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Spokesman Paul Devanney said he suffered multiple head, leg and torso injuries and there was nothing ambulance staff could have done to resuscitate him.

There was no indication that the tiger would attack, said Mr Dimery.

"All the people we've spoken to said there was nothing out of the ordinary and in fact the female was very relaxed the whole time," he said.

The attack was being treated as a criminal investigation, he said, although there was nothing to suggest the death was suspicious.

"But I'd rather be safe than sorry," he said. "It's not very nice in there."

Zion Wildlife Centre, home to 42 rare lions and tigers, has been embroiled in controversy recently with three attacks since April last year and concerns raised over the welfare of its animals.

Ten months before the attack on Mr Price, a Scottish teenager working at the park, Lisa Baxter, was left scarred for life when an African white lion bit her hands after she tried to stroke a cub through a hole in the fence designed for television cameras.

The park was criticised after it failed to tell the Labour Department about the attack.

Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries inspectors last year expressed concern about the welfare of the big cats which they said had been kept in unsanitary and crowded conditions at the park.

MAF officials were at one stage so concerned by conditions at the safari park they considered having the 40 big cats put down, according to documents recently made public.

They were also concerned about barriers, with one external fence damaged, and lions and tigers kept in the same enclosure.

Since the MAF investigation, improvements have been made to the wildlife park.

However it is currently embroiled in a bitter battle between Craig Busch, whose Lion Man television series has an international audience, and his mother Patricia, who owns the park.

Mr Busch has taken his mother to an employment tribunal after their feud led to his dismissal from the Northland park, as it slid $2 million into debt.

MAF refused to comment on the its investigations into the park when contacted by The Times.

"MAF is cooperating fully with the Police and Department of Labour in their investigations into the Zion Wildlife Park death," a spokesman said.

Mr Mncube is survived by his partner Sharon Arnott and one year old daughter Starskea.

Mr Busch, today described the mauling was an "absolutely tragic event".

"It is a terrible personal blow for me as I knew the keeper well," he said in a statement.

"My thoughts are with his family, friends and colleagues. Obviously I also know all the animals at the park which are owned by my Wildlife Trust, and I am deeply upset at the news of this attack," he added.

.The Wildlife Gardens website lists its white tigers as Jahdu, Rewa, Abu and Tygo, all Royal White Tigers.

"Each has its own very distinct personality. The only female, Rewa, carries the solid white gene and has already produced New Zealand's first two Royal White tiger cubs in late January 2005," it says.

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