Animals in a northeast China zoo are being recruited to help monitor for possible earthquakes because of their innate ability to detect major seismological changes, state media said Saturday.

Animals at the Anshan Zoo, located in Anshan City, Liaoning Province, were brought into the city's seismological macro-observation network this week, the Xinhua news agency said.

"About one week before an earthquake happens, animals' behaviors would become obviously abnormal," said Xu Jing, deputy chief engineer of the city's seismological bureau.

And the more abnormal the animals act, the stronger the earthquake would probably be, he said.

Zookeepers have been told to report to the seismological bureau whenever they find the animals acting strangely.

It is believed that more than 100 kinds of animals can "predict" earthquakes, including horses, donkeys, pigs, cattle, dogs, cats, chickens, ducks, geese, rats, snakes and fish. Some are restless, some are dazed and some change their habits.

China experiences a large number of earthquakes, Xinhua said, with Liaoning Province reporting three earthquakes measuring above 5.0 on the Richter scale since 1970.

The most tragic earthquake to occur in China struck Tangshan City in Hebei Province, near Beijing, on July 28, 1976. Measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale, it killed some 242,000 people, according to official figures.



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Name: Giant Panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca)
Primary Classification: Ursidae (Bears)
Location: The Sichuan, Gansu and Shanxi provinces in central China.
Habitat: Temperate bamboo forests.
Diet: Bamboo, almost exclusively.
Size: Up to 6 ft in length and 250 lbs in weight.
Description: Black fur on ears, eye patches, muzzle, legs and shoulders; white fur everywhere else; thick, woolly coat; broad, round face and flat nose; large molars; round, protruding ears; round body with short, sturdy limbs.
Cool Facts: Mothers will eat their cubs' stools to eliminate any evidence of their presence, thereby avoiding potential predators. They need to eat more than 22 lbs of bamboo per day to satisfy their daily requirement of nutrients.
Conservation Status: Endangered
Major Threat: Habitat loss and poaching.
What Can I Do?: Visit the World Wildlife Fund and The Hong Kong Society for Panda Conservation for information on how you can help.

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Animals all over the world do this, but if people actually took the time to take notice then they would be so surprise when something did happened

Well why not!?!? I f they think this will help them to predict earthquakes, I think they should do it! It may really work and being able to predict earthquakes a week before they hit could save lives and homes. Although I`m not sure just how accurate this form of prediction would be!!! I ts very differnet and interesting though!!!