An animal handler has been hospitalised after a tiger mauled her at a popular Australian theme park on Monday.

The rare attack at Dreamworld, near the Gold Coast, left the 47-year-old woman with deep cuts to her arm.

Paramedics treated the woman at the scene, before taking her to hospital about 9am local time (12am GMT). She remains in a stable condition. 

The incident took place before the theme park opened to the public on Monday. Dreamworld’s Tiger Island, an interactive tiger exhibit, opened nearly 30 years ago and is home to nine Sumatran and Bengal tigers.

It is understood the woman was one of the theme park’s most experienced and senior animal handlers. 

A Dreamworld spokesperson confirmed in a statement that an incident “involving one of the park’s tigers and a trained tiger handler” had occurred.

“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.”