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A Queensland zoo under investigation after a lion attack has reopened its doors, two days after the owner’s sister-in-law lost her arm.
The woman, in her 50s, remains in hospital in a stable condition after the incident, which occurred on Sunday morning at Darling Downs zoo south of Toowoomba, in Queensland.
The owner, Steve Robinson, updated media on the incident outside the zoo on Tuesday morning.
He said the attack took place at a holding enclosure, in an area where only trained staff are permitted to go, just moments after others had finished cleaning the main enclosure.
Robinson said the zoo uses “protected contact”, which means nobody enters an enclosure with an adult lion.
He revealed the victim was his sister-in-law, a school teacher from New South Wales who regularly travels to Toowoomba with her family on holidays. Robinson’s wife and a carnivore keeper were nearby and Robinson credited a second keeper, well trained in first aid, with saving his sister-in-law’s life.
“She actually took my wife’s leather belt off and applied a tourniquet. Very quickly, the first aid kit was there, we wrapped her up in a thermal blanket and the paramedics locally were here very, very quickly indeed,” he said.
Robinson said only staff are permitted in the area, which is known as the “keeper’s area”.
Asked why she was in a restricted area, Robinson said the zoo was careful about who they let into back areas and she had been allowed in for 20 years. The zoo has never had an incident before, he said.
Robinson said his sister-in-law often took photos to produce calendars for the zoo.
He also rejected any blame on the animals themselves, telling media “there’s no aggression and no nastiness” in the animals and their current theory is that the animal was just playing.
“We’ve raised these lions ourselves. Their temperaments are excellent. We can still interact with them through the mesh of the cage,” he said.
He said it was hard to tell what had happened because nobody saw the incident. “There were people working very, very close nearby, but it was all over in a split second,” he said.
“It was that quick that we could only surmise at this stage.
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“The lady in question is currently in surgery right now again, and she has been in no condition to be interviewed fully about what happened.”
Workplace Health and Safety Queensland is investigating the incident.
The victim will undergo surgery again on Tuesday, Robinson said.
“Emotionally, both her and my wife are on a rollercoaster. It’s the great unknown at the moment, we just don’t know, ultimately, what’s going to be involved and where we’re going to end with this,” he said.
Dozens went through the gates at Darling Downs Zoo after it reopened at 9am on Tuesday. The lions remained on display, but paid encounters would not be offered this week for the sake of the keepers, Robinson said.
Robinson said some had brought boxes of chocolates and cookies to keep their spirits up.
The zoo turned 20 last month. It has nine lions and four lion keepers.
