Changes and Surprises

Elephant never cease to amaze.  There is almost always something new, interesting, exciting, and sometimes confusing, going on.

Recently, there have been some changes in appearances, the most obvious being the result of broken tusks.  The very distinctive Artichoke has broken one of her long,

Artichoke's new look

straight tusks; so altered is her appearance that it took a few minutes to realize that it was actually her.  I would equate this change to having someone you know, who has long, dark hair, suddenly appearing with short, blonde hair – it would take a minute or two to recognize her. 

Heron and Rose have somehow managed to break both of their tusks which, in Heron’s case, has resulted in a marked change of appearance. Fortunately, the distinctive cut at the bottom of her left ear makes

Heron before she broke her tusks - note the distinctive
cut in her left ear which makes her easy to identify

her readily identifiable – even without her tusks.  

Heron with her two broken tusks

There also have been some wonderful surprises.  First, the Artist family – which had only been sighted once in July of 2005 -- returned to Lewa.  I actually had begun to doubt my records and, on several occasions, have double-checked that these elephant were not actually part of another family.  Then, a few months ago, they suddenly reappeared at our feeding station!  It took a while to figure out who there were, but I was very excited when I realized that they truly were the Artists – with several new additions.  The family remained on Lewa for several days and then, once again, left for parts unknown.

Shortly thereafter, we had another remarkable reappearance.   Fusilli, one of two big females in the Pasta family, disappeared in 2010.  The family, headed by the matriarch Ziti, continued to visit Lewa from time to time, but Fusilli and her calves were never

Fusilli, casually grazing at the top of
the driveway after having been missing for 5 years

with them.   Because her calves were also missing, I knew there was a chance that she was still alive; but, as the years passed, I became increasingly doubtful that we would ever see her again.  Then, one day in March of this year, we were stunned to find her casually grazing at the top of our driveway.  Her 2005 male calf, Linguine, was still with her as was Cannelloni, her 2009 female calf.  We had seen her mated in January of 2010 and were happy to find that she had a healthy three-year-old calf, whom we dubbed Manicotti.

Finally, Julia, who was the matriarch of the Oscar family, reappeared for a short visit after disappearing back in 2009.  The Oscar family has been seen coming and going during that period but never with Julia.  She suddenly returned one day with a whole new family!  They only stayed for two days and, as far as we know, have not returned.

There is one thing for certain with elephant – nothing is for certain!