🦁 Kamo Wildlife Sanctuary

Kamo Wildlife Sanctuary, previously known as Kingdom of Zion and Zion Wildlife Gardens, was a privately owned zoo located near Kamo, Whangārei, New Zealand. The facility housed a collection of large cats and was featured in New Zealand reality television series The Lion Man from 2004 to 2008. The park was ordered closed in 2014 due to animal confinement upgrading requirements and remained closed from mid-2014 to mid-2021. It was then closed again in 2023 and sporadically reopened. In August 2025, the land and buildings were listed for sale and the park closed on 2 November 2025. Its owner, Bolton Equities, said the remaining seven elderly lions would be humanely euthanised due to age-related decline and the impracticality of relocation, but they did not carry out the full euthanasia plan. In January 2026 the property was purchased. Since the park's closure, three of the lions have been euthanized due to declining health and one died naturally. It remains closed, with the three or four remaining lions still resident.