The weathermen of the veld

Forget hearing a pin drop, how about listening to a thunderstorm breaking 240km away? A new study suggests that elephants' uncanny ability to predict weather has to do with their ability to hear distant sounds at a very low frequency.

Scientists from the Texas A&M University, who used satellite to track herds in Namibia over seven years, found that before the onset of the rainy season elephants would change direction and speed. They also appeared to sense where a storm was happening and would move towards it.

Local elephant expert Jozua Viljoen thinks the researchers' conclusion that the elephants hear distant rain is a stretch. "They might be able to hear something happening at 10km, but I doubt this," he said.

He believes elephants' ability to find water has to do with memory and smell.