A group of elephants instinctively protected the young in a heartwarming earthquake response. The massive creatures knew precisely what to do when the ground shook. Watch the short but amazing clip to see the sweet and precious moment when the elephants banded together to protect their young.

Most people would like to believe they are beyond prepared in the event of an emergency. We all hope that whenever an emergency strikes, we will act in helpful and constructive ways. No one wants to be the person who freezes, unable to do much of anything when something bad and unfortunate happens.

Planning and preparing in case of an emergency are vital. It’s good to know how one is supposed to respond when an emergency arises. But will we really know if that’s how things will go? The only way to know for sure is to be in the middle of an emergency. Hopefully, all that training and knowledge will pay dividends at that time.

In a clip posted on YouTube, a group of elephants knew exactly what to do when encountering an earthquake. The elephants at the San Diego Zoo immediately stopped what they were doing and gathered in the center of their enclosure. They then formed what is described as an “alert circle,” with the smallest animal in the middle.

Mindy Albright, with the San Diego Zoo, explained what and why the elephants did what they felt the ground rumbling.

“Elephants are very in tune to their environment, and picking up environmental cues, allows them to make decisions,” she said. “And they sensed something was off and potentially dangerous.”

Later in the clip, she describes what the animals did as a “defense mechanism” that elephants will do to protect the family unit.

Animals are fascinating creatures and constantly find new ways to amaze us.

Genesis 1:21 “And God created great whales, and every living creature that moves, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.”