A “panicked” elephant killed a Spanish woman while she was bathing the animal at an elephant center in Thailand, local police said.
Blanca Oganjuren Garcia, 22, was washing the elephant at an elephant care center on Koh Yao last Friday when the animal gored 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.
Garcia, who was a law and international relations student at Spain's University of Navarra, was living in Taiwan as part of a student exchange program.
She was visiting Thailand with her friend who witnessed the attack.
Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albarez said the Spanish consulate in Bangkok was assisting Garcia's family.
BBC News has contacted the Elephant Care Center for comment.
Elephant bathing is a popular activity among tourists in Thailand, which is home to more than 4,000 wild animals and has a similar number held in captivity, according to the National Parks Department.
Koh Yao Center offers “elephant care” shows that allow tourists to prepare food and feed the animals, as well as bathe and walk with them. These packages cost between 1,900 baht ($55; £44) and 2,900 baht.
Animal rights activists have previously criticized elephant bathing activities, stating that they disrupt natural grooming behaviors and expose the animals to unnecessary stress and potential injury.
World Animal Protection, an international charity, has for years urged countries including Thailand to stop breeding elephants in captivity.
The charity said more than six in 10 elephants used for tourism in Asia live in “extremely inappropriate” conditions.
The charity said: “These intelligent, socially complex animals, with the capacity for complex thoughts and emotions, experience profound suffering in captivity, where their natural social structure cannot be replicated artificially.”
