Lion man

Jayesh said:
i alway watch it, its really awesome! is one of staff got killed by lion?
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yeah apparantly when he got sacked from the zoo - this was after as he wasnt there to share his knowledge etc....
? he also assaulted his partner as he found her in bed with another couple... (i assume before he got sacked) :lol: sucha shame really as he obviously loved his big cats :(

back on topic
yeh great programme - theres a guy i work with looks the spit of him!
 
Who got killed?
Was it the main guy who looks after the cats.
Not seen the series for a while.
 
arclight said:
Who got killed?
Was it the main guy who looks after the cats.
Not seen the series for a while.
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There is usually an "In Memory of" message at the end of the episodes now, it was an African who Craig Busch had come over. Craig had told him to never enter the cages on his own but this time the keeper did.
Zion Wildlife park is currently owned by Craig's mother. Not sure how this came about but Craig is trying to regain control and get back to the cats he loves. Recently Craig's mother moved two white tigers to another zoo. Craig is claiming she had no right as he owns the two tigers himself, not Zion Wildlife Park.
 
nilagin said:
There is usually an "In Memory of" message at the end of the episodes now, it was an African who Craig Busch had come over. Craig had told him to never enter the cages on his own but this time the keeper did.
Zion Wildlife park is currently owned by Craig's mother. Not sure how this came about but Craig is trying to regain control and get back to the cats he loves. Recently Craig's mother moved two white tigers to another zoo. Craig is claiming she had no right as he owns the two tigers himself, not Zion Wildlife Park.
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Cheers, it sounds as if it is getting a bit messy.
I'll keep an eye open for it being on TV.
 
suze23 said:
yeah apparantly when he got sacked from the zoo - this was after as he wasnt there to share his knowledge etc....
? he also assaulted his partner as he found her in bed with another couple... (i assume before he got sacked) :lol: sucha shame really as he obviously loved his big cats :(

back on topic
yeh great programme - theres a guy i work with looks the spit of him!
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She was in bed with one of the other girls that worked there...doing other things than sleeping.

The man who died wasn't Craig and that's right about his mother owning the park ATM.

All messy and screwed up and the poor lions and tigers are suffering cause of it all.
 
MagicMynx said:
She was in bed with one of the other girls that worked there...doing other things than sleeping.

The man who died wasn't Craig and that's right about his mother owning the park ATM.

All messy and screwed up and the poor lions and tigers are suffering cause of it all.
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Whose mother - Craig or the man who died?

I saw two episodes on Freeview 11 last night and noticed the tribute to the young man who died.
There was no mention of problems affecting the animals, but Freeview has so many repeats that I could not tell if the situation was current.
 
dalu mncube is the guy who died after trying to stop one of the orange tigers attacking someone , we have all 3 series on dvd , love them , its a shame it has got messy , and its craigs mum who owns the park after bailing him out financially
 
I watch it and want to clear a few things up.

The show is now at least 4-5 years old. Craig ended up walking in on his then wife (Karen) in there martial bed with another COUPLE. The other women worked at the Gardens and there are a few of us who have figured out who it was. Quite rightly Craig was p****d and did get charged with assaulting Karen. And his mum has come into 'Owning' the park as in 2006(I think) when Zion Wildlife Gardens need money urgently she put money in. When Craig was charged his mother basically staged a coup and took over. Atm Craig is silenced by court orders while his mother insults him left right and center. There are numerous things being fought over including ownership of the Big Cats themselves. Craig was given all the documents to the cats by the courts and he claims he owns them while his mother has hit out stating they belong to her while meanwhile admitting in a previous hearing that she doesn't own them. While Craig was away Dalu (Who Craig met while getting Gandor (the White Lion) from South Africa) was tragically killed by one of the White Tigers which as a result was then put down.

There is a group on Facebook along with a petition trying to get Craig back where belongs which is in charge of the Gardens and caring for the animals. The link to the group is: http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/NZ-Lionman-Craig-Busch/43253796601?ref=ts (just say Matt Rimmer sent you)
His official site is: https://www.safeshop.co.nz/lionman/index.php

If you like the show help get Craig back where he belongs which is in charge and looking after the animals.
 
That's a bit of a tangled web. Having troubles on your mind does not seem conducive to working with big cats.
 
That is an awfull state of affairs. Far too much background baggage and disharmony.
 
I'm not a fan at all.

When he was at the park he de-clawed a lot of the animals and took cubs away from their mothers so they would bond with humans and be able to do tricks etc. I don't have issues with keeping animals in captivity but I do not believe the conditions these cats were / are kept in are suitable or healthy.

He bred for colour alone - particularly white animals - which comes with a whole host of other genetic issues and has got sod all to do with conservation.

