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Zion Wildlife Gardens zookeeper Dalu Mncube - Source: ONE News -
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Zookeeper Dalu Mncube was killed doing a job he loved after a white tiger attacked him at the Zion Wildlife Gardens in Whangarei on Wednesday.
A terrible tragedy in a park made famous through the television programme The Lion Man.
According to the Zion Wildlife Gardens' website Uncle Dalu had his own brand of magic with the big cats.
"He was committed passionate and really experienced," says Phil Smith of Great Southern Film and TV.
The South African with the big smile was Craig Busch's right hand man for at least four years.
"You can't handle animals of this nature unless you are incredibly skilled and you've got a very good skilled base of people around you and certainly Craig was the leader," says Brett Christion, former Zion Wildlife Gardens vet.
But with Craig no longer the alpha male at Zion some say Dalu didn't have the support he needed.
The Lion Man's mother, Patricia Busch, has been the boss of the animal kingdom since 2006.
This week Craig has been in court trying to get his job back as he alleges he was unfairly dumped after a bitter battle with his mother.
The cat fight between mother and son came to a head last November as a ONE News investigation revealed.
Information obtained by ONE News showed a personal battle was putting the lives of the animals at risk and MAF considered euthanizing 40 big cats.
There were also concerns over staff training and fears someone could get hurt.
Fourteen months ago a guide was bitten after putting both hands into a lion's cage and earlier this year another handler, Dimitri Price was mauled by a tiger.
Craig also had personal scandals outside of the wildlife park and he was convicted in 2007 of assaulting his former partner.
His relationship with Dalu, though, was close.
"Craig saw his potential and we were all very excited about it because finding an animal handler of that standard anywhere in the world is really difficult," says Smith.
Craig says he's deeply upset by the attack.
He released a statement saying the fatality is an absolutely tragic event for all involved, he knew the keeper well and he is available to assist the police and other authorities as they deal with the shocking events.
He says the outstanding matters surrounding his ongoing involvement with the park are irrelevant in the context of what has happened.
