Posted on 12/29/2004 6:17:33 AM PST by NYer
As the human death toll from Sunday's earthquake and subsequent tsunami continues to skyrocket in Asia, a mystery is unfolding in Sri Lanka.
Somehow, the animals survived the disaster.
According to reports out of Colombo, Sri Lankan wildlife officials are said to be stunned.
"The strange thing is we haven't recorded any dead animals," H.D. Ratnayake, deputy director of the national Wildlife Department, told Reuters. "No elephants are dead, not even a dead hare or rabbit."
"I think animals can sense disaster," he added. "They have a sixth sense. They know when things are happening."
The sentiment was echoed by Gehan de Silva Wijeyeratne, whose Jetwing Eco Holidays runs a hotel in the Yala National Park, the country's largest wildlife reserve where hundreds of wild elephants dwell along with some 130 other species.
"This is very interesting. I am finding bodies of humans, but I have yet to see a dead animal,'' he told the Associated Press.
Floodwaters reportedly rushed up to two miles inland at the park, where 41 human bodies have been recovered so far, including 13 foreigners, according to Lanka Business Online.
Wildlife officers reportedly found a 13-year-old boy yesterday morning, the only survivor of the tsunami at the park.
Wildlife Conservation Director General Dayananda Kariyawasam told the paper except for dead fish, no carcasses of animals have been found.
The human death toll in Sri Lanka exceeds 21,000.
thats cool....
I have a 6 inch scar on my elbow that is my weather vane :)
LOL! Are you still in Iraq?
Jeez, I remember hearing in high school (30 years ago) that in the days prior to an earthquake there were increased reports of pets running away.
I wont send a penny to help these stupid people who refused our pleas to install even a rudimentary tsunami warning system of cheap buoys, which would have saved tens of thousands of lives.
Years ago, my roomie and I fed a stray cat who got sick and tired of being divebombed by the neighborhood jays...
He would sit on his hind haunches, straight up and knock the birds out of the air as they came near him.
Amazing to watch.
I remember the 5.2 quake we had in northwestern, PA, we had a plot of land up there at the time, come to think of it, I think the epicenter was on or near our land. B-) Well, we have a friend up there with a calico cat, she was born in 1976, I think she is still alive, I'm not sure. Anyways, just before the quake hit, she was nowhere to be found, she must have went somewhere to hide out. A few hours after the quake, she came back although she was still aloof for a while. Animals have some sort of perception or sixth sense that many of us lack. I know I might be getting "Art Bell" on here but there are many mysteries that we haven't solved yet and things we do not understand.
yeah...I have about 12 days left....
although it is almost time for turnover and that means its only 11 :)
One thing that struck me the last time I visited Cape Hatteras was seeing deer on the beach.
I don't even know how they got to the Outer Banks. Walk over a bridge?
Oh my well God Bless you and Thank You. :)
Not my dog. He sticks his curious little snoot into anything that doesn't seem "right."
The mocking birds at my house actually relentlessly attack our big, tough tom.
"I remember hearing in high school (30 years ago) that in the days prior to an earthquake there were increased reports of pets running away."
DMZ,
What is odd is that the storm thing is understandable. We can say that animals can detect the greater weather patterns etc.. Now the part that gets me IS the earthquake detection. The USGS needs to develop this avenue. If scientific, this can save lives.
Speaking of animals, I read on the Fox News ticker a few minutes ago that an eyewitness from Phuket Beach says that an elephant, on the beach to entertain vacationing kids, saved several when the water came in by hoisting them on its back with its trunk and walking them to safety. Pretty wild.
I agree, watching those videos of the tsunamis, I thought it sounded like very scary thunder. They could probably hear it coming for quite awhile.
I've seen that, too. And my dad's horses run around and buck when there's a storm coming. Animals have such heightened senses. The animals probably heard the big wave coming and ran away from the sound.
Yep. I'm thinking they probably heard the wave coming and, because they can move fast, they were able to get to higher ground before it hit.
No joke, and they always seem to know when it's time to go to the vet.
*WOOF*
What's that, Lassie? There's a tsunami coming?
*WOOF*
It was caused by a 9.0 Richter Scale earthquake on the seaboard near the country of Sumatra?
*WOOF*
Really, Lassie? It will bring with it six waves, 30 feet tall, and cause over 100,000 deaths?
*WOOF*
What's that, girl? We're totally screwed?
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