...it doesn't do to close your eyes for too long in the baby pen...



...even with an excellent and protective mother guarding against interfering humans who "just want a photo luv, where's the 'arm in that? - make 'er a star" because while Mum's guarding against the paparazzi there's a milk thief about...



...one that has a perfectly good milk producing mother of her own and is, in any case, perhaps the fattest and most spoiled elephant that ever there was - Lynchee.

    Typically, of course, our other milk age baby, Pumpui - whose mother never produced and who has to be bottle fed in short drinks 24hrs a day - is refusing to help herself to this benign warm milk buffet.  As soon as we noticed Lynchee cheekily helping herself without any resistance from the big ele we introduced Pumpui to the mix.

    'pui is an enthusiastic armpit sucker of everything she sees, from three year old male Tawan to ten year old Pleum, she has been so bothersome in this hunt for milk and affection that all the adults will hit her rather than allow her to even mock suckle - until now, finally, we have a calm mother who doesn't protest when known but reasonably random babies come for a drink.

    So what does Pumpui do?  Perversely, she spends fifteen minutes viciously and pointlessly standing underneath Makam, scratching her back on the larger elephant's stomach and attacking her rear legs until even Makam's patience runs out and she receives a whack.

    You can take a horse to water....