BOSTON (AP) – A Mansfield native has been killed by an Asian elephant that she had been working with at a Tennessee wildlife sanctuary.

Joanna Burke, a 36-year-old elephant handler, was killed at The Elephant Sanctuary when the elephant stepped on her or kicked her in a quick attack, Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency spokesman Doug Markham said Saturday.

The Asian elephant is a female named Winkie. According to the sanctuary’s Web site, Winkie weighs 7,600 pounds, stands 8-3, and came from Burma more than 30 years ago. The fatal attack happened Friday.

Burke had been a handler at the sanctuary, in Hohenwald, Tenn., for the last eight years.

The Sun Chronicle of Attleboro reported that Burke was from Mansfield, where her parents, Paul and Carol Burke, still live. The newspaper reported that she was a graduate of Mansfield High School and Bridgewater State College.

Burke’s wish was to be buried on the sanctuary grounds.

Opened in 1995, the nonprofit refuge on 2,700 acres about 60 miles southwest of Nashville specializes in Asian elephants.

The sanctuary’s mission statement says it provides a haven for old, sick or needy elephants in a setting of green pastures, old-growth forests, spring-fed ponds and a heated barn for cold winter nights. It also tries to educate the public about elephants.

Many of the elephants that have been moved there came from performance backgrounds. Once at the sanctuary, they no longer were on view. The public’s only chance to see these elephants is online through streaming webcams on the property or through VIP tours for donors.

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On the Net:

The Elephant Sanctuary: http://www.”elephants.com/