COLOMBO, 11 January 2005 — Tsunami waves that swept the Yala National Park killing more than 200 people could not reach a single animal.
“We have found 70 bodies of visitors to the park, including 15 Japanese tourists, but could not spot a single carcass of the 50,000 animals in the sanctuary. All the animals have survived the disaster,” Director General of the Department of Wildlife Dayananda Kariyawasam told Arab News.
A quarter of the 200,000-acre national park on the southern coast of the island was opened to the public on the day the tsunami struck. “There were two Rest Houses and one hotel inside the park which accommodated some 300 local and foreign guests. The Yala Safari Hotel and the Patanagalle Rest House were completely destroyed by the waves but the Mahaceelewa Rest House was unaffected because sand dunes stopped the waves,” Kariyawasam said.
Yala, a popular attraction for nature lovers, is home to more than 15,000 deer, 300 elephants, 50 leopards, birds, reptiles and other animals. Kariyawasam said five rangers were found dead and several visitors were reported missing. The authorities have found 10 safari vehicles that were severely damaged by the waves.
Kariyawasam said the acoustic senses of the animals in the park probably drove them away from the sea shore. He said he could not find even a dead rabbit in the woods after the tsunami.
He said these animals and birds have a keener sense of hearing. “When it comes to vibrations, seismic shocks or sound waves, animals are much better equipped to deal with the situation than humans,” he said.
Kariyawasam pointed out that elephants use infrasound communication through which they pick up sounds at great distances. Infrasound is the term for low-frequency noise, usually below 20 Hertz that is below the human threshold of hearing.
On areas unaffected by the washout, Kariyawasam said: “We should not destroy resources, especially sand dunes and mangroves that provide natural protection against calamities of this kind. If it were not for those sand dunes, the tidal waves would have devastated a major portion of the park.”
Asanka Gurusinghe, a member of Sri Lanka’s World Cup cricket team in 1996, was spared the tragedy as he found the Yala Safari Hotel fully booked for Dec. 26.
