Wild animals 'sensed coming catastrophe'

Wildlife officials in Sri Lanka's largest national park believe that animals sensed the Indian Ocean tsunami and fled to higher ground to avoid death.

While the human death toll continues to rise in one of the worsthit countries, experts are amazed that they have found no evidence of large-scale animal deaths.

Officials in Yala National Park, Sri Lanka's largest animal reserve, now believe the animals survived because they have a sixth sense which warned them of the impending tidal waves.

Snorkellers swimming at the time the tidal waves hit Sri Lanka's coastline also report "unusual behaviour" by marine life, as if they sensed the impending danger.

Sunday's huge waves washed f loodwaters inland into Yala, killing 200 people, including 40 foreign tourists.

Trees were uprooted and dozens of vehicles were toppled onto their roofs. One witness to the aftermath saw a car which had been flung to the top of a huge tree. But officials have reported abundant wildlife - including elephants, buffalo and deer - and have not found a single animal corpse, despite the path of devastation throughout the national park.

Gehan de Silva Wijeyeratne, of Jetwing Eco Holidays, who ran a hotel in the park which was totally destroyed, is now convinced animals have special powers which warned them of the oncoming tsunami.

He said: "There's no doubt that animals have a sixth sense which tells them of changes in atmospheric pressure. It really is amazing but they knew something was going on, especially the elephants.

"They could feel something was coming and moved away from the coastal areas and onto higher ground.

"It is very interesting - I am finding bodies of humans, but have yet to see a dead animal. I have flown over the park and not seen any."

The animal reserve is home to 200 Asian elephants, crocodile, wild boar, water buffalo and grey langur monkeys. It also has Asia's highest concentration of leopards.

The Yala reserve covers an area of 391 square miles but only 56 square miles are open to tourists. Much of the reserve is parkland but it also contains jungle, beaches, freshwater lakes and rivers, as well as scrubland punctuated with enormous rocky outcrops. The range of habitats supports a wide variety of wildlife.

Mr Wijeyeratne put out an impassioned plea to foreign tourists not to shun Sri Lanka after Sunday's tragic events.

He said: "A big part of Sri Lanka's economy is built on ecotourism. We need tourism to survive. We need the tourists to come and see the elephants, the buffalo and the monkeys in their natural jungle habitat.

"We need those tourists to keep coming here and not desert Sri Lanka when it needs them the most. Only then will we be able to get back on track."