A woman lost her arm in a horror lion attack as she attended a zoo in Queensland, Australia. Emergency services rushed to Darling Downs on Sunday following reports a woman in her 50s had been attacked by a big cat. The zoo still cannot explain the reason for the incident. In a statement posted on social media, it claimed that the woman had been observing keepers when the terrifying incident unfolded.

The zoo said: "This is something that she has done many, many times over the past 20 years. She is well versed in safety protocols around potentially dangerous animals. 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."

The woman was flown to Brisbane's Princess Alexandra Hospital by a helicopter and is in stable condition.

The zoo is home to numerous big cats including lions, tigers and leopards.

It has African lions and also keeps a Sumatran tiger and a breeding pair of Sri Lankan leopards, its website says. The zoo added the lion will "definitely not be put down or punished in any way" and that they are "extremely grateful" to Queensland ambulance services for their quick assistance and support.

The zoo had recently promoted supervised encounters with its lionesses on social media.

It shared: "Each day at 10am they are on supervised display to our visitors and are also available for some personalised encounters.

"These encounters are strictly monitored to ensure their enjoyment of them and their well-being.

"Every cent of the money that they raise goes into a fund to build an expanded multi pride lion complex to cater for the needs of our enlarged lion family."

A spokesperson from Workplace Health and Safety Queensland said their inspectors were onsite and making enquiries into the incident.

It said it would be closed all day on Sunday but would re-open at 9am on Monday.