A “panicked” elephant killed a Spanish woman while she was bathing the animal at an elephant center in Thailand, local police said.
Blanca Ojanguren García, 22, was washing an elephant at the Koh Yao Elephant Care Center last Friday when the animal stabbed her to death.
Experts told the Spanish-language newspaper Clarín that the elephant may have been stressed by having to interact with tourists outside its natural habitat.
García, who was a law and international relations student at Spain’s University of Navarra, lived in Taiwan as part of a student exchange program.
She was visiting Thailand with her boyfriend, who witnessed the attack.
Spain’s foreign minister, Jose Manuel Albares, said the Spanish consulate in Bangkok was assisting Garcia’s family.
BBC News has asked the elephant care center for comment.
Bathing elephants is a popular activity among tourists in Thailand, which is home to more than 4,000 wild animals and a similar number kept in captivity, according to the National Parks Department.
Koh Yao Center offers “elephant care” packages that allow tourists to prepare food and feed the animals, as well as shower and walk with them. These packages cost between 1,900 baht ($55; £44) and 2,900 baht.
Animal welfare activists have previously criticized elephant bathing activities, noting that they interfere with natural grooming and expose the animals to unnecessary stress and possible injury.
The World Animal Protection charity has for years appealed to countries, including Thailand, to stop breeding elephants in captivity.
More than six in 10 elephants used for tourism in Asia live in “grossly inadequate” conditions, the charity said.
“These intelligent and socially complex animals, capable of complex thought and emotion, endure profound suffering in captivity, as their natural social structures cannot be artificially replicated,” the charity said.
