I recently watched this show on Sky One and I really enjoyed it, its made me contemplate a career with lions when I am older!!
shareI agree this is a great show! I wish they would make some more series. I really want to visit the park now!
(\___/) This is Bunny!
(='.'=) Back by Popular Demand!!!
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Animal cruelty? He's saving them from becoming extinct.
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This is true. I've spoken with some ex-volunteers who worked at his lion park and they say when the camera's aren't around he has very little to do with the lions and actually pretty cruel to them sometimes (lions and staff included). Did you know they remove the claws from each and every lion??
shareIf he is that cruel to the animals and staff, I hope they've reported him to the necessary authorities.
shareYou mean so they don't maul and kill everyone who is trying to save their species?
shareRemoving a lions claws does nothing to save their species. In my opinion it is the equivalent of removing a birds' wings. It is a painful and humiliating process for them. I know of no other games parks who undertake such a procedure towards lions - they don't need to be handled and treated like pets in order to bring in revenue and 'save their species'. I doubt very much whether any funds actually reach the African wild lions and conservation over there.
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I must say it shocks me the way he takes cubs away from their mothers - putting them on inferior milk substitutes so their fur falls out and they get no end of infections - just so he can handle them later for glorified circuses! Watching the mothers pining for their babies made me cringe!
He says he needs to take them to shows so he can pay for the park, but if you watch Monkey World they refuse to do this and human contact is limited so they can live as natural a life as possible. And they can afford to keep over 150 primates! Why isn't Craig getting enough money from visitors' fees and the TV company that films it?
It angers me no end as well when he has to butt in and interfere with the cats when they are giving birth. Funny that whenever he's around, fiddling with the cubs, the mother rejects them - and then he calls her a "bad mother". On one occasion a tiger gave birth without him around and - funnily enough - she was "a perfect mother", and then he moved her! Lo and behold - she rejects her cubs! Even I know not to do that with my cat! It worries me that he is taking an endangered species (any tiger is endangered these days) and making sure none of these cats will know how to mother their offspring so human interference will always be required. What will happen after he dies? Has he thought about what he is leaving behind?
I don't know why he obsesses over white tigers and lions so much anyway - I prefer the normal colours and funny you say that white tigers have abnormal eyes. I was just saying to my Mum the other day that the white tiger cubs look cross-eyed!
I certainly agree the whole exercise appears to be one big ego trip for him - and after the second episode, the novelty of seeing a man hugging lions etc wears off. However, I don't know if he is really cruel - or just ignorant. He does seem to genuinely love his cats and I remember he got quite emotional when Khan died.
His attitude towards his female keepers leaves a lot to be desired - I notice he always lumps the girls with the feed shifts. Poor Megan was forced to feed 9 cubs (of differing ages - so some had to be fed more regularly). The poor girl was getting ill and he went off fishing!
Does anyone know what happened with Karen and why she left? You say he is a 'woman beater' - where did you hear this from?
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I sometimes work on TV sets and I can tell you that the emotional scene where Khan dies and it shows Craig grieving was clearly heavily staged. You tell the shots were taken from different angles and he actually moves around the grave site in certain shots so they could capture the emotions on his face. I don't doubt that he WAS grieving for his lost lion, but I am convinced that the main priority on his list that day was to capture the best possible scene for the show to milk the audience's emotions. I've heard from past employees how he puts it on for the camera's and leaves it to his mistreated staff when the film crew aren't around. His physical attack on his previous partner made huge headlines in NZ, he put her in a bad way and got off quite lightly in my opinion (even though some think it was justified hey maybe that is just the Kiwi's mentality I hope not).
shareJust found this
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=1054 2702
No big surprise, I'm amazed TVNZ is still screening his sham of a show.
shareWell Sky made no mention of this when it decided to air his show every day on two channels - and I have to find out this way what my subscriptions are paying for!! I think a strongly worded letter is in order!
Mind you it doesn't surprise me! This country is so hypocritical and full of lip-service when it comes to human rights!
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