A woman has been rushed to hospital with severe injuries after being mauled by a lion at a Queensland zoo.
The woman, aged in her 50s, was flown to Brisbane’s Princess Alexandra Hospital with a ‘significant arm injury’ following the horrific attack at Darling Downs Zoo, near Toowoomba, about 8.20am on Sunday.
It is understood the woman had lost her arm. She was in a stable condition and undergoing surgery on Sunday afternoon.
In a statement released late on Sunday, Darling Downs Zoo said the injured woman was ‘not one of our immediate family nor a keeper’ and was watching zookeepers work in the carnivore precinct.
‘This is something that she has done many, many times over the past 20 years,’ the statement said.
‘She is well versed in safety protocols around potentially dangerous animals.
‘Inexplicably, at this stage, one animal grabbed her by one arm and caused severe damage to it.’
The zoo said at no stage did the lion leave its enclosure and there was no risk to staff members or members of the public.
The lion will not be put down or punished in any way according to the statement.
Darling Downs Zoo’s managing director Steve Robinson has been keeping African lions and managing their husbandry and welfare for nearly 50 years.
He and his wife, Stephanie, began breeding lions in 1997.
In 2002, they moved their animal collection to the Darling Downs region west of Brisbane and started building the Darling Downs Zoo.
The zoo is home to tawny lions and rare white lions, as well as two lion cubs.
Visitors can pay $150 for an up-close encounter with the lions, tigers and leopards.
The zoo’s website said a specially trained keeper accompanied guests as they went behind the scenes to feed the big cats meat using a pair of tongs, billing it as the ‘thrill of a lifetime’.
Two weeks ago, the zoo posted that its lionesses enjoyed ‘the company of humans immensely’.
‘Each day at 10am they are on supervised display to our visitors and are also available for some personalised encounters,’ the post read.
‘These encounters are strictly monitored to ensure their enjoyment of them and their wellbeing.’
The natural lifespan of lions is usually only up to around 14 years in the wild but in captivity they can live much longer according to the zoo.
The zoo is home to multiple big cat species including Sumatran tigers, cheetahs and leopards.
Police and Workplace Health and Safety personnel are on site investigating the incident.
The zoo is working with them to establish how this incident occurred but the full details are unlikely to be known until the woman is out of surgery.
The zoo will re-open on Monday after being closed for the day on Sunday.