Lion Man's media complaint thrown out by broadcasting body
Saturday, 11 March 2017
An attempt by Lion Man Craig Busch to clear his name after a current affairs programme claimed he nearly killed a newborn giraffe and dragged a lion through the bush has been thrown out by a broadcasting tribunal.
The allegations of Busch's ill treatment of animals were shown on the show Carte Blanche, on the South African subscription-funded television channel M-Net in July, 2016.
He lodged a formal complaint with the Broadcasting Complaints Commission of South Africa, claiming the report had been unfair, that he hadn't been given the opportunity to respond to allegations, the opposing view hadn't been fairly presented, and that his privacy had been breached.
Busch – who now lives on a farm called the Jabula Big Cat Sanctuary near Rustenberg, north of Johannesburg – levelled further complaints against the programme's two undercover investigators who visited the farm and allegedly agitated one of his lions during a walk in the bush.
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The Tribunal noted in its findings Busch had been contacted for comment by Carte Blanche, but had refused to appear on camera.
M-Net wrote to Busch saying their report would look at his reputation, giving him the opportunity to respond.
It listed 10 allegations, including being reckless with the safety of lions, the covering up of a lion attack on one of his guests, the diversion of funds for animals for his own purposes and exhibiting violent behaviour toward women. It also noted that Busch had a criminal conviction in New Zealand.
The Tribunal found M-Net had made a reasonable effort to fairly present Busch's version of the facts even though he refused to appear on camera.
It went on to say refusing to appear on camera resulted in him missing the opportunity to present his version of events and said he was the 'author of his own misfortune'.
They also found his privacy and dignity as a public figure had been overridden by a legitimate public interest in the fresh allegations.
In a written statement in response to the Tribunal's findings, Busch said they were 'one-sided' and that he was 'ambushed on camera'.
He said he was disappointed with the findings and would be appealing.
He added he believed he had been under a co-ordinated character assassination for several years and that it was designed to impede him from pursuing his rights in relations to his business interests in New Zealand.
Carte Blanche featured several of Busch's former workers who claimed Busch mistreated his animals, and nearly killed a newborn giraffe while filming a segment for his Animal Planet.
The Lion Man was accused of kidnapping the giraffe from its mother, before it was even able to stand on its own.
The show screened photos of him taking the giraffe into captivity.
They were taken by a Fransisco Garcia - one of Busch's workers at Jabula.
They showed the infant giraffe, Zenda, being unloaded from a trailer.
'Craig was all excited, arranged for the trailer, went to fetch the creature, brought it there to his house and he still said to me if anybody asked about the giraffe just tell them that the mother pushed it away,' he told the programme.
'And then immediately after that, he was on the phone telling the whole world he'd got himself a giraffe. The poor thing couldn't even stand on its feet yet,'
An unnamed source also told Carte Blanche the programme nearly killed Zenda while filming a segment for his show Animal Planet.
They tried to recreate a scene of her being caught, so they led her into the bush on a lead.
'We spent about half a day doing this, Zenda always trying to run off - at one point she was getting so badly choked she dropped down to the ground, she wasn't fit to raise her head. She was still breathing, but I thought she was a goner.'
When approached by Fairfax NZ last year after the screening Busch denied abusing animals saying it was a renewed 'smear campaign'.
Busch became well known as the Lion Man in New Zealand through his television series in 2004 based out of Whangarei's Zion Wildlife Gardens.
More than a decade on, he's been involved in a protracted legal battle between Mr Busch and his mother Patricia Busch over control for the park.
In 2009, one of the handlers at the park, Dalubuhle Ncube, also known as Clifford Dalu Mncube, was mauled to death by a tiger after he entered the enclosure to clean it.
In 2009, 29 lions and tigers at Zion were declawed, but Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry vets supervised most of the operations.
He had long accused his estranged mother, Patricia Busch, who still lives in New Zealand, of mounting a campaign against him.
In 2012, the park was reopened and renamed the Kingdom of Zion.
Since then it has changed hands and become the Kamo Wildlife Sanctuary, run by investment company Bolton Equities.