A herd of American bison that were left languishing on a New South Wales property while receivers were in charge have been moved to a new home in the Tweed Valley.
Nine animals died while reportedly in the care of the receivers managing the Aranyani Bison Park.
Three more are believed to have died while they were being moved to a new location.
The park is also part of a settlement dispute due in court soon.
The RSPCA has been investigating allegations of animal cruelty and said in a written statement that that it had conducted tests when the bison got sick.
"Our inspectorate and Local Land Services visited the property on several occasions, collecting faecal samples to test for internal parasites, as well as providing written directions, including a feeding and care plan to the receivership company of the tourist park, who confirmed acceptance of the directions," the organisation said.
Cause of illness unclear
Damon Wells owns the property with his ex-wife, but his access has been limited by a flood and because the business has gone into receivership.
He was shocked when he heard about the condition of the animals and wants to know what happened.
Mr Wells said bison were different to cattle and needed special handling.
"They're wild animals — they have fighting instincts," he said.
"When they're stressed they shut off all organs except the heart, lungs, brain."
Mr Wells recently regained access to the herd and he has since moved them to another property, but three more bison died.
Despite the losses, he was optimistic about the future.
"I've been raising bison for 15 years and I'm passionate about them," Mr Wells said.
He has a business partner in the United States who has a humane certification to produce bison meat.
"I've adopted all those techniques here in Australia and we'll continue to breed happy, healthy bison," Mr Wells said.
Offer to care for animals
Steve Tolmie, who has managed bison for 20 years at his property in Dubbo, was willing to look after the sick animals while the legal issues were resolved, but this proved impossible due to the legal dispute blocking access to the property.
These losses and others mean the number of bison in Australia has declined in recent years from approximately 500 to about 350, but Mr Wells said he would continue to breed bison and sell the meat.
He is working with the University of Queensland to establish a national breeding register to increase the genetic diversity in this country.
Mr Tolmie was also hoping to get new genetics into the country and had been negotiating with the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Services (AQUIS).
"AQUIS won't allow us to bring in live animals from North America or Canada," he said, but he was hoping that would change.
The RSPCA has not commented on the deaths.
In a statement, it confirmed that no animal welfare charges had been laid.
It said it was unable to comment further because the matter was under investigation.
