Butcherman, the three-legged former alpha male of the Delta Pride in Murchison Falls National Park (MFNP), and I parted ways at about the same time. I headed for the United States to seek my graduate education in the RECaP Lab at Michigan State University. Butcherman, on the other hand,… well…no one really knows what happened to Butcherman. The only thing that we understand is that he vanished after his alpha male position was taken by the brotherly tandem of Rafael and Ricki.
Since my return to MFNP I have been desperately searching for the old boy. Why have I been consumed by this preoccupation of finding Butcherman? Why have I found this to be an emotional pursuit? These are good questions that I have been pondering as my ability to locate Butcherman has waned. The answer is pretty simple: Butcherman and I came up at about the same time.
Since my return to MFNP I have been desperately searching for the old boy. Why have I been consumed by this preoccupation of finding Butcherman? Why have I found this to be an emotional pursuit? These are good questions that I have been pondering as my ability to locate Butcherman has waned. The answer is pretty simple: Butcherman and I came up at about the same time.
Butcherman had been an alpha for just 7 months, when he lost his lower left leg in a wire snare.
Butcherman is now somewhere in the vicinity of 9-years old (very much an adult in lion years), but when he challenged for the alpha male position in the Delta Pride all those years ago he was better defined as an impressionable young male. Pretty similar to the position that I found myself at that time. I was just a kid trying to realize my dream of becoming a wildlife biologist seeing the amazing MFNP landscape for the first time. My bosses tasked me with following the Delta Pride taking diligent notes on what they did, where they went. Essentially, my responsibility was to describe how Delta Pride made their living. And so, I got to know Butcherman pretty well. Looking back, I realize that Butcherman and I became better acquainted than he and I would have liked.
You see, I was part of the first response team that found Butcherman, an alpha for just 7 months at that point, in the snare which claimed his lower left leg. I was part of the team that brought his excruciating agony to an end when we conducted that amputation. I was part of the team that enabled Butcherman to make a fantastic recovery where he somehow managed to rule over the Delta Pride for a further 3 years post-surgery. To put it succinctly: Butcherman would not have been… without the small contribution that I provided. But to be honest with you, Butcherman played much the same role for me. I would not be me without Butcherman.
You see, I was part of the first response team that found Butcherman, an alpha for just 7 months at that point, in the snare which claimed his lower left leg. I was part of the team that brought his excruciating agony to an end when we conducted that amputation. I was part of the team that enabled Butcherman to make a fantastic recovery where he somehow managed to rule over the Delta Pride for a further 3 years post-surgery. To put it succinctly: Butcherman would not have been… without the small contribution that I provided. But to be honest with you, Butcherman played much the same role for me. I would not be me without Butcherman.
Butcherman recovering from the amputation that UWA rangers, veterinarians, and me conducted.
This animal taught me what it was like to be a biologist. He was patient with me as I struggled to keep up with the movements of the Delta Pride. He allowed me to study every aspect of his life and to document every movement, however painful on three limbs, he made. And so searching for this majestic creature, this legendary animal, this three-legged beast born more out of myth than reality has been my fixation.
Butcherman helped me develop the necessary expertise to feel confident presenting my conservation ideas in front of UWA rangers.
Do I think we will find Butcherman? Part of me confidently says ‘yes.’ And we intend to continue the search. Sophia Jingo, RECaP research assistant, has agreed to keep up the search for Butcherman as I resume my studies in the states. But a big part of me is coming to the conclusion that Butcherman is most likely lost. How could a three-legged lion hunt? When he was alpha, Butcherman had a harem of females that would conduct the hunts and then vocalize to him so that he could find the kill and maintain his fitness. The only hope for Butcherman is if he was able to convince one of the females to abandon the comfort of the pride. That is exactly what Sophia thinks has happened.
If Butcherman is anywhere, he is most likely north of the Nile River beyond the range of the Oil Pride.
Sophia thinks that Butcherman has found himself a lady and that the two of them have decided to enjoy retirement in the outskirts of the park north of an area maintained by the Oil Pride of lions. It is there that Butcherman could conceivably avoid detection from defensive lions and inquisitive biologists alike. This region lies north of Paraa and east of the borassus forest. There has not been much activity in the oil region since July last year. The oil region has areas near the Albert Nile river bank that are not occupied by any lion prides. So it is there that Sophia will center her efforts. She will head to the oil pride and then venture north scanning the myriad of animal tracks in the dirt looking for that distinctive three-legged hobble of Butcherman.
Sophia, myself, and a UWA ranger searching for Butcherman.
