A team of researcher have begun to investigate dogs, goat and other farm animals can predict natural disasters such as volcanic ones outbreak and earthquakes.

They have enrolled thousands of animals in a program that uses small transmitters that are adapted to mammalbirds and insects to monitor their movements from a satellite in space.

In addition to analyzing their response to impending disasters, it will also study the spread of disease among races, the effects of climate change and migration patterns.

A previous study in Sicily on the slopes of Mount Etna found that sensors showed goats became nervous before an eruption and refused to move to higher pastures.

“They know in advance what’s coming. We don’t know how they do it, but they do it,” says project leader Martin Wikelski of the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior in Germany. The Guardian.

“Ultimately, we hope to launch a fleet of about six satellites and establish a global observation network that will not only provide details of wildlife movements and animal health across the planet, but reveal how creatures respond to natural phenomena such as earthquakes,” he said.

It’s still unclear why animals behave this way, and Wikelski suggests that the movement of tectonic plates throwing “ions off the rocks into the air” may be causing their reaction.

Tagging technology has made it easier for researchers to monitor animal behavior, with small digital transmitters collecting data that can be analyzed.

For example, an electronic ear tag placed on a wild boar has helped show the rapid spread of the highly contagious African swine fever between them and domestic pigs.

It should also help researchers on migration, and why creatures such as peregrine falcons travel 2,000 miles between Europe and Africa each year.

“Similarly, we will be able to study animal populations to determine how they respond to habitat changes triggered by global warming,” Wikelski said.

The International Cooperation for Animal Research Using Space (Icarus) had been scheduled for launch several years ago but had to halt cooperation with its Russian counterparts on the International Space Station due to the invasion of Ukraine.

The team has now built a new small satellite to be launched next year to begin work on the project.