Senses and dunes helped animals escape tsunami

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.swissinfo.org/sen/swissinfo.html?siteSect=143&sid=5469294

COLOMBO (Reuters) - Wildlife in Sri Lanka's biggest national park survived last month's tsunami, but it was probably keen senses and the lay of the land rather than any mysterious instinct for danger that enabled animals to scamper to safety.

Scores of human corpses were pulled from hotels and bungalows in and around the Yala National Park in the island's ravaged southeast, and the fact that wardens found no dead animals prompted theories that a "sixth sense" alerted elephants, leopards and deer to the impending disaster.

As Yala reopened to visitors this week, officials and naturalists said there was evidence that wildlife fled before the giant waves thundered ashore on December 26.

But it was acute natural senses such as hearing that helped give animals time to flee, experts say.

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[madison2000]

1. Its a very cool story- I wonder if any survivors remember seeing the

animals start taking off just before the tsunami hit.