The entire team is starting to feel sorry for some of our females; the most heavily pregnant ladies are starting to look quite tired. Not surprising when you consider that in a 22-month gestation, calves do a final growth spurt in the last month or so of pregnancy.

After many "surely they can't get much bigger" conversations, we have our first birth of the baby boom. Qumquat, the gorgeous matriarch of the QB family was spotted with a tiny daughter this week. It was the first newborn I've ever seen, so I was very excited. Because the QBs spend a lot of time outside the Park, they're not as tolerant of our vehicle as some of the other families, so we kept a respectful distance, but I still got some shots of the new arrival, before Qumquat led her into the bushes, and away from the other elephant families who were very interested in her too.

The new arrivals will certainly keep us busy, as we anticipate well over a hundred births in the next 2-3 months. I'm delighted and privileged to be in Amboseli at such a special time.