Zoo owner’s response to claims lions tortured and starved

A south-east Queensland zoo operator fired back at online criticism after a woman was mauled by a lion at the facility, insisting the big cat “was not hungry, skinny, taunted or tortured”.

The Darling Downs Zoo stressed the woman in her 50s who had lost her arm after the attack on Sunday was a relative of the owner, and not an employee, keeper or zoo visitor.

The zoo operator, who runs the facility in Pilton about 50 kilometres south of Toowoomba and 145 kilometres south-west of Brisbane, also said the woman was not in the lion’s enclosure at the time of the mauling.

Following the attack, the facility faced widespread backlash online with claims the big cats appeared in widely circulated news reports to seem malnourished.

But the operator shot down the theory on Monday afternoon and confirmed the lioness will not be euthanised.

“It was not hungry, skinny, taunted or tortured – it is a lion,” the zoo said in a statement posted on social media.

“It comes from a long line of captive born lions in Australia, but it is still a lion – not a pet.

“It will not be put down.

“A full investigation has been carried out by Workplace Health and Safety Queensland.”

In the heated statement, the zoo operator also lashed out at media for “mis-reporting” the attack and claimed they had not been able to interview the woman yet to “establish what led to this tragic incident”.

The woman was flown to Brisbane’s Princess Alexandra Hospital, but her arm could not be saved. She underwent emergency surgery, but no amputation procedure was performed at the hospital and was in a stable condition on Monday evening, according to the zoo.

An image from the Darling Downs Zoo website shows a woman patting a lion through the fence.Credit: Darling Downs Zoo

Alex Braczkowski, a Brisbane-based conservation biologist who works with lions in Uganda, told 4BC the classical approach for keeping big cats in captivity was a contact-minimisation protocol.

“That can be something as simple as starting with a spatial distance marked by a line as to how close you can actually come to the enclosure,” he said.

“Then more importantly, when you’re actually physically having maintenance, cleaning or contact in the enclosure of the animal, that the animal is nowhere near you … ideally separated in some kind of cage enclosure where you can work safely.”

But an image published on the zoo’s website shows one of the big cats being patted through the enclosure’s fence.

The woman in her 50s lost an arm to the lion mauling on Sunday. She remained in a Brisbane hospital on Monday.Credit: Nine News

The lion involved had not “recently cubbed”, which can make big cats more aggressive, and “will definitely not be put down or punished in any way”, the zoo said in an earlier statement.

“Inexplicably, at this stage, one animal grabbed her by one arm and caused severe damage to it. At no stage did this animal leave it’s [sic] enclosure and there was no risk at all to staff members or members of the public.”

The owners and managers of the zoo, Stephanie and Steve Robinson, purchased the 49-hectare property in 2001.

Police and Workplace Health and Safety personnel arrived at the zoo, which is a two-hour drive from Brisbane, on Sunday to begin investigations.

“The zoo is working with them to establish how this incident occurred, but the full details will not be known until our family member can be interviewed,” the statement reads.

A Metro South Health Services spokeswoman said the woman remained in a stable condition.

Darling Downs Zoo declined further comment, pointing to its social media pages for updates.

The small rural zoo, which marked its 20th anniversary last month, houses several big cats, including white and tawny African lions, tigers and leopards.

The cats are bred at the zoo, but its website says the animals in its breeding programs are not on display for visitors.

The zoo offers several “strictly monitored” close encounter experiences with the lions, tigers and leopards for $150 a person, which are used to help fund conservation programs.

Workplace Health and Safety Queensland said investigations were continuing on Monday.

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