KEY POINTS:
Lion Man Craig Busch has seen his TV show become a roaring success in more than 90 countries, but neither TV One nor TV3 plans to screen a third series of the hit show in New Zealand.
Television New Zealand spokeswoman Megan Richards said the Lion Man series
had been "very successful" for the network, but there were currently no offers to buy a third series from producers Great Southern Television.
Ms Richards said the first two series of the show had been commissioned by TVNZ, but the third instalment had been independently funded. "There's nothing commissioned by us currently."
A spokeswoman for TV3 said the series did not feature on any of the network's programme schedules.
Great Southern Television executive producer Phil Smith could not be reached for comment yesterday.
Busch was this week convicted in the Whangarei District Court on two charges of assaulting his former partner Karen Greybrook after finding her in bed with a naked married couple at his Zion Wildlife Gardens game park near Whangarei.
Ms Greybrook suffered a cut head, bruising and a lumbar fracture during Busch's attack.
Judge Michael Lance, at sentencing, said the situation that Busch confronted must have been "traumatic in the extreme".
While acknowledging the Lion Man had no excuse for reacting violently to the sight of the threesome, the judge said Busch's initial anger was "human and understandable".
Judge Lance's comments have raised eyebrows with women's groups, however.
Women's Refuge spokeswoman Faith Denny said it accepted that there is a "strong human response" when someone is confronted with "a highly traumatic circumstance" such as Busch experienced, but "any suggestion that a violent and sustained attack is inevitable in such a situation is completely unacceptable".
"No person should be subjected to the sort of violent attack that Busch's partner suffered at his hands. Women's Refuge welcomes Busch's conviction and the judge's order for him to pay his former partner $8000."
National Network of Stopping Violence Services manager Brian Gardner said he was concerned Judge Lance's comments could appear to be "minimising" Busch's actions.
Finding one's partner of five years in bed with a naked couple was "probably quite a dramatic way to find out", but "for most people" such a discovery would not end in violence, he said.
"They might shout, scream and storm from the room ... but the violent assault that happened subsequently isn't something that's an automatic human reaction."
But Coalition of Fathers spokesman Jim Bagnall said he did not believe Judge Lance in any way condoned Busch's actions, but was instead commenting on the shock of first witnessing the spectacle.
Apart from being ordered to pay $8000 to Ms Greybrook, Busch was not handed any further penalty.
