Lion lunges at woman in gruesome freak attack at Qld zoo
A woman has suffered “severe damage” to an arm after a lion at a Queensland zoo lunged and “inexplicably” attacked her.
Darling Downs Zoo said the woman, in her 50s, was watching keepers working in the carnivore precinct on Sunday when the lion grabbed her arm.
The zoo said the woman was not a keeper or staffer but “a much-loved member of our family.”
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Multiple media outlets report the woman has lost an arm.
“This is something that she has done many, many times over the past 20 years. She is well versed in safety protocols around potentially dangerous animals,” the zoo said.
“Inexplicably, at this stage, one animal grabbed her by one arm and caused severe damage to it.”
The zoo said the lion had not recently cubbed and would not be put down or punished in any way.
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“At no stage did this animal leave its enclosure and there was no risk at all to staff members or members of the public,” it said.
The zoo closed after the incident and later posted that it would not reopen until Tuesday morning.
Emergency services were called to Pilton, south of Toowoomba, about 8.30am. The injured woman was taken to Brisbane’s Princess Alexandra Hospital where she was in “a stable condition”.
Queensland Police and Workplace Health and Safety officials confirmed they were investigating the incident.
The 20-year-old zoo is a two-hour drive south-west of Brisbane and has a wildlife collection of lions, tigers and leopards from Africa and Asia.
-with AAP
