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Behavioral Response of Satellite‐collared Elephants to the Tsunami in Southern Sri Lanka 1
Author(s) -
Wikramanayake Eric,
Fernando Prithiviraj,
Leimgruber Peter
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
biotropica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.813
H-Index - 96
eISSN - 1744-7429
pISSN - 0006-3606
DOI - 10.1111/j.1744-7429.2006.00199.x
Subject(s) - sri lanka , geography , indian ocean , south asia , socioeconomics , cartography , geology , oceanography , history , ancient history , sociology
After the Asian tsunami the media was inundated with reports of aberrant behavior among animals attributed to a “sixth sense” that allowed them to respond to the catastrophe ahead of the impact. We present behavior data from two satellite‐collared Asian elephants that ranged close to the tsunami impact area in Sri Lanka. These data indicate that neither elephant behaved in a manner consistent with a “sixth sense” that allowed an early detection of the approaching tsunami.