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

I realize I have come late to this thread, but I once watched a small section of a TV show featuring a zoo full of big cats mainly white tigers I think. the guy was strutting about worrying if the building work going on next door would upset a new tiger mother, so he decided to move the mother and cubs to a new area saying she may abandon the litter if he did,- which proved correct - and he would have to hand rear them if that happened I turned it off then as it struck me the whole reason for moving the cats was to get the mother to give up her litter so they could be hand reared.

My question is this, was this the same animal park as the show? I didn't get the title as I came in part way through, and was to vexed at his actions to watch any more.
 
dean said:
I realize I have come late to this thread, but I once watched a small section of a TV show featuring a zoo full of big cats mainly white tigers I think. the guy was strutting about worrying if the building work going on next door would upset a new tiger mother, so he decided to move the mother and cubs to a new area saying she may abandon the litter if he did,- which proved correct - and he would have to hand rear them if that happened I turned it off then as it struck me the whole reason for moving the cats was to get the mother to give up her litter so they could be hand reared.

My question is this, was this the same animal park as the show? I didn't get the title as I came in part way through, and was to vexed at his actions to watch any more.
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It certainly sounds like it would have been, and if it was shot in NZ then it definitely was.
 
dean said:
I realize I have come late to this thread, but I once watched a small section of a TV show featuring a zoo full of big cats mainly white tigers I think. the guy was strutting about worrying if the building work going on next door would upset a new tiger mother, so he decided to move the mother and cubs to a new area saying she may abandon the litter if he did,- which proved correct - and he would have to hand rear them if that happened I turned it off then as it struck me the whole reason for moving the cats was to get the mother to give up her litter so they could be hand reared.

My question is this, was this the same animal park as the show? I didn't get the title as I came in part way through, and was to vexed at his actions to watch any more.
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More than likely it is. It sounds like the old Lion Man series to me, which is filmed at what is now called Kingdom of Zion
 
Heads up guys The Ministry of Primary Industries has closed Kingdom of Zion to the public. No further details available at present.
 
AskAlice said:
Heads up guys The Ministry of Primary Industries has closed Kingdom of Zion to the public. No further details available at present.
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I had a quick look around and can't see anything explaining it yet. Will be interesting to see the reason....
 
Yes at this stage MPI aren't able to disclose the reason why they made the order to close the zoo to the public. I'm sure they'll do a media release in due course.:)
 
Some information on the, apparently temporary, closure.

Full article (also describes new TV show) here: Lion Man becomes king of the screens | Stuff.co.nz

Thread on TV show here: http://www.zoochat.com/183/lion-mans-groan-inducing-new-show-373595/#post793418

KINGDOM OF ZION CLOSED TO PUBLIC

While overseas fans enjoy new TV show The Lion Man: African Safari, gates have been locked to the public at the big cat park that was the scene for much of the filming of Craig Busch's earlier reality series The Lion Man.

The Ministry of Primary Industries - the Government department charged with overseeing safety and welfare standards and operating practices at New Zealand zoos - confirmed to Sunday News it had "ordered" the closure of the Kingdom of Zion to the general public.

"MPI is responsible for approving zoo containment facilities and their operators and auditing them to ensure the requirements of the approvals are met on an ongoing basis," the ministry's director, verification services, Chris Kebbell told Sunday News.

"Part of these responsibilities is to ensure that the animal enclosures meet approval requirements.

"MPI ordered the facility to be closed to visitors while work is undertaken around upgrading of the closures."

Kebbell said the forced closure of the Kingdom of Zion would remain in effect until at least Thursday, when the "closure order will be reviewed" when officials return to the popular tourist attraction, on the outskirts of Whangarei.

Busch, who in 2012 was contracted to care for the big cats and run interactive tours for visitors at the Kingdom of Zion, did not return messages from Sunday News.

Busch's partner, Suzanne Eisenhut - listed as the Kingdom of Zion's director - also did not return messages from Sunday News.

