MUMBAI: Did the animals know that the tsunami was coming? How do animals react when a natural disaster strikes? For answers to these questions, an Animal Planet team investigated animal behaviour before, during and after the tsunami disaster.

The channel will present the findings in its premiere programme Tsunami: Animal Instincts. The one-hour programme will premiere on Animal Planet on 27 June at 11 pm.

Featuring videos and stories, interviews with scientists and conservationists, eyewitness accounts, original footage from the tsunami-struck countries and archival footage from the channel, Tsunami: Animal Instincts tells the story of how different animal species sounded the alarm much before the killer waves struck.

The programme features astonishing survival stories, like the divers in Thailand who were guided to safety by dolphins. Tsunami: Animal Instincts also highlights the manner in which people and animals worked together during the tsunami tragedy to help one another.

Discovery Networks India brand director Raja Balasubramanian, "It turns out that technology may not be a match for animal instinct. Animal instincts and senses proved
to be far more effective than any man-made warning system.

"Humans also have an intuitive side, but we often cloud it by our intellect. We tend to rationalise things, while an animal senses something and simply reacts to it."

"Examining the animal behaviour, the programme uncovers how birds, elephants, reptiles and other animals can detect an impending natural catastrophe. It also provides a deeper understanding and appreciation of animal instinct, teaching us what we can learn from them to safeguard our future," he added.

Tsunami Animal Instincts is narrated by Animal Planet's Lyndal Davies.