The management of Whangarei-based Zion Wildlife Gardens have
denied claims they sold body parts of the tiger that killed
handler Dalu Mncube last year.
Mr Mncube was attacked by a 260kg rare white royal bengal
tiger called Abu as he cleaned its enclosure last May.
Allegations surfaced this week on social networking site
Facebook that Zion's owner - Patricia Busch, mother of the
Whangarei park's founder and TV's Lionman Craig Busch - had
sold Abu's body parts for "megabucks", the Northern Advocate
reported.
Zion responded by posting up a notification on their website
denying the allegations.
"The management of Zion are concerned about certain
allegations concerning Abu's corpse," the statement reads.
"The day that Abu was buried was a very sad day for the
management, staff and friends of the park. Abu was buried at
the park as per the statutory protocols, once the authorities
had completed their investigations.
"We can only wonder at the motive as to why there are
individuals with malicious comments about our friend Abu."
A spokesperson for Zion said that these allegations would be
referred to the park's legal advisers.
Charges over Mr Mncube's death have been adjourned. The
Department of Labour laid two charges against Zion Wildlife
Services for "failing to take all practicable steps to ensure
the safety of employees while at work". Two charges were also
laid against Zion Wildlife Gardens.
The matter is now set to be heard in Whangarei on April 7.
Bookmark/Search this post with:
A name, residential address, and (preferably residential) telephone number is required from readers who comment on ODT Online. These details will not be visible to site visitors.