BIAZA aren't fans either:

http://www.stuff.co.nz/sunday-news/news/3018897/Lion-Man-takes-a-mauling-in-Britain
 
Daysleeper40 said:
I'm not a fan at all.

When he was at the park he de-clawed a lot of the animals and took cubs away from their mothers so they would bond with humans and be able to do tricks etc. I don't have issues with keeping animals in captivity but I do not believe the conditions these cats were / are kept in are suitable or healthy.

He bred for colour alone - particularly white animals - which comes with a whole host of other genetic issues and has got sod all to do with conservation.

BIAZA aren't fans either:

http://www.stuff.co.nz/sunday-news/news/3018897/Lion-Man-takes-a-mauling-in-Britain
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Seems to be some unsavoury aspects, if they are correct, surfacing about the Lion Man set up.
I originally watched out of mild curiosity and had not seen any of it for ages until this thread was started.
My memory from when I first saw the programme was that the cats were being bred to help survival of endangered species.
Have I got that wrong?
I always had the impression that the enclosures were far too small.
If what you say about cubs being taken from mothers, bonding with humans, tricks etc. is correct then that sounds to me like a damned circus.
 
arclight said:
If what you say about cubs being taken from mothers, bonding with humans, tricks etc. is correct then that sounds to me like a damned circus.
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Cubs were only taken from their mothers when the mothers didn't bond with them, it shows time and time again on the program, but all of them were taught to bond with humans - after all it's a wildlife park, so humans are going to be around alot.

He bread alot of white animals because there's barely any of the white ones left in the world.

Also the only declawing was when one of the lions claws pretty much got ripped out because he'd been fighting with another lion, so the vet had to take away that ripped out claw.
 
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Thanks, Nattellie.
Seems to be a lot of contradictory information floating about.

All I will add is that I hope everything works out well and the cats are well cared for.
 
MagicMynx said:
Cubs were only taken from their mothers when the mothers didn't bond with them, it shows time and time again on the program, but all of them were taught to bond with humans - after all it's a wildlife park, so humans are going to be around alot.

He bread alot of white animals because there's barely any of the white ones left in the world.

Also the only declawing was when one of the lions claws pretty much got ripped out because he'd been fighting with another lion, so the vet had to take away that ripped out claw.
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Actually I believe it was 21 lions and 9 tigers between 2000 - 2008. This link is to the MAF Enforcement Directorate Investigation Report into the "routine" declawing.

MAF Report

The whole situation is / was a mess as no action could be taken given that MAF vets were present.

With regards the white animals - they are not a seperate rare subspecies i.e. there is no such thing as a "Royal White Bengal Tiger", they are Bengal Tigers with a genetic condition called leucism which causes reduced pigmentation and is carried via a double recessive gene. They could in fact be viewed as mutant.

Obviously white animals are very attractive and a huge draw for zoo's and this has led to some unscrupulous breeding of captive white tigers in the past. As the gene is recessive it has led to a lot of inbreeding between related animals (brother / sister, father / daughter etc) and the associated health risks are not good to say the least. Different subspecies have also been crossed to produce more impressive looking white animals.

Basically the intentional breeding of colour morphs is all about human desire and nothing to do with conserving rare species. White lions are used in South Africa in "Canned Hunts" which is essentially a trophy hunt where the animal is penned in an enclosed area to increase the liklihood of the human getting their "trophy".

What I'm trying to say here is that yes white lions / tigers are rare in the wild but this is due to the fact the condition is caused by recessive genes and that actually, being white places the animal at a disadvantage in the wild (lack of camoflage). The selective breeding of these animals in zoo's is not going to further conservation in any meaningful way.
 
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i do, i like it, good show i think :)
 
DaySleeper In all fairness Chester Zoo has a mother and son Jaguar in the same enclosure. That means the son has had to have operation if you get the idea. Is that fair? Doesnt it mean that a rare animal cant help its species survive. This thread I gather is for fans and much like the above fan club it appears that no matter what people who have opposing views(Which everyone is fully entitled to) try and tar Craig in a bad light.

DaySleeper can I ask do you think its right that his mother has been running her mouth of and spreading rumours about her own son while Craig has been obeying the court order and staying silent.
 
Matt Rimmer said:
DaySleeper In all fairness Chester Zoo has a mother and son Jaguar in the same enclosure. That means the son has had to have operation if you get the idea. Is that fair? Doesnt it mean that a rare animal cant help its species survive. This thread I gather is for fans and much like the above fan club it appears that no matter what people who have opposing views(Which everyone is fully entitled to) try and tar Craig in a bad light.

