Craig Busch is a TV personality affiliated with Zion Wildlife Gardens
in New Zealand (http://www.zionwildlifegardens.co.nz). Their
homepage has a montage of him kissing a white tiger and interacting
with other big cats.

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Lion Man Out, MAF [Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry] Investigates
Declawing
Thursday, 13 November 2008

Lion Man Craig Busch's licence to operate Zion Wildlife Gardens has
been revoked after his loving mum Patricia (manager of the lion park)
told MAF that he was no longer employed by the park. He has been
replaced as licensed operator by former Auckland Zoo manager Glen
Holland.

Philip Smith from Great Southern Television insists that the cats
will be back on our television screens in some shape or form. He told
TV3

"The story is always about the preservation and conservation, that's
the story and no man or person is bigger than that story."

I must have been watching a different show. What I saw was focused
around Craig – the way he interacted with the lions, trained the
lions, cuddled and played with the lions.

Court Battle Between Craig And His Mum

Next week, Craig and Patricia Busch go head to head in court in a
civil claim that Craig has set up a competing website selling Lion
Man merchandising and asking for donations to help his conservation
efforts. Lion Man producers Great Southern Television are partnered
with Patricia to produce The Lion Man television program and profit
from the merchandising. They allege Craig is making false claims that
his site is the "official site" of the Lion Man.

Does anyone else find the timing suspicious? Mum is going into court
next week claiming that their website is the official one, and what
better proof than ousting the man known as "The Lion Man" from his
role at the park?

MAF Investigation To Date

TVNZ say that a report from MAF described the arguments between Craig
and Patricia as childish and MAF were concerned about the welfare of
the big cats after claims that Craig had changes the locks on
enclosures and a sick tiger couldn't be attended to for five days.
They also listed several other concerns including insanitary
conditions

Neighbours report that the police have been called out on several
occasions, including a false alarm last weekend that someone was
attempting to remove gates from the wildlife park.

Patricia has also made claims that she was abused by Craig and rumour
has it she attempted to take out a restraining order against him.

MAF Investigating De-clawing

Most of the concerns raised by MAF have been remedied, however they
are still investigating one matter. According to TVNZ, MAF is
investigating de-clawing, which was described in the report as an
unnecessary practice. MAF are investigating both the lion park and
the vet that de-clawed the big cats. Ex employees of Zion Wildlife
Gardens have confirmed to NZRealityTV.com that many of the cats have
been de-clawed.

Park Still Open to Visitors

But there is good news for people hoping to visit the park. New
operator Glen Holland told TV3 that he believes the park is in good
shape and that he is satisfied with the condition of the animals, the
enclosures and the training the staff have received.

http://www.nzrealitytv.com/2008/11/lion-man-out-maf-investigates-
declawing.html