Date:30/12/2004 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2004/12/30/stories/2004123001642200.htm

International

Saved by their sixth sense?

COLOMBO, DEC. 29. As Sri Lanka's human death roll surged, wildlife officials expressed surprise today that they found no evidence of large-scale deaths among animals from the tsunami.

"This is very interesting. I am finding bodies of humans, but I have yet to see a dead animal," said a spokesman for a company, Jetwing Eco Holidays, which runs a hotel in the Yala National Park.

The huge waves washed floodwaters inland into Yala, Sri Lanka's largest wildlife reserve, but the animals apparently were not harmed and may have sought out high ground, he said. "Maybe what we think is true, that animals have a sixth sense." The park is home to 200 elephants, leopards, wild boar and other rare animals.

— AP