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

Thought it has gone a little quiet on the Zion front recently... guess who's back in the news?!
Lion Man's TV comeback plan under fire - Television - NZ Herald News

 

Thanks, Nisha. Given Discovery Channel and Animal Planet's record for "factual documentaries" of late -- a show about a guy pretending to know what he's doing with wild animals is probably apt for them.

 

New Lion man series denounced as a fake by Rhino & Lion Nature Reserve SA

Lorinda Hern spokesperson for the Rhino & Lion Nature Reserve in SA publicly denounced the "Lion Man One World African Safari" series as being a complete fake on the DStv Kenya Facebook page on August 23, 2013. Have a look

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?...36872355.37078.135468479810701&type=1&theater

 

Thanks for the link - that's a pretty damning indictment of his behaviour towards people and animals.

Do we know where he is right now (i.e. which country)?



Hix

 

Last known location was in Uxbridge UK

 

Well whether this is real or not, it is giving publicity about the tragedy which is poaching.

[ame=http://vimeo.com/53982942]THE LIONMAN AFRICA SIZZLE REEL on Vimeo[/ame]

 

Thanks for that video, driftaguy.

 

Thank you Driftaguy very much appreciated for the heads up.

 

A few years ago i met him at a charity event, he was staying in Hertfordshire so possibly could still be in the UK, I wasn't a fan of him before and I certainly haven't changed my mind!

 

Is there another link to the video mentined above since that link has been removed.

 

Welcome to Africa ... - YouTube

This it I think.

 

That's the old teaser zofan, although the bit with the steam train and the "wise man" speech (apparently done by actors) ended up in the second vid which has been taken down. There was also Craig Busch in mock pursuit of mock poachers at a mock road block, a warm greeting at an airport from Lorinda Hern, and I think stuff about Vusi the little rhino who passed on was included.

All of which, apparently, ended up on the editing room floor ...

 

So it's really just a modern version of the old Daktari TV show then, but not as entertaining.

I watched with interest a number of shows made by some yank guy named Dave S???, who had a very annoying method of walking amongst lions uttering "big lion-biiiig liiiion" over and over.
I later learned many of the lions he was shown with were habitualised to people walking near them, and he always had a team of armed rangers ready to shoot if it got dangerous.
There were some laughable scenes too where he actually out ran charging lions, and one series was devoted to him supposedly taming down a pride of man eathers that had been put in a reserve.
I would think proven man eating lions would only have one fate.
He also had a series showing how he released tigers into the African wild and taught them to hunt, this was the first of his exposes as he had to admit they were always and still are in a large pen and only killed when antelope were chased into their jaws.
But like Bear vs Wild, so long as we know it's all fiction put out ot look like real life it can be reasonable entertainment. I certainly enjoy seeing the wild life and outdoors scenes on these programes anyway.

 

I bet that guy had a blinkered fan-base as well.

 

Dave Salmoni is the guy's name.

BTW The problems continue at Kingdom of Zion with a further progression in an employment proceeding

http://dol.govt.nz/workplace/determinations/PDF/2013/2013_NZERA_Auckland_432.pdf

 

Thanks, that's him. I stayed at a lodge on the same game reserve in 2012, and was told how he filmed that footage. We even walked past the same lions apparently, and they showed no interest in us whatsoever.
Though of course we didn't call out "biiig liiion biiig liiion" or harass them with a quad bike.

As for the employment court action, well good luck to that guy getting any money out of the park.

 

Yeah, I reckon so too!

 

Coroner's report on Dalu Mncube released

A clear and grisly account has emerged of the death of Dalu Mncube under the giant claws and teeth of a white tiger.

Brave big-cat handler Martin Ferreira punched and whacked the attacking tiger, Abu. He also sprayed Abu's face with a fire extinguisher and another staff member zapped the cat with a cattle prodder, but nothing quelled the lethal onslaught.

Ferreira's bravery at Zion Wildlife Park is a bright spot in a sad and gruesome coroner's decision on Mncube's death on May 27, 2009.

Coroner Brandt Shortland described Ferreira as selfless. Another tiger, Rewa, was in the enclosure and could have joined the attack.

Ferreira, 41, told the Herald on Sunday that the day had started like any other. He'd opened his Bible at Psalm 23. "It was about how you will go though the valley of the shadow of death but God will keep his hand over you." He had wondered to his wife, Liana: "Why this particular passage?" That night he knew.

"The Lord gave me a warning, that he was going to help me at a difficult time."

He had five years' experience with lions in his native South Africa before going to work at Zion, on the northern outskirts of Whangarei, in 2008.

Shortland's report outlines how Mncube and Ferreira had gone into the enclosure to clean. It was accepted practice for keepers to enter enclosures with cats, and was permitted by law. Shortland said it was also controversial because big cats were isolated during cleaning at other parks.

The attack had begun as Abu bit on Mncube's leg. "Martin, help me please," Mncube, 30, had calmly said. Abu had begun growling and, despite Ferreira's blows, dragged Mncube by the shoulder towards his den. Then he had bitten Mncube's head. Armed only with a cattle prod, Ferreira had approached Mncube when Abu had moved away. Another worker had shot Abu, and Mncube was taken out by ute, but it was too late to save him.

Ferreira, who shot and killed Abu, said his actions had been automatic. "I didn't really think about my own safety. I was trying to help Dalu."

He said he felt for Mncube's partner Sharon Arnott and their child, Starskea. "In the beginning it was really difficult. For the first few months going to sleep, it played over and over. It slowly got better and these days I don't think about it much." The experience had taught him life was short and to make the most of it.

Now dairy farming in Southland, the father of two said he still missed working with big cats.



Tidy up zoo laws, coroner urges
Zion Wildlife Park was a mess before Dalu Mncube died.

That's the view of Zion's government-appointed operator Glen Holland - a former Auckland Zoo keeper brought in when a rift between Zion founder Craig Busch and his mother, Patricia Busch, forced Craig out.

Holland told Coroner Brandt Shortland that he was staggered by the culture of Zion, but said Mncube was possibly the best big-cat handler he'd ever met.

After his November 2008 appointment, Holland introduced safety protocols aimed at keeping cats and people separate.

Shortland's report blamed no one for Mncube's death but recommended that zoo laws be tidied.

Zoos were currently subject to three acts, making it complex and unworkable at times, he said.

Story Kathryn Powley Herald on Sunday 8/12/2013


Handler's bravery highlighted in fatal attack by big cat - National - NZ Herald News

 

Former Zion Wildlife Kingdom Director Struck off

A couple of updates for anyone interested

Tauranga based (now former) chartered accountant Ian Stevenson who was co-director with Beth McVerry in Zion Wildlife Kingdom, the company that purchased Zion Wildlife Gardens in January 2012, has been struck off for unethical practices amongst other charges laid against him by the NZ Institute of Chartered Accountants.

SunLive - Tauranga accountant struck off - The Bay's News First

The directorships and shareholdings in Zion Wildlife Kingdom have been changed. Bolton Equities Limited is now the sole shareholder in the landholding company owning the assets and land of the former ZWG (now Kingdom of Zion). It doesn't affect Kingdom of Zion Limited who lease the property from Zion Wildlife Kingdom Ltd

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