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Source: ONE News -
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A man is recovering in hospital after being mauled by a big cat in Northland.
It has been reported that the man was attacked by a lion in the Zion Wildlife Park, made famous on the TV show The Lionman.
It is understood the injured man is a staff member.
Dr Scott Cameron, Clinical Director at Whangarei Hospital's emergency department, says a man came into the department on Wednesday afternoon after being bitten on the knee by a big cat.
The man is in a stable condition.
Busch lost his operator licence in November last year, after MAF concerns arose about animal welfare and after an ongoing dispute with his mother, Patricia Busch, who owns the park.
A ONE News investigation revealed MAF had been concerned that many of the big cats had been declawed and that they were living in unsanitary conditions.
But it was the cat fight between Patricia and Craig that MAF says put the lives of the animals at risk.
Former Auckland Zoo manager Glen Holland was brought in to run the park.
It attack is the second at the park this year.
A Scottish teenager was left scarred for life, while she was working at the park in April, when Timba, an African white lion, sunk his teeth into both her hands.
Busch and the woman, Lisa Baxter, were both criticised by a Department of Labour Occupational Safety and Health investigation.
Baxter was guiding a group of visitors when she put her hands through a hole in the fence designed for television cameras to stroke a cub.
But the department also rebuked Busch for failing to notify the
authorities of what it called a serious workplace injury.
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