A former colleague of Dalu Mncube says he twice advised the slain tiger keeper to leave Northland's Zion Wildlife Gardens and seek a job in Australia.
Jason Taylor, a one-time volunteer at the Whangarei park, also expressed deep anger at the death of 26-year-old Mr Mncube, who was attacked by a 260kg white tiger on Wednesday.
He said the incident "could and should have been easily avoided".
Mr Taylor, in a tribute printed in the New Zealand Herald today, said he twice advised Mr Mncube in late 2007 to apply for a job as a big-cat handler on the Gold Coast.
He said it was nothing personal against Zion's owners -- "Lion Man" Craig Busch and Mr Busch's mother, Patricia.
"But I just felt deep down that Dalu would thrive in the `professional' environment and his fellow workers and public alike would adore him." Mr Taylor also suggested that Mr Mncube was overworked because of a dispute between Mr Busch and his mother.
The dispute has led to an Employment Relations Authority hearing in which Mr Busch is seeking reinstatement after being sacked by his mother late last year.
"All this ongoing drama meant that, apart from the odd helping hand, the 24/7 management of chores that kept the big cats happy was pretty much left to Dalu," Mr Taylor said.
"Most days, Dalu would go about his business, going into enclosures, putting his life on the line for the Busch family and, in my humble opinion, neither being fully appreciated nor probably paid much more than your average shoe salesman." Despite that, Mr Taylor said, Mr Mncube had "seemed to be a happy chappy", who was in charge of his own lion and tiger park, and had raised several of the cats himself from infanthood.
"The only way he was ever going to be separated from them was if you dragged him out in a wooden box." he said.
"And so, sadly, a few days ago, that's exactly what happened." The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry yesterday closed the park indefinitely, using powers under the Biosecurity Act.
MAF said the park would remain shut until officials were satisfied that it could comply consistently with the animal welfare and enclosure requirements for zoos and wildlife parks.
It was ensuring the welfare of the animals was not compromised and the park was well managed, and there was no intention to put any of the animals down.
Meanwhile, the Department of Labour served two improvement notices on the park.
The notices required the park to meet MAF standards for animal enclosures and to implement interim safety measures to protect staff where segregation from animals was not possible.
