Pandas: Unshakeable

Many animals at DC’s National Zoo were upset by the recent earthquake. Even before the quake struck, red ruffed lemurs were alarm-barking, Iris the orangutan yelled, and the flamingos huddled together in a big pink ball.

The Giant Pandas were neither stirred nor shaken. They just sat there, chewing bamboo. Those critters are tough. They’re from China. They were probably thinking: “Pah. You call that an earthquake?”

After the quake, the most active zoo creature was the National Zoo publicist. The media heard the zoo press release as loud and clear as the “belch vocalizing” of Iris the orangutan:

“National Zoo Animals Warned Early of Quake,” Melanie Elanie, myFOXdc

“Animals Sensed Quake Early,” Christopher Shea, Wall Street Journal blog

“Washington, D.C., zoo animals go wild ahead of quake,” Tim Persinko, NBC Washington

“‘Hearing Something We Can’t Hear’: How Animals Foretold The Earthquake,” Liz Halloran, NPR blog

“Animals at National Zoo in DC clustered together, let out cry before East Coast quake,” AP via Washington Post

“Zoo Animals Sensed DC Quake Minutes Before It Hit,” Jeanna Bryner, LiveScience

“If We Could Talk to the Animals, Earthquake Edition,” Ben Greenman, New Yorker blog

“Zoo mystery: How did apes and birds know quake was coming?” Joel Achenbach, Washington Post

Short link: http://wp.me/p6sb6-aWt

Image by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

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Tags: animal behavior, animals, earthquake, earthquake prediction, earthquakes, media, National Zoo, temblors, Washington DC, wild animals, zoos