Zion Wildlife Gardens Zion re-opens with new name, Kingdom Of Zion

Hey, Black Panther - you picked up on that?

J.H.

So how would you feel ..um…going in with the cats now. They way you used to – would you still want to do that?

CB

Be absolutely the same as it was yester…well.. three years ago.

Um the cats love me – they always will.

Um look over here – Zion’s waiting for me to come over here.

Bit of a slip up you reckon?.... :-)
 
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I don't really doubt he's been in with the cats since he returned, but I think his slip was only that, just a matter of saying the wrong word. Everybody does it, and it doesn't mean anything.
 
'Lion Man' returns to his Northland pack
Controversial Craig "Lion Man" Busch is back with his beloved big cats at the renamed Kingdom of Zion wildlife park in Northland.

Mr Busch has not worked at the park since being fired by the centre's previous owner - his mother Patricia.

The park, formerly named Zion Wildlife Gardens, is on the outskirts of Whangarei and officially reopened this weekend.

Mr Busch told the Sunday News it was "unreal" to be back working at the park.

"It took about a week to actually realise that I am home," he said.

"The minute I did get here, they [big cats] realised dad was home. They must have roared for about two days."

"It is like a lion orchestra ... an orchestra that is absolutely beautiful."

"It has been on my mind every second and every minute of every day."

There are at least 35 big cats at the park, including lions, tigers, cheetahs and leopards.

Mr Busch, who was the star of The Lion Man television series, says he is in talks with broadcasters to start a new program.

Mr Busch started Zion Wildlife Gardens with his mum in 2001 and handed over control of the centre to her in 2006. Two years later he was fired.

The park went into liquidation owing more than $100,000 last year and earlier this year there was a bitter dispute between the new owners and Mrs Busch who refused to leave the park.

At the time Mr Busch's sister Megan was charged with trespassing.
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Cadders said:
Craig told me, personally, that the rest of the world didn't know what they were talking about re de-clawing. There was no issue with it. He has a lion cub in Africa, Jubula, and said that he wished he could get it de-clawed so would not have so many scratches on his torso. This was in July 2011.
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He might well wish he could get his Lion cub in Africa declawed, note he doesn't say why he doesn't. That would be because its illegal in South Africa, and Namibia so no bonafide vet would do it.
 
AskAlice said:
Yes it is compared to others.

They're charging $150 per person if they want Craig Busch to a personal tour. That's more than double the price of the standard tour which is $60

And they only have Felid species. All other Zoos have diversified to include other species in their collections.

At least two previous Lion Parks have gone into liquidation in the past - who knows how it will go with the old Zion Wildlife Gardens.:confused:
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The previous owners charged huge prices too, $60 for a standard tour.

So in your opinion it seems to be OK for them to have charged that much, but not OK for CB to charge that much?

$60 is far too much just to look at some big cats who are in crappy enclosures for the most part, especially when some of them had obvious health problems. If he's doing something about those then that at least is an improvement.
 
Excuse me Mr Kiwipo?

Actually I felt that $60 was a lot of money for a tour and still is a lot of money.

So please if you don't mind try to be less aggressive in your comments towards me thank you so much:(:(
 
At the end of the day, it is the market that will decide if sixty bucks is a good price to visit the Kingdom of Busch, and be taught how to preservate animals, not us. So Ask Alice and Kiwipoo, be calm guys; this forum is for zoo professionals, it is not a marketing meeting. Running an appropriate institution should not be about propaganda, rhetoric and how much can be harvested from TV 'reality shows' catering for the masses.
What we need to discuss is whether the welfare of the animals at the newest kingdom of Kamo will be safeguarded, whether true conservation goals will be set, and met, and what this new zoo enterprise will offer NZ in terms of education, conservation and research.
 
