An animal trainer has been mauled by a tiger at Dreamworld - a popular theme park and zoo on Australia's Gold Coast - with emergency services saying she has been hospitalised with injuries to her arm.
A Queensland ambulance service (QAS) spokesperson said paramedics transported a woman from Dreamworld to the Gold Coast university hospital with "multiple lacerations to the arm" after "an incident involving a tiger" at about 9am Monday.
A Dreamworld spokesperson said an "incident occurred involving one of the park's tigers and a trained tiger handler."
"Dreamworld's immediate focus is on the support of the team member," the spokesperson said. "This was an isolated and rare incident, and we will conduct a thorough review accordingly".
The woman was reported as being in a stable condition. The QAS acting district director, Justin Payne, said the woman was 47 years old and an "experienced and senior" handler at the theme park. Payne said the handler had received "serious lacerations and puncture wounds."
"She was quite pale and feeling unwell," he said. However, Payne said the handler's bleeding "had been managed very well by first aid providers there at Dreamworld" and that she was "generally well."
Dreamworld's Tiger Island, opened almost 30 years ago as one of only two interactive tiger exhibits in the world, is home to Sumatran as well as Bengal tigers.
It hosts twice-daily tiger presentations at which guests are invited to be "mesmerised" by the tigers "as [they] glide underwater" and "be amazed by their might and raw power during feeding time."
