'China deploys animals to help predict earthquakes'

Chinese scientists have started using thousands of animals, including chickens and pigs to try to predict when an  earthquake may strike, according to a media report.

Seismologists in Nanjing, the capital of eastern Jiangsu province, have set up seven observation centres at zoos and animal parks in the region, the Modern Express website reported.

They will be watching for changes in behaviour among thousands of animals, which might be a sign of an imminent tremor. An ecological park in the city’s Yuhuatai district has become one of the seismic monitoring sites, with 2,000 chickens, 200 pigs and 2 sq km of fish ponds, the BBC quoted the report as saying.

Cameras have been installed around the park, and staff will report back to the seismological bureau on the animals’ behaviour twice a day.

“Animals sometimes become stressed before an earthquake,” says Zhao Bing, Nanjing Seismological Bureau’s chief of scientific monitoring.

But the occasional bit of oddness from one chicken does not necessarily spell trouble, so groups of animals are being observed, “so that their behaviour can be cross-checked”, he said.

A member of staff at Hongshan Forest Zoo, another monitoring site, says animals can be just as effective as specialist technology when trying to predict a quake.

“Birds can become ‘nervous’ - if their tails are wagging like a dog’s, you should pay attention,” Shen Zhijun said.