Animal Sense

Here is a fascinating article in the online version of the Wall Street Journal (subscription required). Apparently, many animals could sense the tsunami coming and took shelter. Here are the first four paragraphs:

"Just minutes before the tsunami crashed into a southern Indian wildlife
sanctuary, a lighthouse lookout reported an unusual sight: a herd of
antelope stampeding from the shoreline toward the safety of a nearby
hilltop.

"The man said he saw the animals on the seafront running away from the coast towards the forests," said A. D. Baruah, a wildlife warden in the state of Tamil Nadu, recounting the story of the desperate flight of the animals as told to him by the startled lookout. "Ten minutes later the waves hit. The animals had run to safety." Added Mr. Baruah: "I'm sure animals have a sense of foreboding -- a sixth sense."

In Sri Lanka, the island nation off India's southern tip, more than 30,000 people were killed. Yet at Yala National Park, just up the coast from where the destruction was most severe, all the elephants, leopards, deer and other wild animals managed to survive the mighty waves, said H.D. Ratnayake, deputy director of the country's wildlife department.

"I haven't seen any effects on the animals," he said. "They all escaped." Asked to explain the survival of the animals, he said: "They had a feeling. Maybe it was the sound waves."