Elephants circling young after earthquake ‘rare and special’ – London zookeeper

A video of elephants in San Diego circling around their young during an earthquake was a “rare” and “special” moment, a London zookeeper has said.

CCTV footage at San Diego Zoo Safari Park captured the moment a herd of elephants were startled by a tremor after the Californian city was struck by a 5.2-magnitude earthquake on Tuesday morning.

The video shows around five elephants running towards each other and forming a circle to protect a young member of the herd.

Emily Hanley, lead elephant keeper at the Zoological Society of London (ZSL), said keepers often aim to recreate events its animals might encounter in the wild, but capturing the elephant’s reaction to a live earthquake was a “special moment”.

“Although it’s natural, normal behaviour, I think to actually capture the moment is quite rare, particularly because it was due to something that’s a natural event and not keeper-induced,” Ms Hanley, 32, told the PA news agency.

“It was a special moment. It was really cool to see as a keeper myself. It’s lovely to see those moments.”

She said zookeepers aim to find natural ways to simulate situations animals may encounter in the wild to monitor their behaviour.

“What we always aim for – and I’m sure this goes for San Diego as well – is seeing those natural behaviours,” Ms Hanley said.

“Sometimes we’re able to provide opportunities – putting food in a natural way for them to get or a substrate that they can wallow in… but this was just a natural behaviour that we couldn’t necessarily try and encourage or simulate.

“It was just a really nice example of what you’re looking for, especially to prove that the herd that you have are a cohesive unit.”

Ms Hanley said this protective behaviour is typical for the matriarch of the herd who usually “rallies the alarm or rallies the troops”.

“The matriarch normally is the one that goes straight to whatever is alarming them. They rally around the baby or the youngster at that point, circling them, so they’re ready for whatever is about to come,” she said.

She added that the circle formation is likely to be due to ensuring the animals have “protection on all sides”.

“If they don’t really know where the danger is coming from, particularly as the earthquake might feel like it’s everywhere, there were enough elephants to protect its calf,” Ms Hanley explained.

“They do the best protection they can in a full circle.”

The keeper said the footage could help to provide evidence that elephants might be able to detect tremors moments before an earthquake.

“What I found interesting was that they (the elephants) reacted before the camera shook,” she said.

“They communicate through different frequencies and at a much lower frequency, like reverberations in their feet, so that was interesting from a keeper perspective to notice they knew something was going on before the camera shook.”

Ms Hanley said the video provides an insight into the elephants’ behaviour to help members of the public learn more about the animals.

“We know, as keepers, how socially complex the herd dynamic is… so it is a really nice glimpse into it,” she said.

“I think it’s highlighted how responsive they are to looking after each other, especially the youngsters, also working together.

“I think it’s been really nice that people have seen that and learn that about the species.”