JACQUES STEENKAMP
The Lion Man is fighting back at allegations he nearly killed a baby giraffe and dragged a lion through the bush after footage of the incidents was aired on a South African television show.
Craig Busch, who now lives on a farm called the Jabula Big Cat Sanctuary near Rustenburg, north of Johannesburg, has defended the claims raised by local current affairs show Carte Blanche.
He says he is firm with the lions, but does not abuse them.
The programme featured several of his former workers who claimed Busch mistreated his animals, and nearly killed a baby giraffe while filming a segment for his Animal Planet show.
But Busch hit back and lodged a complaint with the Broadcasting Complaints Commission of South Africa (BCCSA) for what he believes was an unfair TV report.
He in turn levelled allegations against the programme's two undercover investigators who visited Jabula and allegedly agitated one of his lions during a walk in the bush.
The journalists recorded footage that shows Busch allegedly dragging a lion called Tembi with a leash.
He claims the footage was edited to portray him as a "monster" and that he was only trying to get the lion back into her camp to avoid an incident.
However, an investigative producer for Carte Blanche, Joy Summers, said the show stands by their story and they rejected all the allegations "with the contempt they deserve".
Casandra Mac Donald, a national inspector for the South African SPCA, confirmed she recently visited Jabula for a routine inspection, and there were no grounds to launch an investigation.
"No contraventions of the Animals Protection Act were noted at the time of my inspection," she said.
Busch has confirmed that he is not under investigation for animal abuse, adding "they see me with my animal, they have nothing bad to say about me".
He also denied that he abused his lions in particular, but said he's "firm" with them.
"You cannot abuse a lion. If you abuse a lion and then want them to be your friend, that does not work.
"Lions have a very good memory, they forget nothing. They will get you when you're not looking, and they will not be loving".
He maintained that his estranged mother, Patricia Busch who still lives in New Zealand, and her colleagues are behind an alleged "smear campaign" against him.
Busch became emotional when asked whether he'll ever be able to reconcile with his mother.
"I've gone past the hurt stage, she's more than hurt me. She's destroyed everything inside me. I'm ashamed of being her son."
Busch and his mother, Patricia Busch, have been embroiled in legal battles over Zion Wildlife Park in Whangarei, north of Auckland.
He said his five-year contract comes to an end at the end of 2016 by which time he will decide whether to buy back the park for $1.2 million.
Busch said he believed that "they" will try to stop him if he decides to buy back the park.
"I have never seen anything like this conspiracy. It has a criminal element to it. To live with the amount of pain and suffering I've gone through, and to stay alive like I have.
"Well, I think I have done alright so far. I'm still alive and they haven't killed me".
Patricia Bush said she had heard there had made negative comments about her.
"I haven't seen him for so long. It seems a pretty unusual sort of thing to say. I have heard I'm being blamed for everything, but I can't say why, I don't have anything to do with Craig," she said.
"I'm an elderly person now, and I was bankrupt because of all of this and so I really had my own issues to deal with, with my changed circumstances and poor health.
Of the alleged conspiracy, Patricia Busch said: "I think he needs to prove the allegations if he's saying that."
Her son, however reiterated that there's nothing left for him in New Zealand apart from his animals.
He said he has been collecting evidence against the people behind the alleged smear campaign and that he will act on this in the near future.
For the time being he will however focus on sanctuary in South Africa, which remains open to the general public.
- Sunday Star Times
