It was a protective circle that became an instant hit. Taught folks a bit about elephant behavior, sure. But also taught people that they could take a lesson from elephants.
Video from the San Diego Zoo Safari Park shows a herd of African elephants respond to the movement during Monday’s magnitude 5.2 earthquake, first running to the same general area when the ground shakes, then coming together to form a tight circle around a young elephant. The group stayed pressed together for a bit less than four minutes.
A zoo spokesperson said the behavior is called an alert circle and said it is “intended to protect the young — and the entire herd — from threats.”
The earthquake near Julian rattled much of Southern California and Tijuana just after 10 a.m. Monday, prompting brief evacuations in downtown San Diego and shaking cities as far away as Oxnard and Palm Springs. The Safari Park near Escondido is more than roughly 20 miles from the earthquake epicenter.
Park staffers have seen the elephants exhibit this same behavior during prior temblors. But this time around, they had the vantage of a recently installed camera to catch the action. It’s the first time they had captured it on video, said Kristi Burtis, director of Wildlife Care for the San Diego Zoo Safari Park.
“When we saw this, we just we had to share it out,” Burtis said. “It’s such an incredible example of their family and their social bonds and connection.”
Magnitude 5.2 earthquake northeast of San Diego shakes most of Southern California
Burtis noted that the elephants showed concern for the herd, not their individual selves. “I think it’s just a testament to the bonds and how we as humans can learn so much from elephants,” she said.
The video went viral, earning attention in national broadcasts, including “The Today Show.” It was also featured in stories from CBS News, CNN and beyond. The video of the animal behavior also prompted stories in publications such as The Washington Post and The New York Times.
Online, people bonded over the, well, the pachyderm bonds.
“Elephants show what comion, love and kindness is. They’re so intelligent and humans could learn so much from them,” one person commented on the NBC News Facebook page.
On the reel posted to the Safari Park’s Facebook page, another person wrote, “Animals look out for each other and are just so much smarter and kinder than humans.”
And another: “I’m tearing up watching this. Elephants are so amazing.”
Burtis said there was a loud boom before the ground started shaking. Elephants can “hear” sound through their feet, park officials said.
Once the herd huddled, they stayed tight, each facing out, surrounding the youngest, Mkhaya. Herds also circle up in the protective stance when one of them gives birth. The idea is to protect the young.
Burtis chuckled as she described another behavior she spotted in the circle. One of the younger elephants, 7-year-old Zuli, took an outer stance when the circle formed, and he’s at that age when he’s starting to mature. But Khosi, an older sister of sorts, reached around with her trunk and touched him as she too was standing guard in the circle. Burtis said the 18-year-old Khosi was checking to be sure Zuli was OK.
“But also, I think she was also trying to communicate, ‘You’re still a youngster, you belong in the center of the circle,’” Burtis said. “It was just really such a great opportunity for us to see this natural behavior of them protecting one another as a unified herd.”
She said the group briefly gathered again when an aftershock hit. Then they went about the rest of their day, grazing, browsing, finding water and interacting.
As the five elephants gathered, another three elephants were in a different area of the park. They, too, formed an alert circle, she said, but that was not caught on camera.
Throughout the rest of the park, Burtis said, other animals knew something was happening when the earth shook, but they did not display the “extent of this very dynamic response” of the elephant herd.