The park's website has an online tool offering tours from August 1.
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Looks like they're closed for another two weeks

Had a look at their booking system originally they had bookings open on August 1st. Now it's changed to a fortnight later to August 15th
 
Kamo Wildlife Sanctuary

New owners have big plans for park

Whangarei's Kingdom Of Zion wildlife park could finally be the major tourist attraction it's had the potential to become now that it has been taken over by an investment company that plans to turn it into a "world-class facility" for breeding and showing big cats.

Bolton Equities, which is based in Remuera, Auckland, but has land holdings in Northland, has bought the park from Earth Crest and the park is being upgraded to meet new rules around animal enclosures.

The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) ordered the park closed to the public between July 1 and July 31 while the animal enclosures were upgraded to meet new standards. MPI has now extended the closure until August 31, when the park is likely to be renamed Kamo Wildlife Sanctuary, director Martin Weekes said.

The park, in Gray Rd, Kamo, sprung to international fame as home to TV personality The Lion Man, Craig Busch, but while Mr Busch is not involved in the new ownership, he was always welcome to visit the park he started, Mr Weekes said.


In recent years the park has been torn by division involving a bitter dispute between Mr Busch and his mother, Patricia, over ownership before Earth Crest took it over.

In May 2009 - when the park was known as Zion Wildlife Park and run by Zion Wildlife Gardens, owned by Patricia Busch - big-cat handler Dalubuhle Ncube, also known as Clifford Dalu MnCube, or Dalu, was mauled to death by a male tiger named Abu after he and another handler had entered its enclosure to clean it.

In December 2011, Zion Wildlife Gardens was ordered to pay reparations of $60,000 to Dalu's partner after pleading guilty to one charge under Section 6 of the Health and Safety in Employment Act 1992.

Mr Weekes said Bolton Equities - which has Murray and Robyn Bolton, from Remuera; Edward Davie, from Australia; Kenneth MacDonald, from Tauranga; and Phillip Wells, from Auckland; listed as directors - was a private investment company that saw huge potential for the big-cat park.

"The aim is to get it up to the required (MPI) standards and turn the park into a truly world-class big-cat breeding facility that will be open to the public. (Bolton Equities) sees this as a fantastic facility and want to make sure the public have a wonderful place that they can go and visit to see some amazing big cats," he said.

Mr Weekes said the company did not see the park as a major money maker and were investing in it as a "labour of love because they love big cats".

"Craig Busch isn't involved in the new venture - he has his own park in South Africa - but he's welcome to come to the park any time. He's worked very hard to get the place up and running," he said.

Mr Weekes said the park had 34 big cats - lions, tigers (including white tigers), cheetahs and a black leopard - and some of them might go to Mr Busch's park in South Africa while the Kamo park might take some big cats from the South African park.

"People need to realise that this facility is pretty unique anywhere in the world, in terms of the number of big cats and what we are trying to do," he said.

The company hoped to re-open the park as soon as it had been given the all-clear by MPI so that it could finally become the world-class tourist facility it had always promised to be.

- NORTHERN ADVOCATE

By Mike Dinsdale
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Source: New owners have big plans for park - Northern Advocate - Northern Advocate News
 
""Craig Busch isn't involved in the new venture - he has his own park in South Africa - but he's welcome to come to the park any time. He's worked very hard to get the place up and running," he said."

And financed it how?
 
I've just been having a look around to see what the situation with this place is now. And it is STILL closed! They have also changed their name, to Kamo Wildlife Sanctuary. On their Facebook whenever they are asked about opening they repeat "Good morning,The park is currently closed while we have remedial work being completed onsite and we have no specific opening date set yet."

I found this article from January which has some explanations:
Upgrade keeps sanctuary gates closed - Northern Advocate - Northern Advocate News
30 January 2015

The former Zion Wildlife Park, now Kamo Wildlife Sanctuary, is closed until at least the end of February. Photo / File The former Zion Wildlife Park, now Kamo Wildlife Sanctuary, is closed until at least the end of February. Photo / File

Remedial work at Whangarei's Kamo Wildlife Sanctuary is still being done and the park will be closed at least until the end of February.

