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Queensland zoo to reopen two days after woman loses arm to lioness

Queensland zoo to reopen two days after woman loses arm to lioness

The Guardian13 hours ago
A woman has lost her arm after being attacked on Sunday at a Queensland zoo by a lioness, which the zoo insists 'was not hungry' or maltreated.
Queensland's health minister, Tim Nicholls, confirmed that the woman, who is in her 50s, had 'lost her arm' in the attack, which took place at about 8.32am on Sunday at the Darling Downs zoo, south of Toowoomba.
'I got a report this morning, so she has had surgery, and she is recovering well in the PA [Princess Alexandra] hospital,' Nicholls said on Monday morning.
'And unfortunately, she has lost her arm.'
She was in a stable condition in hospital on Monday evening.
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In a Facebook post on Monday afternoon, Darling Downs zoo said the victim was 'not an employee, a keeper or a zoo visitor', but 'a much-loved member of the zoo owners' family'. In a post on Sunday, they said the woman had been 'watching keepers working in the carnivore precinct', something they said she had 'done many, many times over the past 20 years'.
'It has still not been possible to interview her to establish what led to this tragic incident,' the zoo wrote in the Monday post, adding that there was no plan for the animal to be put down.
'We can confirm that she was attacked by a lioness. She was not in its enclosure.'
The zoo emphasised in the post that the animal 'was not hungry, skinny, taunted or tortured'.
'A full investigation has been carried out by Workplace Health and Safety Queensland,' they went on.
'As a result the Darling Downs zoo will reopen at 9am tomorrow [Tuesday] morning.'
A spokesperson from Workplace Health and Safety Queensland said on Monday evening that the incident was 'still an ongoing and active WHSQ investigation'.
'WHSQ inspectors have issued a number of compliance notices to the business to ensure compliance with WHS legislation.'
In a Facebook post published on Sunday, the zoo had previously said the animal did not leave its enclosure during the attack and 'there was no risk at all to staff members or members of the public'.
The zoo did not respond to questions on Monday afternoon as to whether additional steps had been taken to improve safety at the facility.
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Darling Downs zoo turns 20 this year.
In a Facebook post published on Sunday, the zoo said the animal did not leave its enclosure during the attack and 'there was no risk at all to staff members or members of the public'.
The zoo plans to reopen at the normal time of 9am tomorrow. It did not respond to questions about what steps had been taken to improve safety at the facility.
A spokesperson from Workplace Health and Safety Queensland said the organisation is continuing its investigation into the incident. It did not confirm whether it had approved the reopening plans.
Nationals leader and Queensland MP David Littleproud said on Monday that the attack was a 'tragic incident' but that Darling Downs zoo had operated safely for 'many, many years'.
'We need to understand and appreciate the circumstances that led to this before we make any judgment and allow that to happen in the right environment,' he said.
Littleproud encouraged locals to continue to visit the zoo, 'which will need support from the community during this difficult time'.
'As someone that's a local to that part of the world, it's shocked much of the community, and it's a very important economic part of our part of Queensland. So our thoughts are with them and the zoo today.'
It is not the first big cat attack at a Queensland site in recent months. Dreamworld reportedly ended human interaction with its tigers after an attack on a handler in September 2024.
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The Sun

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The worst-offending UPFs – and the tips, healthy swaps & recipes to unprocess your diet

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EXCLUSIVE Remorseless, narcissistic and dumb - criminologist delivers damning assessment of mushroom killer Erin Patterson as she is found guilty of mass murder
EXCLUSIVE Remorseless, narcissistic and dumb - criminologist delivers damning assessment of mushroom killer Erin Patterson as she is found guilty of mass murder

Daily Mail​

time3 hours ago

  • Daily Mail​

EXCLUSIVE Remorseless, narcissistic and dumb - criminologist delivers damning assessment of mushroom killer Erin Patterson as she is found guilty of mass murder

Criminology professor Dr Xanthé Mallett delivered a scathing assessment of Erin Patterson 's character after the Australian mother-of-two was found guilty of mass murder. Speaking to the Mail's award-winning The Trial podcast, she described Patterson, who murdered three family members by poisoning, as a 'vengeful' woman who believed she could pull the wool over investigators' eyes. When veteran crime correspondent Caroline Cheetham asked what could drive a seemingly 'average' woman to kill three people, Dr Mallett identified Patterson's inability to process her divorce as the key factor. Erin Patterson was found guilty today of three counts of murder and one count of attempted murder for poisoning her estranged husband's relatives with death cap mushrooms hidden in a Beef Wellington lunch at her home in July 2023. 'I am divorced, I understand toxic marriages and simmering loathing – but I have never poisoned anyone', Dr Mallett began. 'I have seen cases where people - for example, those with narcissism mixed with a borderline personality disorder - can be led to a place where if they feel wronged, they act like an avenging angel. 'There's this righteousness to them… what I believe happened is that Patterson had this simmering rage for her ex-husband Simon and felt perhaps as if his family hadn't supported her. 'She then transferred some of that rage on them and felt justified in harming them because of this.' Dr Mallett argued that Patterson's choice to use Death Cap mushrooms reveals her callousness and extreme sense of vengeance. She told the podcast: 'Death Cap mushrooms have four different toxins within them. They're incredibly toxic and an awful, awful way to die. 'They shut down your organs and cause internal bleeding. There is a very small chance of survival once you've had a single dose. 'It takes a certain kind of person to want to use toxins of that nature. If Simon had gone to the lunch, he would have watched his family die. 'Not only that, but their grandchildren, her children, would have watched them die a painful, drawn-out death. What kind of person does that?' Drawing from her experience analysing similar cases, Dr Mallett believes Patterson feels little remorse for what she has done. 'I have seen and spoken to people like her - I expect her to be totally arrogant, totally assured in her actions – thinking she's done nothing wrong', the criminologist said. 'When she gave evidence, she kept talking about how difficult it was for her, how it had affected her life, how all the attention was impacting her. The Trial of Erin Patterson is available now, wherever you get your podcasts. Listen here 'Even when the family were in hospital, there was never any concern for them. It was all me, me, me. 'I think she feels justified in what she's done. I don't think there would be any remorse or guilt in her.' Having viewed her in court, host Cheetham thought Patterson came across as an 'academically intelligent woman.' She then asked Dr Mallett whether she agreed with that assessment, given Patterson's meticulous planning of the murders and her attempts to throw investigators off the scent. 'I think she's intelligent in some ways, very dumb in others', the professor argued. 'Frankly, this was obvious premeditation. It was not well planned; it was not well carried out. Her sense of own abilities is vastly overrated. 'She thought she could outpace the police, all the experts and the witnesses because she is so smart, right? That's the narcissist in her. 'I worked on a similar case where the accused was a narcissistic psychopath – they are not as smart as they think they are. 'Patterson is cunning though – she's manipulative, a good liar. A bit of a chameleon who can bend the truth. 'When she's caught in one lie, she twists it more and more.'

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