SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — Elephants at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park were caught on camera forming a protective circle when a 5.2 magnitude earthquake shook Southern California Monday morning.
The San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance shared a video from the San Diego Zoo Safari Park in Escondido, which is located in northern San Diego County, that shows the park’s African elephants instinctively circle the younger elephants to protect them when the earthquake struck.
Watch in the videos as elephants Ndlula, Umngani, and Khosi form an “alert circle” around youngsters Zuli and Mkhaya during the earthquake as the animals have the ability to feel sound through their feet.
Elephants use “alert circles” as a defensive formation where they surround the younger or vulnerable herd members when they sense a threat.
The zoo shared the herd went back to normal about four minutes after the earthquake, but still stayed close to one another afterwards.
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