San Diego elephants form ‘alert circle’ during earthquake

A video of elephants at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park during Monday's earthquake has gone viral. KPBS reporter Katie Anastas brings us an explanation from mammal curator Mindy Albright.

[melanieg.]

They are such intelligent and beautiful animals. Stay safe babies!!! ❤❤❤❤❤

[linanicolia]

The San Diego zoo is a fantastic place, very humane and respectful of the animals, giving them space to feel comfortable.

[linanicolia]

These beautiful animals ! They had to be so scared not knowing what was happening. They have such a strong support for their group. Love, love

[.noway]

So beautiful. These animals are amazing ❤

[Slamm]

I think this video was absolutely beautiful and honestly with everything going on in U. S right now something about this video just gives me hope..🥰

[ilax]

How beautiful to see them in action. Hope to visit San Diego Zoo soon, and tell them how wonderful it is to share this planet with them. 🙋

[DharmaTalksToo]

Animals express love and protection in their own ways. Watching the elephants form a protective circle during the earthquake is very moving. It reminds us humans that all life is precious. As the most intelligent species on the planet, we can choose kindness: by not harming or consuming animals or their young, we take a small step toward a more compassionate world. ❤🙏

[brendataylor]

They seem more intelligent than many humans- to protect from danger

[ABSF]

Notice how they went to the center away from Anything that can fall

[luckytahlula]

I love elephants. They are very much into family. They are entertainers too, especially the young ones. Such adorable and sweet creatures.

[davidhibbs]

They were packing their trunk and getting ready to leave 😂

[brentfisher]

Wow! I've seen cattle and sheep do something similar during or just prior to an earthquake, it's amazing. My late father said he could smell an earthquake approaching, many a night he would raise out of bed to take cover and sure enough, the ground would start rolling.

[JustTanya.]

My cats were sensitive to earthquakes too. I remember the Northridge earthquake in '94, my cats went and hid under the couch hours before it hit. I think the earthquake began at around 4 o'clock in the morning. It wasn't until about 1/2 later that my cats just crawled out from under the couches because we were looking for them. Animals are really sensitive to the microquakes, not to mention the electromagnetic field of the planet as the plates are colliding.

[cheetah-kbrc]

All animals know when quakes are coming, usually up to 3/dy before it hits

[merryhunt]

Adult elephants range from 4000 to 15, 000 pounds, and it must be very riveting to have that weight pressing on the ground when the ground begins to shake. I wish the elephants could tell us what that shaking felt like to their feet. I suspect it was more complex than we think.

[lorettanericcio-bohlman]

At least this species believe in science

[taritabonita]

If elephants ruled the world, what a beautiful world this would be ♥️🌍

[essencefrazier]

Life is Beautiful because He is Beautiful and Beyond measure. He is Life, in Him we move and breathe, the Elephants knows.

[cheetah-kbrc]

Animal mother's always protect their young, suffer, even die. Humans don't

[arkansasoutpost]

Not all animal behaviors are interesting, but this alert circle fascinated me. I didn't know that elephants circle the wagons, so to speak. I'd love to know what the elephants were thinking when this happened. Obviously they were thinking about safety, but what else was going through their minds? Do they have imaginations like humans do? If so, what were they imagining?