An elephant at a New Zealand zoo has crushed to death a zookeeper, APNZ reported.

The elephant, which was reportedly a part of a circus for 30 years, has been at Franklin Zoo south of Auckland for three years now.

One News reported there was only one elephant at Franklin Zoo, and she has been known as "Mila."

The zoo has yet to release an official statement on the incident, but TV3 reported that the elephant had sat on the keeper and was on an aggressive stance, preventing anyone from helping the woman zookeeper.

Franklin Zoo is at Tuakau, south of Pukekohe.

Police told APNZ they were asked to respond to an incident at the zoo shortly after 4.30 p.m. on Wednesday.

Ambulance Communications relief team manager Louis Rapihana told TV3 they received a call for the emergency vehicle at around the same time.

Authorities are not releasing further information until the family of the fatality has been informed of the tragedy.

"Upon arrival, the elephant had been secured and paramedics were working with the patient who had gone fatal. They've returned to their station," a fire communications spokesperson told APNZ.

The photo below, copyrighted to Franklin Zoo, shows Mila, the retired circus elephant.