A Queensland zoo owner has revealed the lion that mauled a woman, in a shocking attack that cost her her arm, was ‘just playing’.
Jo Cabban, 46, a teacher from NSW, was flown to Brisbane’s Princess Alexandra Hospital on Sunday after being mauled by the lion at Darling Downs Zoo in Pilton, a small town near Toowoomba.
Zoo co-owner Steve Robinson confirmed the woman, who is his sister-in-law, lost an arm in the attack and remains in a stable condition in hospital.
Mr Robinson told media the victim is ‘a lovely lady whose life has been altered’.
He said the attack shocked staff and the local community where the family-owned business has operated since 2005.
‘It’s still very raw,’ Mr Robinson, who owns the zoo with his wife and Ms Cabban’s sister Stephanie Robinson, said.
Ms Cabban visited the zoo several times in the school holidays over the past 20 years, acting as a photographer.
Mr Robinson said that although zoo staff were nearby, no one witnessed the attack near a holding pen and ‘it was all over in a split second’.
‘She certainly was not in the enclosure. Nobody goes into the enclosures with adult lions,’ he said.
A lion keeper at the scene when the incident happened used a belt as a tourniquet, with Mr Robinson saying the worker had saved his sister-in-law’s life.
Mr Robinson refused to describe his sister-in-law’s injuries, saying they were: ‘Too macabre’.
The attack did not happen in a part of the zoo open to the public and there were no ‘stand-off fences’ as it was an area where the animal keepers worked.
The Courier Mail reported Ms Cabban was in a cleaning pen with her sister and a keeper when the attack happened about 8.30am on Sunday, just 30 minutes before the zoo was due to open.
Mr Robinson also said he was not sure why the attack happened.
‘The best we can come up with, at this stage, is the lion was just playing,’ Mr Robinson said.
‘Now she was playing with a human in that circumstance is yet to be determined.
‘This is not a lion fault. Lions are lions. This is what they are.’
The zoo previously said the victim was watching animal keepers work in the carnivore precinct when the attack occurred, and she was aware of safety protocols.
Queensland workplace health and safety authorities are investigating the incident.
Darling Downs Zoo confirmed in a message on Facebook that the lion ‘will definitely not be put down or punished in any way’.
The animal park reopened to the public on Tuesday.
Nationals leader David Littleproud encouraged locals to continue to attend the much-loved zoo.
‘I express my sincere condolences to the woman involved in the events that unfolded at Darling Downs Zoo,’ Littleproud said.
‘This is a horrific incident. It is a tragedy and a shock to not just staff at the zoo, but the entire community.’
He added: ‘I encourage locals to continue to visit and enjoy the zoo, which will need support from the community during this difficult time.’
The zoo, the major venue of its kind in regional Queensland, houses tawny lions and white lions, both species native to South Africa.
