and Olmalo, who ran to the Keepers for protection, but in fact Wendi was just having fun! Kinna had a disagreement with Wendi today when Wendi tried to snatch some greens from her. Mulika was not pleased with Kinna’s behaviour towards Wendi and grumbled, pointing her trunk at Kinna as a sign of warning. On their way out into the bush, Taita took the lead, followed by Selengai. Nasalot remained behind to protect the other babies. At around noon, Mulika placed her trunk on the back of Wendi, which is a sign of the beginnings of a strong friendship. She is showing much more interest in the babies now. At l0 a.m. on 25.06.2004, Kinna tried to bully Napasha and Wendi, but was prevented doing so by the Keepers. At 2.30 p.m., the babies followed Nasalot and fed a short distance away from the Keepers. Unsure about the actual size of the new arrival, both a Stockade, and a Stable were prepared, and at 9 a.m. the vehicle carrying the sedated calf drew in. Lying on the rescue tarpaulin she was already regaining consciousness, and we decided to put her in Tomboi’s night stable, which is next door to that of Wendi. Traumatised and still “wild”, it took two Keepers all their time to try and restrain the baby, who was trying to climb out but she took more milk and water, and gradually Keeper Julius and Stephen worked their magic. Following the noon mudbath, the other Nursery elephants came to meet her, extending their trunks to touch her in greeting through the stable partition. She was overjoyed to know that she was not alone, Selengai and Wendi being particularly attentive, and afterwards the newcomer, who is only slightly taller than Sunyei, visibly settled down, and, for the first time, fell into a fitful sleep. Amazingly, by nightfall this totally wild elephant was sucking the fingers of her Keepers, taking milk eagerly from a bottle, and even enjoying the company of her human Attendants, much to the amazement of the film crew. That night she slept soundly, her little trunk reaching through the separation to touch Wendi next door. And, first thing in the morning, she was out and about with the others, all documented for “Elephant Diaries” – truly the same mini miracle we have witnessed many times before with orphans who have had the input of other elephants! Sunyei, and little Naserian will take over the Mini Matriarchal responsibilities, keeping Madiba and Ndomot in line. All are a very close little unit and although they will undoubtedly sorely miss the larger elephants when they leave, they will have each other for company and in the fullness of time will join Wendi, Tomboi, Napasha, Selengai, Olmalo and Taita in the North. Ndomot is “the clinging vine” of the group, always attached to a Keeper, whilst Madiba is much more independent, and confident. Madiba and Ndomot both thrive, safely over the problems that plagued them earlier. Madiba is extremely fond of little Sunyei, and she of him, looking upon him as her special “baby” whilst Ndomot has slotted into being the shared baby of Wendi and Selengai. He is also close to Madiba, but also competitive, as are all young bulls, each wanting to be of higher rank than the other. Taita and Olmalo remain a devoted pair, but Taita, being a boy, also enjoys the company of the other young bulls, especially Napasha, who is the oldest. Tomboi oscillates between spending time with the other young bulls and Wendi and Selengai, being very close to Wendi. It is very gratifying that he is now firmly established as a member of the “herd” and very much more elephant than human oriented. Selengai is the member of the group who tends to “fly underneath the radar”, sufficient unto herself and happy to hang out with Wendi and Ndomot. Tomboi obviously views himself as protector of the others when Napasha is enjoying time apart, something he relishes Napasha looks splendid with his tooth-pick tusks, proud to show them off to all the visitors by raising his trunk so that they are very visible. He, Taita and Olmalo are sufficient unto each other, all very gentle characters, whereas Wendi, Tomboi and Selengai tend to be more assertive, and even “pushy”, Wendi and Tomboi having learnt a few tricks from “Mweya” with whom they shared time in the Nursery. Only little Sunyei found the antics of the Really Wild Show so amusing that she joined them in the mudbath. Taita, Olmalo, Selengai and Napasha were puzzled and apprehensive of the raised voices, used to reacting to tone of voice, whilst Wendi and Tomboi put on spirited mock charges, not wanting to show the obvious doubts they had about the unusual behaviour of this unusual group of humans! Tomboi was “The David Beckham of the Jumbo Football team that took on the Manchester United Junior players who paid the elephants a visit whilst Daphne and Angela were away in India, whilst Wendi asserted her authority and left them in no doubt as to who was in charge! She is a very vigilant, proficient, and sometimes “pushy” mini-Matriarch who refused to allow anyone to tamper with Selengai’s sore leg. Every time the abscess had to be cleaned, Selengai had to be confined in her stable, whilst Wendi watched events closely through the partition bars. Taita and Olmalo remain best friends, sharing a Night Stockade contentedly, with no more arguments over blankets!
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After
mudbath on 13.12.2004 Wendi and
Selengai were left behind. Wendi,
who is always a prankster, decided to play a trick on the others, and
with raised ears and a loud trumpet rushed towards the others, as though
being chased. Olmalo rushed towards the Keepers. Yatta and Nasalot,
knowing Wendi’s character well,
merely stood and watched the drama! 
24.11.2004 - Olmalo and Taita enjoyed a
game, scooping up soil with their trunks, and throwing it over
themselves. Wendi and Napasha joined
in, but Napasha spoilt the game by trying+to rough up
Wendi. At mudbath Olmalo tried to entice Tomboi in to play,
by lying in front of him, but he ignored her. Finally, the long
awaited rain arrived on 25.11.2004 at about 2 a.m. and continued
throughout the morning. At first Olmalo, Selengai, Tomboi and
Wendi were very scared of the thunder and lightening, and
squeezed together whenever the lightening struck. When the rain
subsided, the orphans had a wonderful time playing in the puddles.
Shortly before 11 a.m. Olmalo came across a moving crab which
“mesmerized” her, prompting the Keepers to go and take a look!
On the 27.11.2004 at the mudbath Napasha
pushed Wendi as she was taking her
bottle. Later Yatta led the group to the bush, but Olmalo remained
behind with her Keepers. After 4 p.m. Napasha and Taita played a game of
breaking the vegetation around them, whilst
Wendi lay down to play and allowed Tomboi to roll on her.
Yatta and Olmalo stood aside to watch with their trunks down. It
drizzled with rain in the early hours of the morning on the 29.11.2004
After mudbath Wendi and Tomboi
browsed close to one another while Mulika fed close to her favourite,
Selengai. On the way back in the evening, we passed by the mudbath for a
drink. 
At mudbath on 18.10.2004, 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! 