Sophia has worked in MFNP forever and is well suited to guide rangers to the most probable search sites. But I am starting to realize that finding Butcherman might be a smokescreen for the fundamental underlying need that we have in MFNP. We must find a way to reduce the devastating and indiscriminate effects of snaring on the wildlife in this landscape. During his reign Butcherman stood as a symbol of that need. Biologists at conferences in comfortable hotels used to say things like, “Did you hear that there is an alpha male in Murchison with three legs! In what place could there be a disabled alpha male lion?” Butcherman was an anomaly, a miracle. Maybe that is also why I need to find him. Because I was others to share that disbelief and be motivated to make a difference by supporting anti-snaring initiatives. But hasn’t Butcherman, if he is still with us, deserved the right to decide for himself if he wants to be visible? Maybe he doesn’t want to be found? Maybe he would prefer to live the remainder of his life as a recluse. Who couldn’t relate to that, given what he has been through? And if that is the case, then I will cheer him on. But regardless, I will always be Butcherman’s champion.
At RECaP we are officially launching our “Snares to Wares” initiative. For the past 7 years I have been working with Lost Boys, those individuals recruited into the poaching trade at very impressionable ages, to find alternative ways to make a living. I have been working to convert these boys from Lost Boys to Crafts Boys centered in the village of Pakwatch. Prioritizing the targeted removal of snares from MFNP via the most cutting-edge science, we supply these craftsmakers with disused wire snare which they capably convert to wares for sale in the market. We are launching this initiative with brand new spirit. The UWA rangers and other senior staff as well as the local hoteliers are ready to participate in this effort to get snares our of MFNP region for good.
This trip has also awakened in me the need to have a long-term and uninterrupted lion monitoring project in the MFNP so as to quickly determine threats to lions and devise mitigation measures. How else can we determine whether our Snares to Wares initiative is being successful? The lost boys of Pakwach mentioned of need to establish a steady market for their wares. We need to get these wire sculptures of lions, giraffes, and elephants in front of people who would like to buy them. Without a market for the wares, we will have failed to complete the circle in the conversion of a deadly snare into art. In this way art may be imitating life, but life is dependent upon art. Also, the initiative would then provide alternative income to the reformed boys, giving value to the conservation of wildlife via wire snare removal, and reducing the likelihood that these wires would be used to capture wildlife.
I return to East Lansing to share with the rest of Spartan Nation the challenges of wildlife conservation in this iconic African national park. Spartans Will! Snaring is but one of the challenges that Spartans are best suited to confront. I am therefore confident that my next trip to Uganda (starting in May of this year) will involve the application of practical solutions that will enable me to not only tell my children bed time stories of Butcherman, but to show them what Butcherman’s sons, daughters, and grandchildren are now getting up to in Murchison Falls National Park: my own backyard.
At RECaP we are officially launching our “Snares to Wares” initiative. For the past 7 years I have been working with Lost Boys, those individuals recruited into the poaching trade at very impressionable ages, to find alternative ways to make a living. I have been working to convert these boys from Lost Boys to Crafts Boys centered in the village of Pakwatch. Prioritizing the targeted removal of snares from MFNP via the most cutting-edge science, we supply these craftsmakers with disused wire snare which they capably convert to wares for sale in the market. We are launching this initiative with brand new spirit. The UWA rangers and other senior staff as well as the local hoteliers are ready to participate in this effort to get snares our of MFNP region for good.
This trip has also awakened in me the need to have a long-term and uninterrupted lion monitoring project in the MFNP so as to quickly determine threats to lions and devise mitigation measures. How else can we determine whether our Snares to Wares initiative is being successful? The lost boys of Pakwach mentioned of need to establish a steady market for their wares. We need to get these wire sculptures of lions, giraffes, and elephants in front of people who would like to buy them. Without a market for the wares, we will have failed to complete the circle in the conversion of a deadly snare into art. In this way art may be imitating life, but life is dependent upon art. Also, the initiative would then provide alternative income to the reformed boys, giving value to the conservation of wildlife via wire snare removal, and reducing the likelihood that these wires would be used to capture wildlife.
I return to East Lansing to share with the rest of Spartan Nation the challenges of wildlife conservation in this iconic African national park. Spartans Will! Snaring is but one of the challenges that Spartans are best suited to confront. I am therefore confident that my next trip to Uganda (starting in May of this year) will involve the application of practical solutions that will enable me to not only tell my children bed time stories of Butcherman, but to show them what Butcherman’s sons, daughters, and grandchildren are now getting up to in Murchison Falls National Park: my own backyard.
I remain confident that the old boy is enjoying his retirement deep in the heart of Murchison Falls National Park.
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