San Diego elephants React to 5.2 magnitude earthquake

A 5.2 magnitude earthquake on Monday sent the elephants in the San Diego Zoo Safari Park into action.

Video from the enclosure Monday morning shows five African elephants coming together as the ground shook.

The zoo's three older elephants, Ndlula, Umngani and Khosi, herded around the two 7-year-old calves Zuli and Mkhaya, forming an “alert circle” in efforts to protect them from any threats.

According to the San Diego Zoo, elephants are highly intelligent and social animals and have the ability to feel sound through their feet.

When elephants perceive a threat, they will crowd around their young and face outward to defend the group against the threat, the zoo says.

“It’s so great to see them doing the thing we all should be doing — that any parent does, which is protect their children,” said Mindy Albright, a curator of mammals at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park.

The elephants stayed together for about four minutes, then herded together again when an aftershock happened.