Stunning footage captured at the San Diego Zoo during Monday morning’s 5.2 magnitude earthquake shows African Elephants inside their habitat forming a protective circle around their calves.
The phenomenon, known as an “alert circle,” is a natural elephant instinct and occurs when the herd senses a nearby threat and naturally moves to protect any infants or younger elephants.
The video, shared by the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, shows elephants Ndlula, Umngani and Khosi circling youngsters Zuli and Mkhaya when the shaking began early Monday morning. The elephants quickly encircled the two calves when the shaking began, and remained in formation for about four minutes before breaking — still remaining close by…