DaySleeper can I ask do you think its right that his mother has been running her mouth of and spreading rumours about her own son while Craig has been obeying the court order and staying silent.
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I've no idea what the situation is with the Jaguars at Chester so it's a bit difficult to comment to be honest. I'm not really sure what bearing it has on the point I was trying to make about the historic selective breeding of colour morphs anyway :shrug: For the record - I agree that it would be a shame to prevent a healthy animal breeding but that is definately preferable to carrying out selective inbreeding (or de-clawing for that matter).

I have no interest in any feud that's going on between Craig Busch and his mother - and I'm also not trying to start a fight. I'm not a fan and I've said why. I just don't want people watching the programme under the misguided belief it's all about conservation - or thinking that everything you see in the programme is entirely truthful.
 
Daysleeper40 said:
I've no idea what the situation is with the Jaguars at Chester so it's a bit difficult to comment to be honest. I'm not really sure what bearing it has on the point I was trying to make about the historic selective breeding of colour morphs anyway :shrug: For the record - I agree that it would be a shame to prevent a healthy animal breeding but that is definately preferable to carrying out selective inbreeding (or de-clawing for that matter).

I have no interest in any feud that's going on between Craig Busch and his mother - and I'm also not trying to start a fight. I'm not a fan and I've said why. I just don't want people watching the programme under the misguided belief it's all about conservation - or thinking that everything you see in the programme is entirely truthful.
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True nothing you see on tv is ever 100% truthful. The reason I raised the Chester Jaguars was because like the Declawing the Jaguar had no choice. In the end that makes both Chester Zoo and Craig Busch the same from that point of view. I have had a great chat with someone who like you dislikes Craig for the same reason. In the end we both agreed he had a great relationship with the cats and deserves to be back there as at the minute he has unfairly lost everything. Yes I agree the declawing was wrong and I have no doubt the animals would of felt the pain but have you ever seen anyone with such a close relationship to big cats as Craig Busch? I haven't and its his show that prompted me to go to Chester Zoo to get photos of there big cats.
 
My Partner and I watched the show regularly after having stumbled upon it while channel hopping some time ago. We had it on series link until a couple of days ago when it seems to have finished.

Its a place we'd love to visit as we both love big cats but i'm not sure it would seem right without Craig.

I have to admit to not knowing a lot about the background but the relationship Craig had with the cats was obvious and could never be faked and I for one would love to see him back in charge.

As for meeting him in person - again its something I'd love to do but would prefer it to be with the cats by his side :thumbs:
 
GSDlover4ever said:
I use to enjoy watching his shows.


http://www.bigcatrescue.org/cats/wild/white_tigers_fraud.htm

http://hubpages.com/hub/Craig-Busch-and-Zion-Wildlife-Gardens
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Ok first things first. In that second link it says about the fact that PB(Patricia Busch) got Glen Hollands in to be the operator of the zoo. Did you know he has been starving the animals? It was his leadership that lead to the tragic death of Dalu MnCube as Abu was extremely malnourished. This is one of the last known pictures of Abu before the tragic accident:
4649604044_e2de7ac5ec_b.jpg


The Park has tried to discredit that picture numerous times by saying it is just the angle that made Abu look so thin. That picture along with the fact no one actually knows where PB and her cronies have buried Abu (If any where as there are reports they have sold his body parts). Even the MAF who are a New Zealand government organisation don't know where Abu is buried even after numerous requests to know.

Yes Craig may have done things wrong but PB has done alot more wrong. Since she has been in charge they have actually been teaching the Tigers to climb the fences. Surely any responsible owner would sack there staff for doing this.

Secondly going back to the first link I don't blame Craig for hitting his ex wife Karen. She after all was the one in there bed with another COUPLE. If anything I would of done a lot worse. Craig has been extremely restrained in what he has said which isn't a lot due to the fact he has been listening to what the court has said. While Craig has been silent PB and her cronies have taken every opportunity to stick a knife in. On one of his trips away from the park PB got some members of staff to paint the outside of his windows(He still lives on the Park in the house he built) black and to super glue his locks. She then claimed the paint was on the inside of the windows. Why would Craig who wasn't there at the time do that?

Going back to the tragic incident that meant this world lost Dalu and Abu. At the time of the incident Craig was actually at a court case about his dismissal. When Glen got called out and came back in he told them something had happened Craigs first reaction was to make sure his mother was ok. When told that Dalu had been killed by a Tiger Craig burst into tears and in between his tears he repeated that he hard warned something like this would happen. It wasn't till later that Craig and co found out that Abu had been shot. No ZWG didn't tell them they found out on the internet. Craig's reaction was first concern for his mother then to his friend and his cat. All that happened 367 days ago.

Now try to say Craig is a monster after still caring for his mother after the hell she has put him through.
 
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