SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — Elephants are all people seem to be talking about after Monday's 5.2 magnitude earthquake near Julian.
An incredible video that has now gone viral shows elephants at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park creating an 'alert circle' during the earthquake.
Tuesday, ABC 10News went up to the safari park to find out why the elephants reacted the way they did.
According to experts, it's an instinctive behavior meant to protect the young and the entire herd from threats.
The safari park says there are five elephants at the Safari Park.
The herd is seen surrounding the youngest elephant, 7-year-old Mkhaya, in the alert circle.
"Like in the wild as an example, if a lion or a pride of lions come up to a herd of elephants, the adults will circle around the youngsters to protect them," explains Marco Wednt, the wildlife ambassador for the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance.
Wednt explains that elephants communicate through their feet, which explains why they appeared to sense the earthquake before the shaking began.
"These animals are able to feel those vibrations, and you see them react right before that big shake started to happen and do exactly what they needed to do, and that's protect their babies," says Wednt.
On Tuesday at the safari park, the herd of five was back to doing what they do best: eating and relaxing.
"They alerted like they needed to. They read the surrounding ecosystem to make sure they were ready, and everything was fine, and then right back to business, which is foraging and eating and just enjoying being an elephant," says Wednt.
The video has now been viewed millions of times on social media platforms.
