Thank you all for your extremely encouraging messages!! Owen and Mzee are both well. Yesterday, Mzee slept for almost the whole day! Little Owen was by his side all through and did not venture past 2 meters away from Mzee. Owen got tired of lying next to Mzee on several occasions and would often stand right next him then lie down again. Owen only acted aggressively to the guests once yesterday (by yawning at them), which is unique considering Owen is often aggressive towards visitors.

For those of you who were guessing which hippo that was in the last blog, it was indeed, none other than Cleo!!! Cleo is responsive even in her sleep! If Sally or Potty honk, Cleo will respond even if she was asleep. She also honks back at trucks, which hoot at the main road!

 

The Neem tree is also referred to as Margosa. It belongs to the Family Meliaceae. Locally (in Kenya), the Neem tree is called ‘Mwarubaini’ as it is believed to treat forty different diseases. Its name is derived from a Swahili word, arubaini, meaning forty. Apart from medicinal use, the Neem tree is a popular raw material in the manufacture of pesticides soap and many more.

This blog entry is dedicated to answering the questions that our blog fans have asked recently. Question 1: "How is Moppi?" It has been a very sad time at Haller Park. Sadly, Moppi passed away overnight over the weekend. The attendant in charge of his care found him dead in the morning. We are not sure what was ailing Moppi as he was a healthy and growing young suni. His death was quite sudden and it came as a shock. We will really miss the ‘Cute one’, he was a great joy to us all.

Question 2: "Is Owen too small to be introduced to Cleo?" Owen is old enough to be introduced to Cleo. Their new enclosure is almost done. I will be sure to let all of you know when, for sure, we will be putting Owen, Mzee and Cleo in their new enclosure. There is a partition between the enclosure so Owen and Mzee will be separated from Cleo at first. This will allow us to monitor how the animals react to each other. Question 3: "Can Owen hear Cleo from his pond?" Yes, Owen can hear Cleo because we can hear her when we stand at his enclosure, and hippos have sharper hearing than humans do.

Question 4: "How is Sita's baby?" Sita’s baby, Charlie is doing very well. He is healthy and strong. The other day, I observed a very interesting phenomenon. All the giraffes were feeding together when Henry, Soi’s Sub-adult son strayed away from the group. As soon as Sita noticed, she went off after Henry; Soi also noticed and followed. Both of them guided him back to the group although he did not want to go and kept running off! But eventually he joined them back in the group.

Question 5: "Did all the tortoises get names?" No, the tortoises here at Haller Park are still identified numerically. I know that we had a name competition for the tortoises in Haller Park. We received so many ideas and suggestions that we were hard pressed to pick a name. So we have decided to ask you bloggers to vote for the most popular name for each tortoise. Here is a reminder of their profiles: Tortoise no.2 - Large male, back is squashed in the centre. suggested names: Squash, Lionel, Pancake, Puncture, Columbus, Marco-Polo, Mash, Kiti. Tortoise no.3 - largest male,has a few holes on his carapace and is reffered to as the greedy one. Suggested names: Helmet, Chow-Hound, Scrooge, Futterneid, Piglet, Wilson, Meldrew or Victor (re. TV program - one foot in the grave!), Spike, Cookie, Sasa. Tortoise no.4 - Smaller male with a smooth pointy carapace. He is usually found grazing at the Haller Park reception lawn and does not explore very far. Suggested names: Honk, Dino, GI Joe, Joe. Tortoise no.5 - Small female, smooth rounded carapace. Likes to be tickled. Suggested names: Thelma, Cupcake, Little Lulu, Penelope. Tortoise number 6: Large male. He has a pointy, rough carapace with a few dents. He also does not wonder very far and is found at the Haller Park reception lawn or near Owen and Mzee's enclosure where he can get plenty of attention from the visitors! suggested names: none! Bloggers, please come up with some names then later get to choose the best one!! Tortoise no.7 - large male with green eyes. He has pointed scutes along the top of his carapace. Suggested names: Greenie, Jealousy, Emerald, Machojani, Hazel, Lucky, Jade. Tortoise no.8 - male, has more of a "flat" look to his carapace. He also has a dent on the very centre of his carapace. Of all the males, No 8 is one of the more adventurous explorers. He has scratches along his shell probably from scraping it along rocks or on walls. Suggested names: Picard, Houdini, Nomad, (names using “Adventurer" in another language), Tulum. Tortoise no.11 - male, most defining feature is the section of shell missing/worn above his right back leg. He has had this ever since he was here. His carapace is quite smooth. He is the one that likes the cars, and funnily enough here he in the haller park carpark! Suggested names: Otto, Dodge, Speedy, Crash, Gari, Hank, "Racer XI, Auto, Smash, Jigsaw, Fundi (trying to fix cars?), Tumbili (he seems to be a bit of a cheeky monkey!), Askari (looking after the cars?!), Raleigh, Landrover, Ferrari, Schumacher, Gari-rafiki, Casonova. Tortoise no.12 - female, she is unfriendly. She tends to hiss and hide in her shell when people approach her. She seems to have a strong dislike to people, and I have never discovered why this is so. Her carapace is slightly rounded. Suggested names: Louise, Kassiopeia. Other names were suggested by some blog readers but not specific to any tortoise.. These names are: Gogo, Wangari, Lacy, Hunter, Ghandi, Gazali, Ewa, tutti frutti Kijana, Makosa, Moja, Matunda, Maneno, Mawe, Tingatinga, Meza, Kili (Kilimanjaro), Mbio, Tecla, Dorothy, Gamera, Godzilla, Reptilicus, Mothra, Rodan Gorgo, Helen, Amelia Earhart, Mary Leakey, Dian Fossey, Jane Goodall. Your contributions are all highly appreciated!

