Craig Busch - 'Lion Man' - UK Tour?

bothrops · #1 (**permalink**) 13-10-2009, 11:38 PM

Hi guys

Just wondered peoples opinions....

..celebrated ambassador for big cat conservation?

..or self publicising, wife beating animal abuser?

discuss.....

Cheers

Andy

naja-naja · #2 (**permalink**) 13-10-2009, 11:42 PM

more the first one, and tbh if my oh cheated on me with my employees, in my house, in my buisness, after my party, id go a bit mental too.
whatever people say about white lion and tiger conservation and how un/ethical it is (same with the reps), or about hoes some of his animals ar reared he did do a lot with barbary lions, and that has to be worth something.

Kerriebaby · #3 (**permalink**) 13-10-2009, 11:45 PM

I dont like him...dont like his set ups either ( those enclosures look way too small )

didnt know he beat his wife tho...makes me dislike him even more.

Steve Irwin did it better

Jczreptiles · #4 (**permalink**) 13-10-2009, 11:47 PM

I think I would lose my temper if I found my misses in bed with 2 others in my house! At least he is getting the white tiger and lion population up, Did he ever get the park back?

naja-naja · #5 (**permalink**) 13-10-2009, 11:51 PM

oh my god.....

the enclosures were plenty big (the permanent ones anyway, at the start they were a bit small, but only when you compare them to safari parks, and if they had looked 'more natural' then it wouldn't be an issue.

considering most of them had daily outside time they were ok, same way you can keep a dog indoors so long as you let it out or take it for walks every so often.

and since hes been ousted from the park due to money issues and a subsequent falling out with his mother there have been several welfare complaints, the debt has tripled, 3 people have been attacked by big cats.... he should be reinstated immiediatley imo.

bothrops · #6 (**permalink**) 14-10-2009, 12:07 AM

This is well worth a read. Not just the blog, but the comments as well.

I know what 'camp' I'm in, but I'd like some other opinions before I go on

Craig Busch and Zion Wildlife Gardens

Cheers

Andy

adamntitch · #7 (**permalink**) 14-10-2009, 12:52 AM

dont like him at all a big show off with to much money and cages are to small no matter what anyone says he also puts his and other peoples lifes in danger the way he works

x Sarah x · #8 (**permalink**) 14-10-2009, 11:27 AM

He doesn't have a lot of money, and his plans when he gets enough money was to make the cats lives even better with better enclosures etc...

His wife slept cheated on him? SO WHAT! his private life has nothing to do with me, cheating happens in a hell of a lot of homes EVERYDAY!

What he did for the cats and how much he loves them is what matters... and its a huge shame whats happened to him regarding the park.

x Sarah x · #9 (**permalink**) 14-10-2009, 11:36 AM

Quote:

Any zoo which goes down the road of breeding unnaturally coloured animals, animals harbouring harmful genetic traits has divorced itself from conservation. They have become ANTI CONSERVATION. They are not just producing animals which are useless, but animals which can never be released into the wild. Nor can their cubs or their cubs cubs or their cubs cubs cubs, They are freaks!

Further to that the zoos which keep such animals are taking up captive spaces which could be used for genuine important conservation work. There is real need for places to keep various species in captive breeding programmes. Places like Zion Wildlife Gardens have the spaces but prefer to fill these with 'junk' animals.

Each animal is important to the next! they're calling a white lion a "Junk" animal, something that should be thrown out with the trash basically...

Does that mean that a larger percentage on people on this forum are bad people, producing useless freaks of nature that are no use to anyone, because we breed different coloured snakes and lizards?

Twiglet · #10 (**permalink**) 14-10-2009, 11:38 AM

hmmmm... interesting reading. I can't say that the guys show has ever had me gripped.
I'll start with the colour morphs... now whilst i cant say I'm against the captive breeding of colour morphs (hell, i keep enough myself) I could never condone the breeding of genetic mutations in the name of conservation. the fact that he claims to be doing just that is -frankly- rediculous. it wouldnt be so bad if he wasn't kidding himself that conservation is his main agenda.
if a colour mutation popped up in his zoo then i can understand him using it as a way of pulling in patrons but not as a breeding animal. so yes they maybe 'freaks' (as it was so cruedly put) but they are striking and i can see that the public will love them and so would have a positive effect on the park but i highly doubt that a reintroduced lion producing white cubs is going to benifit wild populations any.
on the subject of hybrids... these i am generally on the fence about - maybe even a little bit anti. I dont have an issue with people keeping hybrids as pets so long as when they are sold the person purchasing is fully informed as to exactly what they are and that they are not to be bred into pure lines.
lions and tigers however are not pets in any sense of the word and hybridising these species is nothing more than pointless. if he wants to play with genetics and produce colour morphs he should be breeding leopard geckos or fancy mice as a side line. neither of these are ever going to be reintroduced into wild stock as they contain so many recessive colour genes already so he can hardly do any more damage to them...
declawing is deplorable and if The Lion Man did indeed get his animals declawed out of ignorance as has been suggested then it really is proof positive that he isn't as knowledgable as some are trying to claim him to be. i dont doubt that he has a love of animals and that he cares for them but that doesn't make him an expert does it? I know people that love wolves... doesn't mean that they are going to try and turn one into a pet...
I'm not against the keeping of exotics either in zoos or in private hands but i do belive that if some one is keeping such large and potentially lethal animals that there should be a little more caution used and that it should be done ethically and responsibly. showing off how 'tame' your tiger is cannot really be considered any different than owning a breed on covered by the dangerous dogs act except in degree... maybe he doesn't see it like this but all i can think is that he's trying to make himself look 'cool'.

Bless him.

maybe I'm doing him a huge injustice, after all i have not met him in person but i am an animal keeper and do not like seeing the exotic keeping hobby marred by prats that think playing with DWA's is a great way to show off. its just encoraging the idea that DWA's make cute and cuddly pets that can be taken out for walkies.
sigh.
alot of the people who are arguing this article clearly have no experience with animals and therefore couldn't possibly be expected to understand why this guy is a bit of an idiot with a fluffy TV program that makes him appear as cute and cuddly as his colour morph tigers...

Kat

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