Former television star Craig Busch, known as the Lion Man, has moved to have his mother Patricia Busch declared bankrupt, and the family enterprise they are bitterly warring over, Zion Wildlife Gardens, has gone into liquidation.
Associate judge Roger Bell heard applications relating to the financial difficulties of the family and the lion park in the Whangarei Liquidation Court yesterday. Mother and son did not face each other as neither attended the hearing. Craig Busch is believed to be living at Tutukaka after returning from overseas.
The application for liquidation was filed by the Inland Revenue Department for a debt of $105,766. The company is already in receivership, which can be filed by a single creditor wanting payment - Rabo Bank in the case of Zion.
Liquidation is a more tightly controlled process, with the liquidator being neutral. Trading may continue, as in a receivership, but liquidation almost always results in the end of a business.
The liquidation of Zion Wildlife Gardens took effect immediately yesterday, with the end officially timed by Judge Bell at 10.25am.