Bolton Equities, which is based in Remuera, Auckland, but has land holdings in Northland, bought the park from previous owners Earth Crest and the place is being upgraded to meet new rules around animal enclosures.

The park was also formerly owned by TV's the Lion Man, Craig Busch.

The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) ordered the park closed to the public between July 1 and July 31 while the animal enclosures were upgraded to meet new standards. MPI then extended the closure until August 31 but the upgrading has still not completed.

Martin Weekes, a director of Bolton Equities, said the company was working through a list of remedial work, including building extra enclosures, with at least four to six weeks of work still to be completed.

"We're still beholden to the MPI and even when we complete the list of work, they [MPI] may require us to complete some other work so it's difficult to put a timeframe on when we are going to reopen the park," Mr Weekes said.

MPI usually does inspections on the park upgrade every four to six weeks.

"Our building programme will run through until the end of February, assuming the weather is good. The remedial work is necessary because the facilities were not maintained over the years," Mr Weekes said.

"So we just need to make sure everything is done properly and also [adheres to] the new, tough code introduced by the ministry and that's why we want to make sure everything is safe before we let the public in."

MPI spokesman Jim Flack said the ministry was yet to receive an application from the park operators to reopen.

"When the enclosures are completed, and we received an application to reopen, we will inspect them. There is no set time frame, but the approval process will not continue indefinitely," he said.

Meanwhile, Mr Weekes revealed former park operator Mr Busch is planning to move between four and eight big cats from the sanctuary to a new wildlife park he has opened near Rustenburg, South Africa, called Jabula Big Cat Sanctuary.

Mr Busch first broached the idea late last year but had not put a deadline on moving the big cats, Mr Weekes said.

"We're waiting for him to do that and it will clear the space for us to bring in new animals," he said.

There are 34 big cats including lions, tigers (including white tigers), cheetahs and a black leopard.

Mr Weekes said the park would love to have another black leopard.
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Is there any recent news on this zoo? It seems to have been closed for a couple of years now, which would be quite a drain money wise feeding all of those cats.

Craig Busch now has a new big cat centre not far from Pretoria in South Africa. It's not very big and has maybe a dozen big cats, mainly lions. It is no better or worse than quite a few other similar wildlife parks in South Africa, of which there are a lot.

If anyone visits, don't tell them you are from New Zealand. :D
 
Chlidonias said:
it is currently still closed to the public. No other news on when it may re-open.
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Kamo Wildlife Sanctuary has plans to open by mid-summer. They've been renovating and building new enclosures for the remaining cats at the zoo. Down to about 28 surviving animals. Tshaka was euthanised a few months ago due to an undetermined illness. The owners are millionaires so money to them isn't really an object. A general manager is now in place and a team of fully qualified and experienced zoo keepers are taking care of the animals. Overall a positive new start so far
 
AskAlice said:
Kamo Wildlife Sanctuary has plans to open by mid-summer. They've been renovating and building new enclosures for the remaining cats at the zoo. Down to about 28 surviving animals. Tshaka was euthanised a few months ago due to an undetermined illness. The owners are millionaires so money to them isn't really an object. A general manager is now in place and a team of fully qualified and experienced zoo keepers are taking care of the animals. Overall a positive new start so far
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Is it as many as 28? A lot have died in recent years.

To my knowledge, no cubs (tiger or lion) have been born since 2006. Is this correct?

I believe the youngest tiger is Shanti (2005), although the two white tigeress' in New Plymouth (2006) are still owned by Kamo Widlife Santuary.

The youngest lions are the 2.2 quadruplets born 2006, with another female, Cleo, born 2005 still of breeding age.
 
will57 said:
This video might answer that question. Nothing much changes except for the country.
Another trial of debtors and disgruntled ex workers.

Lion Man - Carte Blanche
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Yes I am aware of the Carte Blanche coverage and have watched it. Sadly we're seeing the same repeat pattern and it will keep happening until someone stops him or some other incident takes place.
 
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