Lion man fights for his pride

From handling big cats and featuring in the world-famous TV series The Lion Man, Craig Busch's role at Zion Wildlife Gardens had been reduced to "just shaking hands with the public", the Employment Relations Authority heard yesterday.
Mr Busch, who had his licence as Zion Wildlife Garden operator revoked in November 2008, is challenging his dismissal from the park at the three-day authority hearing in Whangarei that began yesterday.
Part of the process will involve a visit to the gardens by authority member and investigation head Yvonne Oldfield and lawyers representing Mr Busch and his mother, Patricia.
Mr Busch yesterday told Ms Oldfield he could not carry out his job because staff were stopped from talking and working with him in mid-2008 before he was asked to pack up and leave.
He said he ended up paying up to $30,000 to help run the park because money had not been budgeted.
Mr Busch signed an employment agreement with Zion Wildlife Gardens in 2006 and received $1000 net per month in wages.
He claimed he did not receive any holiday pay and that his authority to sign cheques was taken away without his knowledge.
His mother and close friend Michael Bailey told him his pay would gradually increase but Mr Busch said that did not happen.
Mr Busch said even after signing the agreement, he did not see himself as an employee but the co-owner of the business with his mother.
His mother and Mr Bailey had kept him in the dark about issues relating to the park.
While shooting a Lion Man series, Mr Busch said Mr Bailey commented: "Craig, I can see the next Steven Spielberg."
However, when he asked about his job description in March 2008, he said Mr Bailey's answer was "just shaking hands with the public".
Mr Busch said interactive tours stopped in about May 2008 because they were conducted by untrained staff in undesignated areas.
He said safety barriers and double gates were not put in place despite his requests.
"The whole business is built around my cats and myself," Mr Busch said.
"They didn't allocate resources, no budget was set on what we can and can't do and it really hit hard when I started putting my foot down on animal welfare issues."
He rang the Ministry of Agriculture after seeing the lions in mud up to their knees - a condition he described as like a "pigsty".
Mr Busch said he got his own people to fix problems at the park after his mother would not allow staff to work with him.
She had then served him with a trespass notice.
"[It] seems she had a lot to hide. Those animals come before anything else," he said.
Park security and staff manager Barry Nalder said the park had been dysfunctional under Craig Busch.
He said Patricia Busch had given him authority to close it if necessary.
He said he afforded Mr Busch every opportunity to present his side of the story.
Ms Oldfield is expected to reserve her decision when the hearing concludes on Thursday.