Owen and Mzee have spent the better part of the day, almost out of sight, in their pond. This is probably because it is a very hot day. Owen appeared to be asleep. Mzee quietly came out of the water to take a bite leaving Owen inside the pond. After eating, he slowly returned into the water to rest beside little Owen.

Cleo alsostayed in her pond. The interesting thing is that her head was totally submerged, apart from her nares which remained above the water! Even with her ears under the water, she was able to hear Sally and Potty honk and she responded to them on two separate occasions!

There are very many different species of Aloe all over the world. Aloes are medicinal plants which are good for the skin. I came across this Aloe Plant close to Mzee and Owen’s enclosure.

Lizards are remarkable reptiles and are the snakes’ closest relatives. Unlike snakes, most lizards have movable eyelids which provide protection from sunlight and dust through blinking. Some though, like gecko lizards, do not blink as they have a membrane that protects their eyes.

Nature is totally amazing. Most animals tend to blend in with their surroundings as a means of protection against predators. This is better known as camouflage. I was lucky enough to get a picture of this lizard, in perfect harmony with the tree.

Apart from protection, camouflage is necessary for feeding purposes as well. It allows the animal to creep up on its prey unnoticed. Yesterday I watched a Nile monitor stealthily creeping, almost un-seen towards its prey which it finally caught easily!

Yesterday when Owen and Mzee were having a meal together and I noticed the difference between their head shapes and sizes. Mzee’s head is small and pointed while Owen’s is large and broad. Our Aldabra tortoises like to have their heads patted and their necks stroked. They often extend their necks in enjoyment.

All giraffes have a stiff mane on their necks. At the top of their heads, between the ears, are two horns covered with skin called ossicones. These are used to protect the head while fighting. They have big ears and an elongated muzzle. Here is a lovely picture of Soi.

Oryx have beautiful long black tails. They use their tails to keep off bugs like flies from their backs.

Hippo tails are short and strong and are flattened at the sides. Here is Cleo's tail.

It is really amazing how big Owen has become. Just the other day, he was little, much smaller than Mzee. Now he is almost twice as large as Mzee. Recently, Owen has been playing peek-a-boo with visitors. He will hide behind Mzee and shyly sneak a quick look at the visitors.

Bushbucks are rarely seen as they are shy and secretive animals. There are two bushbuck in Owen and Mzee’s enclosure. I managed to take a picture of one curious bushbuck peering out of the bushes.

Hello everyone my apologies for the small technical hitch we had experienced Cleo is great and has been playing a lot with sticks lately. She usually rests her head on them or just plays with them under water. Sometimes she balances the stick across her back but not often. Here is Cleo, resting her head on a stick.

Cleo playing with a stick under water.

Does Mzee want in on the stick balancing game as well? I just happened to see dear old Mzee, with a stick on his back! Amazing! As usual, little Owen was close by trying to nudge Mzee on. It took quite a lot of nudging to get Mzee on the move again, away from his stick!

It is a wonderfully warm sunny day today! Moppi seemed to enjoy the sun. He happily explored his new environment, sniffing eagerly at everything! The ‘Cute one’ may be getting used to his feeding bottle as he is now learning to drink from it. He keeps it for longer periods in his mouth now. He drunk quite a bit of milk and water from his bottle today.

Cleo was also enjoying herself in her pond in her enclosure playing with a stick. At fist she had it across her back then moved it under her chin. When she saw me, she graced me with her characteristic greeting where by she breathes out loudly and raises her hind area to display her wagging tail. She also submerges her head.

There are very many different types of mushrooms at Haller Park. Mushrooms usually grow after a rainy season. They vary in size and color. I found these two mushrooms near Owen and Mzee’s enclosure.

Moppi the ‘cute one’ is doing quite well, he is really tiny and weighs only 1.5 kgs! Suni antelopes are usually reddish brown in color and live in forested areas, feeding mainly on leaves and fruits. I often bottle-feed Moppi. He can’t eat solid food yet because his teeth are very small, in fact, because he just shed some so we estimate that he is about 3 weeks old.

Suni antelopes are among the smallest antelopes in the world! They are reddish brown in color. The underpants, including the chin, throat and insides of the legs, are white. These animals are really shy and have thin delicate legs which enable them to move around lightly in the forest.

Today Owen seemed to be really irritated. This was probably because there were more visitors than usual. He kept on yawning, displaying aggressive behavior.

Hello and apologies to our blog fans who were let down by the last entry posted. I was away during the last few days and the blog was posted on my behalf. However I would like to assure you that I am well and there is no cause for concern for my health; I am fine!

Recently we translocated 6 oryx and 3 waterbucks from Haller Park to Ndara Ranch in Tsavo area of Kenya. I travelled over the weekend with the animals to make sure they were well and settling down ok. I am pleased to report that they are doing fine and so far so good.

Also over the weekend, we received a new arrival to Haller Park. A baby suni antelope was brought in to us having been found abandoned in the forest. His name is Moppie. He was named by the two Dutch ladies who brought him in; the name means Cute One in Dutch and is very fitting! Here is a picture of Moppie below.

We plan to introduce him into Owen and Mzee's enclosure when he is weaned and able to eat solid foods. He will have plenty of company from the bushbucks, bushbabies and monkeys that frequent the enclosure!