Zion denies killer tiger sold for Asian medicine

Zion Wildlife Gardens in Northland has denied a claim it sold body parts of the tiger that killed handler Dalu Mncube.

The 260kg rare white royal Bengal tiger called Abu fatally attacked Mr Mncube as he cleaned its enclosure last May.

Abu was put down and buried in Zion's grounds near Whangarei, but this week allegations surfaced on the 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 in bits for "megabucks".

The allegations were included in an email to newspapers. Zion responded by denying the "malicious" allegations.

"The management of Zion are concerned about certain allegations concerning Abu's corpse," a spokeswoman said.

"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 [of] individuals with malicious comments about our friend Abu."

The site quoted a John Falstaff as saying a "close source inside the Patricia Busch camp told me a few days ago that Abu was sold ... in bits. I was told that his skin went for megabucks and then his whiskers, bones, teeth and private parts sold for even more [Chinese/Asian medicine]. And that's why Zion Park won't say where he is."

But Zion said that was not true. Abu was still in his resting place at the park. The spokeswoman said the allegations and others would be referred to the park's legal advisers.

The Department of Labour laid two charges against Zion Wildlife Services over Mr Mncube's death 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 charges, which were to have been heard on April 7, have been adjourned.

Sir John Falstaff is a character in three plays by William Shakespeare.

- APN