Paramedics were called to the facility at about 10:30 a.m. local time, police said in a statement. They arrived to find the woman unconscious in the lion enclosure and needed to enter it to retrieve her safely, according to 9 News Australia.
She was then airlifted to a Sydney hospital in “a critical but stable condition,” police said.
Faye Stockmen, a duty operations manager at NSW Ambulance, told 9 News Australia it was “one of the most frightening experiences” of her career.
“We literally had to walk into a lion’s den,” she said. “This is one of the worst jobs I have ever experienced.”
CNN has reached out to the Shoalhaven Zoo for comment.
The zoo was not open at the time of the incident. It has been closed for several weeks due to the Covid-19 pandemic.