51�Թ�

The elephants, who live at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park in Escondido, were engaging in a defensive behavior known as an “alert circle,” which is used in the wild to protect the youngest members of the herd from threats, said Mindy Albright, curator of mammals at the zoo.

Albright said it was particularly interesting that although Zuli and Mkhaya are the same age, Zuli tried to position himself on the outside of the alert circle.

In the wild, herds might form alert circles to protect their young from predators, humans or other elephants fighting, Albright said.

The elephants at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park similarly formed an alert circle in 2010 when the magnitude 7.2 Baja California earthquake rattled the region, Albright said.

The Park Service notified Colliseum Inc., a subsidiary of Lac Minerals, that it could continue operations until environmental reclamation was completed, according to a 1995 letter from then-field director Stanley Albright.