TSUNAMI RELIEF

With more than 120,000 people losing their lives in South Asia and East Africa in the aftermath of the earthquake and resulting tsunamis on December 26, the world is beginning the largest humanitatian aid programs ever undertaken. It is estimated that a third of all victims were childen, so I would direct you to UNICEF where you can make your contribution. They recently reported that they had more on-line contributions in 24 hours than they had in the whole of last year.

I've also added a donation box to the right where 100% of donations made will go to the American Red Cross disaster relief efforts

Like everyone following this horrific daily news, I'm finding events in the area difficult to comprehend. One point was raised on NBC Nightly News last night, that there were very few reports coming in about dead animals being found. There are many articles out there covering this angle. eg IOL Environmental section

Wild animals seem to have escaped the Indian Ocean tsunami, adding weight to notions they possess a "sixth sense" for disasters, experts said on Thursday.

Sri Lankan wildlife officials have said the giant waves that killed over 24 000 [sic] people along the Indian Ocean island's coast seemingly missed wild beasts, with no dead animals found.

"No elephants are dead, not even a dead hare or rabbit. I think animals can sense disaster. They have a sixth sense. They know when things are happening," HD Ratnayake, deputy director of Sri Lanka's Wildlife Department, said on Wednesday.

I wonder at what point in human's evolution did we lose this sense that most other animals seem to have retained? Incidentally, both Mauritius and Madagascar were hit by the tsunamis, but one would suspect that the Rodrigues Fruitbat, Mauritius Kestrel, Pink Pigeon and Aye-Aye Lemurs will all be OK. From what I understand, Komodo Island was geographically protected and not affected by the waves, so the Komodo Dragons were safe.

Here's the BBC report about this "sixth sense".