An escaped circus elephant killed a German man early Saturday morning in the woods near Buchen, the Associated Press reports. The man was 65 years old; the elephant is 34 years old: her name is Baby, and she is an African elephant. She was captured and returned to the circus.

Police are investigating the incident. “There’s evidence of third party involvement,” Heidelberg police spokeswoman Yvonne Schmierer said. “Either someone forgot to shut the enclosure, or the elephant was released intentionally.”

According to the AP, a German news agency reported that Baby has injured people before. In 2005, elephant researcher Joyce Poole told National Geographic News that she’d heard stories, during her 30 years in Kenya, about elephants intentionally attacking humans.

“I have always believed that these are elephants who have suffered some severe trauma at the hands of man,” Poole said. “An elephant whose family members are killed by people is unlikely to forget it very quickly—just as you or I wouldn’t forget if an elephant killed a member of our family.”

“Much of what elephants feel, think, and do is acquired through social learning,” she said. “If a matriarch has a bad experience with people, her behavior will be adjusted accordingly—either more fearful or more aggressive depending upon her own personality.”

Photo credit: Ryan Poplin/Flickr. Contact the author of this post: brendan.oconnor@gawker.com.