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.
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, news.com.au 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 statement from the zoo released on social media after the weekend incident states: “For reasons that remain unclear at this point, one animal seized her by the arm, resulting in significant injury.”
“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 news.com.au.
“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.”
