Woman in hospital after tiger attack in Australian theme park

Sydney, September 2 (IANS): A woman was hospitalized after being attacked by a tiger at an amusement park in the Australian state of Queensland on Monday.

A Queensland Ambulance Service spokesman said paramedics were called to Dreamworld at 9am local time on Monday following an incident involving a tiger.

They said a zookeeper in her 30s suffered several deep cuts and scratches on her arm and was taken to a nearby hospital in stable condition.

Dreamworld is located 50 km south of the state capital Brisbane and is Australia's largest theme park.

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported that nine Sumatran and Bengal tigers live there.

A Dreamworld spokesperson confirmed that the victim had been trained in handling tigers.

“Dreamworld's immediate focus is to support the team member,” they said. “This was an isolated and rare incident and we will conduct a thorough review accordingly.”

In October 2016, four people died at Dreamworld when a water ride malfunctioned. The park's operator was fined 3.6 million Australian dollars ($2.4 million) in 2020 after pleading guilty to the deaths.