Wild footage surfaces before lion attack
Emergency services were called to Darling Downs Zoo near Toowoomba about 8.30am Sunday after reports a lioness had attacked a woman.
The woman, who was later identified as the sister of co-owner Stephanie Robinson, was transported to hospital, where she remains in a stable condition.
'She has lost her arm,' the zoo's statement read online. 'She is not an employee, a keeper or a zoo visitor.'
'It has still not been possible to interview her to establish what led to this tragic incident.
Years before the attack, footage from a 7News report in 2023 showed a staff member getting close and cuddly with a lion through a fence.
The short clip showed the woman leaning over to the lion and kissing its face through the fence. Lifting her hand, the staff member moved to scratch its face before the lion snapped its head upwards and bared its teeth.
A 7News report suggests the video was of Stephanie Robinson, who co-founded the zoo alongside her husband Steve.
The pair began breeding lions in 2017 and opened Darling Downs Zoo in 2005, specialising in captive husbandry and breeding of critically endangered, endangered and vulnerable species.
Mr Robinson spoke to reporters on Tuesday, and revealed his sister-in-law had 20 years' experience with lions, and was treated at the scene by one of the zoo's keepers.
'She was the first responder, in terms of first aid to the incident,' he said on Tuesday morning.
'She did save her life. She actually took my wife's leather belt off and applied a tourniquet very quickly.'
He told reporters it was too soon to investigate the incident, as his sister-in-law was still recovering from her surgery and was 'not terribly lucid'.
'We haven't really pressed for answers as to what she was doing and how this happened,' he said.
He said in the zoo's 20-year history, 'nothing like this has ever happened before'.
'We've got theories but until we get fact, I'm not going to be speculating or running with any what ifs or maybes or anything like that,' he said.
'We're still processing in our minds and coming to grips with not just what happened but what happens next.'
Mr Robinson said the life of the 'lovely lady' had been 'altered' by the incident.
'Emotionally, both her and my wife are on a rollercoaster,' he said.
On Monday evening, the zoo confirmed on social media it would re-open its doors on Tuesday 'with a full program of free photo ops, educational talks and paid Encounters available'.
The zoo confirmed the woman was 'attacked by a lioness', and clarified she was 'not in (its) enclosure' when the incident occurred.
'(The lioness) was not hungry, skinny, taunted or tortured – it is a lion,' the statement read.
'It comes from a long line of captive born lions in Australia but it is still a lion – not a pet.'
The zoo also confirmed it 'would not be put down or punished in any way'.
'A full investigation has been carried out by Workplace Health and Safety Queensland,' the statement read.
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