New Scientist notes that there have been rumors that these pandas behaved strangely in the moments leading up to the quake. Reportedly, all 86 adult pandas got up from a mellow, bamboo-munching session and started parading around the facility. There are also unconfirmed reports that wild pandas moved to higher ground in the time leading up to the shaking. This is the same sort of speculation that popped up after the 2004 tsunami – there were reports of elephants and other animals racing to higher elevations. Some scientists think that large animals might be able to sense seismic activity, but the question of whether they’ve got a sixth sense for disaster is far from resolved.
