Woman left with 'severe' injuries following horror lion attack at zoo

A woman has been hospitalised after being mauled by a lion at a popular zoo in Australia.

The woman, said to be in her 50s, sustained a "significant arm injury" when she was attacked by the big cat at Darling Downs Zoo, near Toowoomba, just before 8.30am on Sunday morning. Shemay have completely lost her armduring the incident, according to initial reports.

She wastaken into surgery yesterday afternoon, and is said to now be in a stable condition.

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Releasing a statement about the incident, the zoo explained the victim had been watching the keepers working in the carnivore area when the attack happened.

"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 lion did not break out of its enclosure, and the zoo said it did not pose a risk to other staff or members of the public.

The zoo has been owned and operated by Steve and Stephanie Robinson for the past two decades. The facility contains rare white lions and a number of lion cubs. They set up Darling Downs Zoo in 2002.

The zoo hosts daily events in which members of the public are allowed to have "personalised encounters" with their lionesses.

The zoo wrote: "Each day at 10am they are on supervised display to our visitors and are also available for some personalised encounters,' the zoo wrote.

"These encounters are strictly monitored to ensure their enjoyment of them and their wellbeing."

Many punters shared positive messages in support of the zoo after the terrifying incident. One wrote: "Sending lots of love to your family. Your zoo is by far the best and unfortunately accidents happen."

"We were at your zoo yesterday and can't stop talking about what a great day we had. All the best for a recovery," another said.