IanRRobinson said:
Is it just me or does Kingdom of Zion sounds as if it ought to feature fire and brimstone preachers?
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when I saw the piece on the news about the park re-opening with a new name, I went on the internet to find some information to start this thread....and all I could find to start with was this sort of Mormon nonsense: Kingdom of Zion - Doctrine - Read - Discuss
 
Cadders said:
At the end of the day, it is the market that will decide if sixty bucks is a good price to visit the Kingdom of Busch, and be taught how to preservate animals, not us. So Ask Alice and Kiwipoo, be calm guys; this forum is for zoo professionals, it is not a marketing meeting. Running an appropriate institution should not be about propaganda, rhetoric and how much can be harvested from TV 'reality shows' catering for the masses.
What we need to discuss is whether the welfare of the animals at the newest kingdom of Kamo will be safeguarded, whether true conservation goals will be set, and met, and what this new zoo enterprise will offer NZ in terms of education, conservation and research.
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actually it is largely for zoo enthusiasts. Only a small percentage of the members work in zoological facilities.

"What we need to discuss is whether the welfare of the animals at the newest kingdom of Kamo will be safeguarded" -- I would say it will be, at least adequately
"whether true conservation goals will be set, and met" -- no, and no
"and what this new zoo enterprise will offer NZ in terms of education, conservation and research" -- nothing
 
At the current exchange rate, $60 New Zealand is 49.20 US dollars and 37.55 Euros. Pretty pricey indeed for any zoo, let alone someplace you have to go on an hour and a half guided tour and then leave. Even for a cat lover like me, that spells rip-off.
 
Arizona Docent said:
At the current exchange rate, $60 New Zealand is 49.20 US dollars and 37.55 Euros. Pretty pricey indeed for any zoo, let alone someplace you have to go on an hour and a half guided tour and then leave. Even for a cat lover like me, that spells rip-off.
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...and it only has 35 animals.
 
Chlidonias said:
the park's new website is up and running now: Welcome to ZION - Home for the big Cats & Craig Busch

This page has designs for future enclosures (they sure do have some fanciful imaginations there as to what they can achieve!): Welcome to the official Lionman Website : The Lionman conservation message

Interestingly, I can't find a single mention of conservation on the site (but perhaps I have just overlooked it)
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Did you try looking for the word 'Preservate'?
 
Chlidonias said:
actually it is largely for zoo enthusiasts. Only a small percentage of the members work in zoological facilities.

"What we need to discuss is whether the welfare of the animals at the newest kingdom of Kamo will be safeguarded" -- I would say it will be, at least adequately
"whether true conservation goals will be set, and met" -- no, and no
"and what this new zoo enterprise will offer NZ in terms of education, conservation and research" -- nothing
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1) Not a blemish free track record thus far, but will be very happy to be proved wrong
2) Surely 'No' and 'Yes'..? 'Sod all' as a conservation goal is not that difficult to meet.. :-)
3)Sounds like he's going to do something? Teaching the world by the looks of it. Almost as ambitious as the new enclosures perhaps?

"I am going to do filming for the rest of my life," he said.
"I didn't use to like it when I first started years ago. But now I enjoy it. I think it is a necessary thing to actually help educate and teach people around the world."
 
AskAlice said:
Excuse me Mr Kiwipo?

Actually I felt that $60 was a lot of money for a tour and still is a lot of money.

So please if you don't mind try to be less aggressive in your comments towards me thank you so much:(:(
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Hmmmm, during the entire time the Busch women were running the park and charging that same price I don't recall you criticising the entry fees or any other part of the park policy or management, much the opposite in fact.
I sure don't agree and never did with the pricing there, but nobody can deny that people did pay it, at one time. The big cat encounters were booked out for months in advance.
Lets not lose sight of the fact that the most serious incident at the park occurred while Pat was in charge.
CB does have a lot of faults, but he did know more about looking after big cats than his mother and sister. Everything they knew they learned from him.
Remains to be seen if he can overcome bad press and reputation and make a go of it, time will tell.
 
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