A tiger bit an animal handler on the arm Monday at an Australian theme park, officials said.
The woman was taken by ambulance from Dreamworld in Coomera in Queensland state to Gold Coast University Hospital in a stable condition, Queensland Ambulance Service director Justin Payne said.
Staff were dealing with the bleeding when an ambulance was called to Dreamworld shortly before 9 a.m., Payne said. The amusement park opens to the public at 10 a.m
“We were informed that a 47-year-old female, an experienced handler, at that location had been bitten by one of the tigers,” Payne said.
“The patient had obviously sustained some serious cuts and puncture wounds from the animal. She was quite pale and unwell, but generally fine,” added Payne.
The theme park, which has both rides and animal exhibits, described the attack in a statement as an “isolated and rare incident” that would be investigated.
Dreamworld is located in Australia’s Gold Coast tourism hub and claims to be the largest theme park in the country.
Dave Hunt / AP
The the park’s “Tiger Island” says it houses nine Sumatran and Bengal tigers. The park’s website invites the public to be “amazed by its power and raw power during feeding time.”
Tiger attacks in regular theme parks and zoos are extremely rare. The year 2020 was a female zookeeper at the Zurich Zoo killed by one of the park’s Siberian tigers. The year before, that 7-year-old Sumatran tiger attacked and injured a female zookeeper at a zoo in Kansas.
AFP contributed to this report.