Kampala — The Uganda Wildlife Education Centre (UWEC) has changed tremendously over the years. From the nostalgic nineties when I was a little boy and used to spend time by the chimpanzee cage where Zakayo swang, swayed, thumped his chest and did acrobatic moves to the amusement of adults and run the children into a frenzy of excitement.

Among the highlights back then was feeding the baby animals born at the zoo; from chimpanzees to baboons, monkeys et cetera.

It was my favourite place in Uganda. Up to now, every year hundreds of fans gather to attend Zakayo's birthday party.

At 44 years of age, Zakayo is the oldest and most popular chimpanzee in Uganda and is the Alpha male of the troop at UWEC. It watches over the rest as they take time grooming or cavorting with each other.

Formerly known as the Zoo, it became Uganda Wildlife Education Centre in 1994 and there was a major makeover, the animals were moved from tiny cages to large, open-air enclosures, simulating their natural habitat in the wild, with plaques bearing information on each animal's biography, biological and social information.

That is identical to their natural habitats. The centre aimed at recreating Uganda's extraordinarily diverse ecology, from rocky savannahs to lush wetlands, along the sandy shores of Lake Victoria, and allow free-ranging antelope to mix with Vervet monkeys and more than 250 bird species.

Some were surrounded by moats (those like lions and chimpanzees which cannot swim). Therefore, unlike other places like Nairobi orphanage or Safari Walk, you get to see the animals up close and personal.

Other animals like the proud and graceful Crested Crane which is the national symbol of Uganda and most Ugandans are proud of; the elegant and colourful peacock; Vervet monkeys, which move around playing with tourists petting their cameras, receiving flowers and leaves and hoping we are carrying delicious snacks concealed about our persons, roam around entertaining visitors.

I can remember the excitement when the Sherino and Kabira thefirst white Rhinos in decades were brought to Uganda from Kenya (White Rhinos became extinct in Uganda in 1983 due to excessive poaching).

Two more hand-raised White Rhinos were imported from Disney's theme park in Florida Nande, a seven-year-old female, and Hasani, a five-year-old male, grew up in man-made savannah conditions at Disney's Animal Kingdom.

The fully grown Rhinos were imported hand-tamed. They were, therefore, fond of people. Hordes of tourists both domestic and foreign lined up for the rare opportunity to take photos with the generally fierce and dangerous animals for photo albums, personalised calendars and post cards.

I had the rare opportunity to be with the White Rhino and stroke its coarse skin. But my all-time favourite was the feeding time for the more than 20-foot long African rock python (one of the longest snakes in the world).

The caretaker coiled the large reptile around his body and brought it out of its enclosure. There we gathered around to pet its soft scaly body as it slithered round his body.

The tour continues with a wide variety of animals, including the rare shoebill stock (one of the only 350

remaining in the world); Serval cats (these hunt flying birds and can leap as high as 10 feet in the air to grab a bird); Patas monkeys; Spotted necked otters and more

than 250 other animals and a medicinal plants garden with over 500 herbs plus information about the diseases they cure.

After a stroll through the 1,000-metre forest walk encountering wild monkeys, birds, free-ranging antelope, beautiful debrazza monkeys, vervet monkeys, hundreds of beautiful coloured butterflies, other creatures and indigenous plant species, we relax at the shaded tables near the Lake Victoria shore as we feast on the famous Ugandan fried Nile Perch

and French fries. Regardless of the tremendous changes UWEC has gone through over the decades, from the days when Amin's soldiers used to butcher the animals to gorge themselves and their families to the days when the animals were in cages. No matter the time of the year, there's never a boring moment at UWEC.

It remains the most visited fauna and flora park by domestic tourists and a "must see" for anyone going to Uganda for the first time. Funded by the World Bank, the centre is now home to more than 50 species whose existence in the Great Lakes region is under threat.

They include an African rock python normally found in a dusty savannah. Initially housed in a cage it was the prime target of villagers' taunts.

Desperate to escape, the python cracked his skull on the metal bars. More of these animals have amazing stories behind them. Few animals are likely to have endured a more miserable existence than Sarah.

By the age of four she had spent most of her life being used by a witchdoctor in a Ugandan village. Locked in a cage and deprived of any contact with other

chimpanzees, parts of Sarah's body would be shaved and her hair used in traditional ceremonies to banish evil spirits. Spotted by a middleman for an animal smuggling ring, Sarah was bought for a few dollars and prepared to be flown out of Uganda, bound for either the Middle East or Europe , where conservationists believe she would have been sold to a collector.

But Sarah refused to go quietly. As she was being taken away in a bag, on the way to Entebbe airport just outside Uganda's capital, Kampala, her incessant wriggling and screeching alerted the Police.

The trafficker was arrested and Sarah found herself in a new home: the UWEC in Entebbe. Here, along with more than 10 other chimpanzees, Sarah has been nurtured back to health.

Three animals were accidentally caught in fishermen's nets over the past 20 years. The youngest was only brought in after a fisherman visited the centre and saw the other two.

After finding the otter caught up in his net, he had panicked and kept it in a drum, unsure of what to do with it.

The shoebill stork, a five-foot tall grey-feathered bird was found in the boot of a car, about to be smuggled out of the country.

Sarah is not the only chimpanzee to have been saved from a life of pain with a witchdoctor. Kikyo, who is still being kept in quarantine while vets carry out a thorough examination, had also been kept for use in traditional witchcraft ceremonies.

Despite the sad stories behind the animals, UWEC still aims atpromoting and creating an understanding of conserving the biodiversity in Uganda among the public, with specific emphasis on the young generation using the facilities at Entebbe; rescue and rehabilitate animals, breed species while still remaining a zoo where people come to see and learn about animals while remaining a recreation park.

History of UWEC

The UWEC was opened in 1952 by the colonial government then, as an animal orphanage that offered sanctuary to young animals found abandoned in protected areas due to the death or poaching of parent animals. In the early 1960s, it became a traditional zoo and became commonly known as Entebbe Zoo in which even non-indigenous species like bears and tigers were kept as an attraction. Because of the political turmoil

and inadequate government funding, the zoo became continually run down until May 1994 when a proposal was made by the New York Zoological Society (now the World Conservation Society) to turn it into a conservation education centre for conservation awareness purposes; hence the name 'Uganda Wildlife Education Centre Trust'.