Latest news with #zooincident
Daily Mail
09-07-2025
- Daily Mail
Zoo owner explodes after shocking claim emerges about woman who had her arm torn off by a lion
A former zoo worker's claim that a teacher may have put her arm in the enclosure to pat a lioness, which then ripped off her arm has sparked a fiery response from their former boss. Joanne Cabban remains in a Brisbane hospital after losing her arm during the horrific mauling at Darling Downs Zoo near Toowoomba on Sunday. The high school teacher from central-west NSW was visiting the zoo owned by her sister Stephanie Robinson when disaster struck shortly before the tourist attraction was scheduled to open for the day. As the zoo reopened for the first time since the attack, a former worker has speculated on what may have happened. 'She was walking the dog past the lion enclosure and put her arm through to pat the lions - as the owners normally do,' they told The bombshell claim emerged after images posted by the zoo showing staff patting and kissing the dangerous animals. Zoo co-owner Steve Robinson hit back when Daily Mail Australia put the allegations to him on Thursday morning. 'If I responded to every bit of rubbish on social media, I'd be tied to the computer all day,' he said. 'Short answer is – bulldust! What was she going to do? Pat the dog with one hand and the lion with the other? 'I won't contribute to giving these attention seekers their five seconds of fame. 'If this person is truly a 'former zoo worker' then he/she would never have seen anyone walking a dog through the zoo – let alone in an off display area.' Mr Robinson also denied claims that dogs are walked through the zoo. 'The owners never walk dogs through the zoo and never have,' he said. Several questions remain unanswered, despite Mr Robinson earlier this week revealing more details about the harrowing attack on his sister-in-law. It's understood Ms Cabban was standing near the holding enclosure where the lions were being kept while the main enclosure was being cleaned. 'She certainly was not in the enclosure — nobody goes into the enclosure with adult lions in this zoo, so we can rule that out entirely,' Mr Robinson said. His wife remains at her sister's bedside at Brisbane's Princess Alexandra Hospital, where Ms Cabban will undergo further surgery. He said the attack shocked staff and the local community, where the family has operated the zoo since 2005. 'It's still very raw,' Mr Robinson said. He added that his sister-in-law sustained life-changing injuries that were 'too macabre' to describe in detail. Ms Cabban visited the zoo several times in the school holidays over the past 20 years, acting as a photographer. The photos are then used to create zoo calendars, Mr Robinson explained. Lion encounters remain suspended at the zoo. Workplace Health and Safety Queensland has launched an investigation into the incident. It's understood compliance order have already been served. The zoo has been listed for sale for the third time in two years at a cut-price $6million, down from its initial $7million price tag in 2023.
The Guardian
09-07-2025
- The Guardian
NSW woman on emotional ‘rollercoaster' after losing arm in zoo lion attack, family says
The NSW school teacher maimed in a lion attack at a Queensland zoo at the weekend is struggling to come to terms with losing her arm, her family says. The woman, in her 50s, has been identified as Parkes school teacher Joanne Cabban. Darling Downs zoo owner Steve Robinson told media that Cabban, his sister-in-law, was visiting on school holidays, something she has done regularly for 20 years. Cabban lost her arm in the attack by a lioness at about 8.30am on Sunday morning. She was in a staff-only area of the zoo, which is about 45 minutes south of Toowoomba. Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email The attack took place near a holding enclosure, which contained the lions, while staff cleaned the main enclosure. Robinson said Cabban was 'very much on a rollercoaster emotionally as she comes to grips with the enormity of what has happened'. Robinson said Cabban was still 'heavily drugged with pain killers' but that her condition was listed as stable, as it has been since she arrived at the hospital via helicopter Sunday. 'I don't believe that she has been allowed out of bed yet,' he said. Workplace Health and Safety Queensland is investigating the incident. Nobody else saw the attack take place, though others were nearby. Robinson said his wife was hoping to be able to speak to her sister about the details of the attack shortly. 'Steph [Cabban's sister] is hoping to be able to coax some precise details out of her later today or, more likely, tomorrow,' he told Guardian Australia. A spokesperson for Workplace Health and Safety Queensland said their probe is 'still an active and ongoing investigation'. Robinson credited another member of staff, a carnivore keeper with first aid experience, with saving Cabban's life. She used his wife's leather belt as a makeshift tourniquet to stem the bleeding, and then applied a thermal blanket before paramedics arrived. Sign up to Breaking News Australia Get the most important news as it breaks after newsletter promotion The Darling Downs zoo is privately owned and independent, employs 22 staff, including four lion keepers, and has nine lions. The zoo uses 'protected contact', which means nobody enters an enclosure with an adult lion, he said. The attack took place at one of the zoo's oldest enclosures, which has existed since it opened 20 years ago. Robinson said his sister-in-law often took photos to produce calendars for the zoo. He said the incident was not the lion's fault and people should not blame the animal. It has not been put down. 'There's no aggression, and there's no nastiness, anything like that at all. The best we can come up with at this stage is the lion was just playing,' he said. 'Now how she was playing with a human in that circumstance is yet to be determined.' Robinson said it was the first time an incident like this had happened at the zoo. 'That enclosure that we're looking at was one of our original ones. It's been there for 20 years, as I said before, without anything like this happening,' he said.
