Photo gallery for An Even Bigger Surprise

I followed the progress of Emily Kate’s oestrus over the next two days. Echo stayed with her the whole time. The biggest male with them was Winston in full musth. He kept close to them but at one point he turned and moved off to go to the swamp. Echo immediately followed him with Emily Kate right behind her. This was a wise move on Echo’s part because it is at such times that the younger, less desirable, males rush in and start chasing the oestrous female. Old, experienced Echo wasn’t going to let that happen.

I never saw Emily Kate mated but she continued to be of great interest to the males who frequently tested her urine. However, at the end of the third day I began to wonder again about Echo. She seemed to be the one staying closest to Winston, but Emily Kate was still there as well.

The next morning as Soila was driving me to the airstrip to leave for Nairobi we came upon Echo being seriously chased by a medium-sized male. They raced behind some bushes but we could just see that he had mounted her. It appeared to be a successful mating. So what did that mean? It was very confusing.

Unfortunately, I had to fly to Nairobi, but Norah and Katito went out to find Echo and Emily Kate. They planned to sit with them for an hour or more to find out what was happening. By the time they got the message and went out Echo was gone. They searched but couldn’t find them that day.

The following day, on Sunday, Peter our camp manager, saw Echo being chased by a male near the camp. She was not seen again for the rest of the day, but on Monday morning Norah and Katito found Echo, Emily Kate and Echo’s youngest calf Esprit in the elephant grass near Serena Lodge. There were no males with them.

I am not sure what was happening, but I suspect that Emily Kate was in oestrus or pre-oestrus (a period a few weeks before true oestrus during which the female shows some signs of oestrus but usually doesn’t get mated; it involves hormonal changes which alert males to the coming oestrus). I believe Echo was teaching Emily Kate, but, possibly stimulated by the behaviors and pheromones, came into oestrus or pre-oestrus herself. We will be keeping a close eye on both of them over the next weeks.

If Echo conceived now or in a few weeks, she’ll have a calf in April 2010, when she will be well over 60 years old. That would be amazing.