The animal narrowly missed an artery in her neck, Beeld reported.

Madelein Querk, 28, and her husband had been touring the country for two weeks, and would have returned home on Sunday.

They were among a group of tourists who visited the Tshukudu game lodge near Hoedspruit, where members of the group posed for pictures with the cubs.

Querk was apparently posing with a one-year-old cub when it bit her, leaving her with four deep cuts of between four and eight cm on the left side of her face, and lacerations on her left arm and leg, where the lion clawed her. Querk's husband attempted to distract the lion by hitting it with his camera.

The injured woman was treated at the Nelspruit Mediclinic, and was scheduled to fly home on Thursday.

Tshukudu lodge manager Eric Gander said on Monday night that a decision would be taken about the lion cub's future after an investigation into the incident.