When an earthquake struck San Diego, these elephants formed an ‘alert circle’
When a 5.2 magnitude earthquake hit Southern California on Monday, humans followed the usual drill: drop, cover and hold on.
But one herd of elephants at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park in Escondido, Calif. had their own plan — circle up and stand together.
Security footage from the park shows the moment clearly. One minute the elephants were basking in the sun; the next, they were reacting as the ground began to shake.
The three adult females scanned their surroundings and quickly banded together, forming a tight circle around two 7-year-old calves named Zuli and Mkhaya, according to the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance.
Experts call this behavior an “alert circle,” a response matriarch elephants display when they perceive a threat.
“Elephants are highly social, they take care of each other,” says Joshua Plotnik, an associate professor of psychology at Hunter College in New York who studies elephant behavior.
Plotnik says this instinct to protect one another is at the core of the alert circle, a strategy for banding together when danger is near.
“They bunch together, the adults on the outside facing out, and then they’ll push the younger individuals into the middle,” he says.
Elephants can sense seismic vibrations through their feet and ears, Plotnik says, alerting them to potential danger. And earthquakes aren’t the only thing they can detect: Something similar happened during the 2006 Boxing Day Tsunami in southeast Asia, he recalls.
“I’ve heard anecdotes … of elephants responding prior to the large tsunami waves reaching the shores of Thailand, for instance, of elephants retreating up to higher ground with other elephants.”
These fast, coordinated responses reveal the complex social nature of elephants, Plotnik says. But he warns that elephants’ survival in today’s world requires more than just instinct; there’s still much we don’t understand about how they interpret threats.
Learning more, he says, is key to protecting these endangered animals.
“The Asian and African elephants are in imminent danger of going extinct, and it’s crucially important that we continue to learn more about their behavior and cognition if we’re going to come up with ways to protect them and conserve them in the wild,” Plotnik says.
How Alabama Power kept bills up and opposition out to become one of the most powerful utilities in the country
In one of the poorest states in America, the local utility earns massive profits producing dirty energy with almost no pushback from state regulators.
No more Elmo? APT could cut ties with PBS
The board that oversees Alabama Public Television is considering disaffiliating from PBS, ending a 55-year relationship.
Nonprofit erases millions in medical debt across Gulf South, says it’s ‘Band-Aid’ for real issue
Undue Medical Debt has paid off more than $299 million in medical debts in Alabama. Now, the nonprofit warns that the issue could soon get worse.
Roy Wood Jr. on his father, his son and his new book
Actor, comedian and writer Roy Wood Jr. is out with a new book -- "The Man of Many Fathers: Life Lessons Disguised as a Memoir." He writes about his experience growing up in Birmingham, losing his dad as a teenager and all the lessons he learned from various father figures throughout his career.
Auburn fires coach Hugh Freeze following 12th loss in his last 15 SEC games
The 56-year-old Freeze failed to fix Auburn’s offensive issues in three years on the Plains, scoring 24 or fewer points in 17 of his 22 league games. He also ended up on the wrong end of too many close matchups, including twice this season thanks partly to questionable calls.
In a ‘disheartening’ era, the nation’s former top mining regulator speaks out
Joe Pizarchik, who led the federal Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement from 2009 to 2017, says Alabama’s move in the wake of a fatal 2024 home explosion increases risks to residents living atop “gassy” coal mines.