The Guardian
09-07-2025
- The Guardian
NSW woman on emotional ‘rollercoaster' after losing arm in zoo lion attack, family says
The NSW school teacher maimed in a lion attack at a Queensland zoo at the weekend is struggling to come to terms with losing her arm, her family says. The woman, in her 50s, has been identified as Parkes school teacher Joanne Cabban. Darling Downs zoo owner Steve Robinson told media that Cabban, his sister-in-law, was visiting on school holidays, something she did regularly for 20 years. Cabban lost her arm in the attack by a lioness at about 8.30am on Sunday morning. She was in a staff-only area of the zoo, about 45 minutes south of Toowoomba. The attack took place near a holding enclosure, which contained the lions, while staff cleaned the main enclosure. Robinson said Cabban was 'very much on a rollercoaster emotionally as she comes to grips with the enormity of what has happened'. Robinson said Cabban was still 'heavily drugged with pain killers' but that her condition was listed as stable, as it has been since she arrived at the hospital via helicopter Sunday. 'I don't believe that she has been allowed out of bed yet,' he said. Workplace Health and Safety Queensland is investigating the incident. Nobody else saw the attack take place, though others were nearby. Robinson said his wife was hoping to be able to speak to her sister about the details of the attack shortly. 'Steph (Cabban's sister) is hoping to be able to coax some precise details out of her later today or, more likely, tomorrow,' her told Guardian Australia. A spokesperson for Workplace Health and Safety Queensland said their probe is 'still an active and ongoing investigation'. Robinson credited another member of staff, a carnivore keeper with first aid experience, with saving Cabban's life. She used his wife's leather belt as a makeshift tourniquet to stem the bleeding, and then applied a thermal blanket before paramedics arrived. The Darling Downs Zoo is privately owned and independent, employs 22 staff, including four lion keepers, and has nine lions. The zoo uses 'protected contact', which means nobody enters an enclosure with an adult lion, he said. The attack took place at one of the zoo's oldest enclosures, which has existed since it opened 20 years ago. Robinson said his sister-in-law often took photos to produce calendars for the zoo. He said the incident was not the lion's fault and people should not blame the animal. It has not been put down. 'There's no aggression, and there's no nastiness, anything like that at all. The best we can come up with at this stage is the lion was just playing,' he said. 'Now how she was playing with a human in that circumstance is yet to be determined.' Robinson said it was the first time an incident like this had happened at the zoo. 'That enclosure that we're looking at was one of our original ones. It's been there for 20 years, as I said before, without anything like this happening,' he said.
ABC News
09-07-2025
- ABC News
Darling Downs Zoo lion attack victim named as NSW school teacher Joanne Cabban
A woman who lost her arm after being mauled by a lioness at a Queensland zoo on Sunday has been identified as Joanne Cabban, a school teacher from Forbes in New South Wales. Ms Cabban was visiting her sister, Darling Downs Zoo owner Stephanie Robinson, during a regular school-holiday trip when she was attacked. She remains in a stable condition in the Princess Alexandria Hospital in Brisbane, where she has undergone surgery for her injuries. According to her family, Ms Cabban has been visiting the zoo for 20 years and often took photographs of the animals during her visits, turning the images into calendars at Christmas. Zoo owner Steve Robinson said his wife and a carnivore keeper had just finished cleaning out the lion enclosure at about 8:30am on Sunday, when they heard a scream and discovered a lioness had bitten Ms Cabban's arm, effectively amputating the limb. Mr Robinson said Ms Cabban had been standing alone near the holding pen, where several lionesses were being held at the time. He said another keeper was nearby when the incident occurred, who jumped into action "in a split second" to save his sister-in-law's life. "She was the first responder in terms of first aid to the incident," Mr Robinson said. "She actually took my wife's leather belt off and applied a tourniquet. "Very quickly, the first aid kit was there, and we wrapped [her] up in a thermal blanket. "The paramedics locally were here very, very quickly … and the LifeFlight helicopter arrived and took her through to the hospital in Brisbane." Mr Robinson said there was no CCTV of the holding enclosure as the area was not accessible to the public. Workplace Health and Safety Queensland is investigating the attack.
The Sun
08-07-2025
- The Sun
Teacher who lost her arm in lion attack is revealed as sister of zoo's owners as chilling vid shows keeper kissing beast
A TEACHER who lost her arm in a lion attack has been revealed as the sister of one of the zoo's owners. The shocking incident unfolded at Darling Downs Zoo in Queensland, Australia on Sunday. 3 3 3 She was flown to Brisbane's Princess Alexandra Hospital and is believed to be in stable condition. The victim has since been identified as Joanne Cabban, a schoolteacher from New South Wales. She is the sister of Stephanie Robinson, who owns the zoo along with her husband Steve, has reported. It comes as a chilling clip has resurfaced online showing a staff member cuddling and kissing a lion at the zoo. In the brief clip, a woman can be seen cosying up to the big cat from the other side of its cage. But the lion bears its teeth, seemingly unenthusiastic at the encounter. A zoo statement published on social media following this weekend's attack says: "Inexplicably, at this stage, one animal grabbed her by one arm and caused severe damage to it. "At no stage did this animal leave its enclosure and there was no risk at all to staff members or members of the public. "Police and Workplace Health and Safety personnel are investigating this incident and have been onsite all morning. "The zoo is working with them to establish how this incident occurred but the full details will not be known until [the woman] can be interviewed." Owner Steve Robinson has since told reporters that the incident was not the "lion's fault". He added that he believes it was not "an attack" and that the lion was just playing, according to "We've raised these lions ourselves,' he said. "Their temperaments are excellent. We can still interact with them through the mesh of the cage." He added that "nothing like this has ever happened before" in the zoo's 20 year history. "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."
