This is the moment female elephants in an Israeli safari park huddle together to shield a little calf after terrifying airraid sirens sound during a recent bombing.

The incident was filmed at Ramat Gan Safari in Tel Aviv in Israel during the recent cross-border fighting between Palestinian groups and Israel.

In the video, a herd of female elephants is seen huddling together to apparently protect a young calf as sirens and explosions sound in the background.

The recent troubles between Israel and Palestinian groups in the Gaza Strip ended last Friday.

However, during one bombing raid from the Hamas-ruled territory, female Asian elephants were filmed shielding a calf, 14-month-old Pele, from any danger.

Zookeeper Guy Kfir said: “This is very normal behaviour for female elephants in nature. When they sense danger, they gather their young in the centre, encircle them, and act as some sort of a protective shield.

“In the video, you can see that each of them faces a different direction to protect the calf and watch out for any incoming danger.

“We also observe this behaviour when sirens go off on memorial days. This also happens when one of them gives birth. All her fellow females circle her, serving as her eyes and shield.”

The zookeeper added: “In Africa, elephants are going extinct mainly due to hunting. They are being killed for their tusks which are turned into billiard balls, piano keys, jewellery and more.”

Kfir also said that an elephant dies for these reasons in Africa every 15 minutes.