KEY POINTS:
The Lion Man, Craig Busch, is no longer in control of Whangarei's Zion Wildlife Gardens after details of a MAF investigation were made public.
Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry documents - released to TVNZ under the Official Information Act - expressing concerns over animals kept in crowded,
unsanitary conditions.
Inspectors were at one stage so concerned by conditions at Zion Wildlife Gardens they considered having 40 big cats put down.
Officials were also concerned about barriers, with one external fence damaged and not repaired for a day and a half, and lions and tigers kept in the same enclosure.
Among the options being considered by MAF were finding a new operator, or even performing euthanasia on 40 of the park's big cats.
Since the concerns were raised earlier this year, improvements have been made at the Kamo, Whangarei, wildlife park which gained worldwide fame through the TV series The Lion Man.
MAF investigations manager Greg Reid said the immediate animal welfare issues at the park had been addressed. One investigation was ongoing, but he would not comment until it was completed later this year.
Mr Reid said Zion's containment facilities were up to standard and he was satisfied any "domestic or business issues" were not affecting animal welfare or public safety.
"The animals are being cared for and contained appropriately," he said.
The park's managing director, Patricia Busch, said she was pleased that the concerns MAF did have were now in the past - bar one that was being still being addressed.
"They never said and we don't believe they were contemplating putting animals down," she said. "The lions and tigers together was simply the young ones growing up together - and, yes, there came a time where were too many to keep together."
The damage to a boundary fence was caused by last winter's big storm and repaired as soon as it was discovered, early the next morning. The enclosures themselves were well protected, she said.
Mrs Busch, and her son Craig Busch, are understood to have been locked in a dispute over management of the park.
Neighbours were concerned about tensions at the park, and police were called on Sunday night.
Whangarei's Sergeant Neil Pennington said police went to the park on Sunday after a report that gates were being taken off the lion enclosures, but found that was not the case.
"It's an ongoing dispute over ownership and management of the park between Craig and his mum. The argument on Sunday was over who ended up opening a gate."
Mrs Busch said police had backed management's right to decide who had access to the park.
A neighbour, who did not want to be named, said Sunday's police callout was just one of several incidents that had concerned her.
"I'm just waiting for it to 'Chernobyl'," she said. "It can be disconcerting seeing police and security guards."
However, she did not want to see Zion to close. "If (Craig) loses this, he loses his identity. I don't want Whangarei to have this go away. It's done a lot of things for Whangarei."
A neighbouring farmer said police had been coming and going for weeks. A security guard had been posted outside all weekend and a truck had been parked across the Gumtown Rd entrance.
Meanwhile, about three weeks ago, former Auckland Zoo boss Glen Holland was brought in as a "licensed operator" as required by MAF, to be responsible for the animals.
With the highly experienced Mr Holland in charge for now, the future of the park was "really solid, Mrs Busch said.
And when Mr Holland - who headed Auckland Zoo for seven years - took up his role at Zion he reported "in glowing terms" about the cats' health and handling, she said.
The park is home to 42 big cats, including rare white tigers and barbary lions extinct in their North African habitat.
- NORTHERN ADVOCATE
