Gladys Kalibbala
7 July 2008
Kampala — Michael Ocen has loved animals since he was a young boy. Born 43 years ago in Pader district, Ocen's love for animals is so strong that he will not even eat the meat of cows or goats slaughtered in his presence. "I eat meat but not if the cow is slaughtered as I watch. My love for animals has even driven me into quarrels with people I don't know," he says.
Ocen hated the hunters in his village who used to go out to kill the animals he loved so much. "I could not eat the meat the hunters brought home."
Ocen explains that on a number of occasions he has found himself in arguments with people whom he finds mistreating animals. He often threatens to beat up children in his neighbourhood when he finds them torturing dogs. He believes animals have feelings and that if they are teased or treated badly they too feel hurt.
Ocen looks after young animals at UWEC on a part-time basis. He first met Salaam in January 1995, when the lion was only five months old. The cub had been brought to Bugonga in Entebbe, by a white lady from Kenya, who had ten dogs that looked after it. Ocen got a job with her as a house keeper and soon, the responsibility of caring for the young lion fell to him.
Ocen first studied how Salaaam's owner handled him and with time got to learn his behaviour. "You cannot trust wild animals and indeed one has to fear them. But you can also study their behaviour and learn how to deal with them," he advises.
As the two got closer, Salaam would follow his keeper around the house as he performed his chores. At night, the cub would sneak into his bed whenever he forgot to lock the door to his room. Like all youngsters, the young lion would get irritable when he was hungry, Ocen says. "He would scratch his legs in annoyance whenever I delayed to give him milk."
Ocen often had to discipline Salaam when he was naughty, for instance when he would scratch the furniture. Ocen would show him a stick and threaten to beat him, at which the young lion would behave himself. At seven months, small pieces of meat were gradually introduced into Salaam's diet, as his teeth grew sharper.
When he was nine months old, Salaam ate one of his owner's chickens, forcing her to ask UWEC officials to take him to the centre. Because Salaam was still a cub, Ocen went with him. They slept in a container with partitions until the lion turned two and his playful tricks gradually turned rougher.
Ocen now had to study his mood first before he enterered his room. "Whenever I sensed a change in his mood, I would stand at the entrance and blink. If Salaam imitated my actions, I would know it was okay for us to play. If he maintained his gaze, I would keep away until he was in a better mood."
He vividly recalls the last day the two played together, after Salaam sank his claws in his caretaker's body. Ocen still has the claw marks, near his armpits. Ocen says Salaam seemed to get annoyed whenever he would leave him. On this day, he jumped at him from behind, just as he finished giving him water for the night and pinned him tightly. Ocen screamed for help. The other caretakers ran away, fearing he was dead. From that day, in 1997, Salaam was taken from Ocen, to the outdoor UWEC exhibit.
Even then, the two remained friends and whenever Ocen visited the exhibit, Salaam would come by and greet him with his paws. He recalls it was always difficult to say "goodbye" as the lion would watch sadly until his friend vanished.
The last time Ocen saw Salaam, in November 1998, he advised his fellow animal-keepers that the lion was sick, as he was not walking normally. "I was frightened by his loss of weight and clumsy walk, which indicated to me that he was not feeling well. Since I was not working in the centre anymore, I just advised my friends about his condition."
He says he only got to know of Salaam's death after a long time. "He died when I was away and when I learnt of it, I could not control my tears because Salaam was like a son to me. He also looked up to me as a father," Ocen recalls. He mourned him for days. Salaam was buried at the lions' exhibit at UWEC and all Ocen could see of his old friend was his grave.
While he still regrets the loss of Salaam, Ocen has found a new friend in the form of Nipper, a chimpanzee. He has cared for many of the chimpanzees at UWEC and Nipper Achan is his favourite.
"Nipper was my baby. I got her at two months, when she could not even open her eyes," he narrates excitedly, his eyes glittering. Ocen recalls how he had to wake up three times in the night to feed the young chimpanzee, change her bedding and place a warm bottle in her tiny bed for extra warmth.
Before Nipper learnt to walk, Ocen had to carry her around. They shared a bedroom with different beds, but, at about four months, when Nipper started walking, she would leave her bed and sneak into his. "She would cry and refuse to go back to bed until I held her and she slept in my arms. I would then take her back to her bed," Ocen recounts.
Ocen bottle-fed Nipper and as she grew up, he introduced her to bananas and other soft foods. He was like a mother to the baby chimpanzee, washing her sheets daily to get rid of the smell of urine and boiling her bottles to avoid contaminating her milk. "She used to get diarrhoea like small children whenever she drank from dirty cups so I had to be very careful," he says. Later, Ocen taught Nipper how to climb trees, play with a ball and eat more solid foods.
Nipper had been found abandoned in Masindi where, it was suspected, both her parents were killed by poachers. She has now been integrated with the rest of the chimpanzees at the centre.
Ocen's only regret is his lack of a permanent job. He blames this on the fact that he had no fees to continue his education. The fourth-born in a family of seven believes his life would be more fulfilling if he could educate his children.
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