When I thought about documenting my memories from Africa in blogs the first thing that came to my mind was where to start!
After a lot of pondering it suddenly occurred to me, why not write my first blog as a tribute to one of the most magnificent and spectacular lion I have ever seen in Africa : The Butcherman!
Yes, correct, the Butcherman! A mighty lion named Butcherman in the Murchinson Falls National Park of Uganda. Why he was called the Butcherman was not because this lion had any traits of cruelty, neither was it on a killing spree nor was it a man eater, it was infact a handicapped lion on three legs. The local rangers called him the Butcherman because this name was popularized by a physically challenged but talented artiste in Uganda's music industry!
Belonging to the Delta Pride, a pride of over 12 lions, the Butcherman was unfortunate to get his rear left leg trapped in a poachers snare when he was just 7 months old.
The Murchinson Falls National Park is a witness to a lot of poaching activities given its abundance to the wildebeests, deer, water-bucks and kobbs. The poachers snare however can sometimes also trap animals like the elephants or our very own Butcherman!
The Butcherman's left rear leg had to be amputated from the knee down incapacitating an alpha male lion forever in his prime. This probably could end his reign in a world of the most ferocious of felines, where all fights are always fights unto death! But what the Butcherman lost to his leg physically, he made it up in spirit, and coupled with the support of his brother Bernie and other female members of the pride, the Butcherman reigned the Delta Pride for over 3 years! And that created a tale of brotherhood, love and a very rare partnership albeit common among lions.
I have seen Bernie hunting and dragging a water-buck all the way towards the Butcherman to make sure his brother never slept hungry and I have also been witness to the mighty and spine chilling roar of the Butcherman!
I still remember the afternoon of August 2015 very clearly, I and my friend George the ranger (of the Uganda Wildlife Authority: younger George, not the Mzee George who has of late retired) who has been a part of my many wildlife adventures in the Murchinson Falls National Park as you will read in my further blogs, set out one early morning in my land cruiser to find the Butcherman, after numerous calls to fellow rangers and lot of good tracking by George we were unable to find the Butcherman or rather any lion from the Delta Pride, though we did see numerous other lions from another pride. The sun was high and we finally decided to call off the search and head back to the Para Safari Lodge where I was staying. As a last attempt George asked me to take an unexplored terrain which passes beside an old and dilapidated lodge built by Idi Amin, I negotiated a sharp right turn surrounded by thick bushes and we stopped on our tracks: standing before us in the middle of the track was the Butcherman! He stood staring at us for some time, gave a low grunt and then limped off the track towards the lake, probably to have a drink.
Little did I know then that this would be my last sighting of the lion I have revered the most! Soon after this visit I heard from a ranger who was visiting me in Kampala that the Butcherman has disappeared following a fight with two other alpha male lions. Whether the fight was unto death or whether the Butcherman has gone into seclusion to lick his wounds in not known.
However whenever I think of him I see a magnificent lion with a very thick mane and a mighty roar standing proudly on his three legs, and that is how I would like to see him always.
To Butcherman, a lion who taught me that a mere handicap cannot upset a king and a leader and also what the true meaning of a Lion Heart is! May you rest in peace if that is where you are Rafiki!
More on the Butcherman: Search for the Butcherman by Tutilo Mudumba
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