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After breakfast along the fence line, Maia, Guillermina, and Bambi positioned themselves near the barn in the morning. All three of them were encouraged to come inside for their morning treatments, and they readily joined their caregivers. (Maia and Guille are having footwork done and Bambi gets her daily eye drops.) After their care sessions, Bambi was first to leave the barn, eventually calling her two friends to walk with her; the three elephants headed together toward the back of Yard 2. 

The neighboring gate to Yard 5 was open, and all three strolled through, in the direction of the tree line. Guille and Maia eased over that way first, moving carefully, but at a steady pace. Bambi began to make her way toward them at her slightly slower speed, but Guille and Maia were right there should Bambi need someone to walk with her. It’s important to Bambi’s sense of self-confidence and self-esteem that she learns to manage her vision loss on her own terms, which might mean depending on some of her other senses to navigate the terrain. She seems to appreciate that her companions stick close, but is so far doing well at moving through familiar routes. 

Bambi continued to make her way to the trees and to her friends, and you can see that when she’s not walking with them, her ears are out so that she can hear where they are and what direction sounds are coming from. She sometimes took a few steps and then paused with her ears sticking out. Eventually, Bambi decided to snack near where Maia was standing and the two spent a good bit of the afternoon there. It was a quiet day, and a great example of how friends can be there for you and still allow you to try new things on your own. It’s a delicate balance, but all of these elephants seem to be supporting each other very sweetly.