Dr Barry Wards, a specialist advisor to the ministry, yesterday told an inquest into the death of Clifford (Dalu) MnCube that the political backlash from supporters of Lion Man Craig Busch after he was sacked from the park reached the very top of Government, including Prime Minister John Key.
The ministry determined that based on the level of support Mr Busch had, revoking the park's operating license would seriously harm New Zealand's international reputation, he said.
A massive online campaign was launched, particularly by Mr Busch's UK-based supporters, to help him reunite with the big cats after he was sacked by his mother, Patricia, in 2008.
He returned to the park after new owners, Tracey McVerry and Ian Stevenson, took charge and re-named it Zion Wildlife Kingdom in February.
At the inquest, Dr Wards was questioned extensively by Anthony Jackson, lawyer for Mr MnCube's partner Sharon Arnott, on the ministry's concerns about safety and actions it took to remedy the situation.
He said closing the park would have put the welfare of 40 big cats at risk.
Mr Jackson said it was not the ministry's overriding duty to protect the animals but to ensure procedures around their containment were followed.
Dr Wards said politically, it would have been an extremely difficult decision for the Crown to make to either export, euthanise or transfer the animals elsewhere in New Zealand.
A contingency plan was drawn up and the then Minister for Agriculture, David Carter, who took an interest in matters pertaining to the park because of the constant stream of letters from Mr Busch's supporters, was briefed on its contents.
The view of his supporters, he said, was that Mr Busch was being removed from the animals he reared.
"If that decision (to close the park) was made, there would have been an outcry, particularly from his supporters and directed at the ministry," Dr Wards said.
Asked why the ministry did not issue an operator's license to Mrs Busch after Mr MnCube died, he said she was not fully aware of the requirements in relation to the operation and containment of animals.
Earlier, another specialist advisor to the ministry, Howard Hamilton, said there had been five animal attacks since January 2007 on either park staff or the public prior to Mr MnCube's death in May 2009.
In January 2007, a staff member was bitten by a lion but the ministry was not informed about it until June 2009, he said.
Closing the inquest, Northland Coroner Brandt Shortland indicated he would make adverse comments in his draft findings but said all parties would be given an opportunity to respond.
He reserved his findings.
- By Imran Ali of The Northern Advocate
