Elephant Orphanage Project Update - May 2008

Notes from the field by Belinda Pumfrett, volunteer

Building continues

	VIPs gather for Zamma's birthday

Building work is going well - in one day, the builders managed to pull down the temporary stalls and use all the timbers to finish three of the new stalls for the little ones to move into that night. Normally the elephants get fed in their stalls, but not wanting to get in the builders way, we decided to make up their milk and feed them close to camp. This turned into a very amusing day of three hourly ellie 'picnics'. At first they were not sure about their milk coming from our vehicle, but soon they were running up to the Landrover with trunks waving through the windows, sniffing out their food. Being a picnic, they also decided to play games, with Chodoba chasing Chamalandu round and round the vehicle, much to everyone's amusement.

Zamma's first birthday

	Mel Shepherd and Jill Inglis join the team in Zambia

We had an exciting beginning to May as it was Zamma's first birthday. Although we don't know when he was actually born we have given him an official birthday of 1st May - Zambia's Labour Day. To mark this special occasion we invited our local chiefs Shezongo and Musungwa, ZAWA officials and VIPs from Lusaka, including the British High Commissioner (HC) and his daughter. Flying in for the day, they had a game drive to camp and refreshments before being shown our new ellie stalls and, of course, our ellies.

All four were perfectly behaved, coming down to the lake and feeding and posing for photos with their keepers. The HC's visit to Ngoma was broadcast that evening on local radio, as he had been brought down in Proflight's newest plane. The event was also reported in a national paper with great pictures of our birthday boy and keepers, and so they are now all wondering if we are famous!

Zamma with the football he got for his birthday - a perfect toy to help with co-ordination and trunk control and now jealously guarded!

To the keepers delight, Mel Shepherd and Jill Inglis from DSWF, who were visiting Zambia, came and stayed with us to join in the celebration. Braving our cold weather, they were introduced to our local ZAWA officers and had time to explore Ngoma as well as spend time with the orphans. After racking our brains for a suitable present for our birthday boy, he was delighted that we had given him a new football. Not a usual elephant toy, but a great way to help with the development of his trunk and his co-ordination. He is now closely guarding it from the others, keeping it close by in his stalls.

A month for visitors

May was a month for visitors. The Cooke family, who are setting up a new lodge in the park came to see our new camp They helped us through the rainy season, by building a 'bridge' so that our vehicle could cross the flooded plains and brought supplies down from Lusaka for us. Zamma, in particular, was delighted to see old friends. After showing them how to dust bathe, he then showed off his new stall and insisted on having his photo taken before trying to liberate Chris's hat! Another old friend of Zamma's also visited - the Photographer, Michael Bowles. He had first met Zamma in Lower Zambezi and wanted to see how he was progressing. He spent a great day chatting to all the keepers and meeting all our other elephants as well.

Phoenix has also had a visitor - a young male elephant. He is rather fond of our lady and keeps following her and her keepers on their walks. We went to see him and he was very relaxed with us. This is the first time we have had the opportunity to see her near another adult elephant. Unlike her first encounter with wild elephants, when she and they ran off, she was totally calm. This is a huge step for her and we are all very happy with her rehabilitation progress.

A thief in our midst!

We had a theft at camp last week, but the cheeky villain left evidence lying in her stall. As a treat, the cook had saved Phoenix some old cabbage leaves. These were taken to the boma by her keeper and hidden in the stalls until she came in from her morning walk. Sneakily, Chamalandu sniffed out the bag whilst the keepers were making up the mid-morning feeds. She munched all the leaves, but left the bag lying around. To add insult to injury, she then tried to sneak around Phoenix later that day and steal her pellets. This time Phoenix was on to her, and with a quick flap of her ears, she saw the little criminal off!

Chamalandu enjoying a play in the mud

Lions, elephants and scrambled eggs

After all this excitement, life at camp is returning to normal, although driving to the Park HQ, Ngoma, can sometimes brings surprises. Our local lions, which we hear nightly, showed themselves by posing prettily on an anthill - three young males with tufty manes. It was very exciting for the keepers as it was the first time they had actually seen a lion. As we have to drive through the pretty protected Ngoma forest to get to Ngoma, we often see wild elephants - but sometimes encounters are a little close. Coming back with the weekly food shop, we rounded a corner and found a small herd crossing the road. Stopping rather sharply, we then had a great view of them all. Thinking they had all gone, we rounded the corner again, only to find that a lovely large bull was following them and standing in the middle of the road. Luckily he was very chilled and more interested in the herd than us. So after examining each other, he wandered slowly off. A wonderful sighting, and we were very happy until we realised that our weekly shop had suffered - it had shot forward in the Landrover when we stopped, and our 30 eggs for supper had got scrambled!

Phoenix

May was a very sad time for the project with the death of Phoenix. You can read about this in more detail by clicking here...

If you are interested in helping DSWF to save Zambia's wildlife and help release Phoenix in to the wild, please follow the links below to make a donation or you can phone the Foundation Office on 01483 272323.

Every little contribution helps wildlife and remember 100% of your donation will go in full to the project - thank you!

You can also help by becoming a member of DSWF. Click here for more information

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