Now Reading: Total solar eclipse changed behaviour of 13 animal species
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Total solar eclipse changed behaviour of 13 animal species
During the 2017 total solar eclipse, researchers at Riverbanks Zoo in South Carolina observed 17 species and found that 13 displayed behavioural changes. Published in the National Library of Medicine, the study…
The Story in Brief
During the 2017 total solar eclipse, researchers at Riverbanks Zoo in South Carolina observed 17 species and found that 13 displayed behavioural changes. Published in the National Library of Medicine, the study compared animal activity during the eclipse with baseline observations from the same afternoon hours on previous days.
Gorillas, elephants, and a Komodo dragon moved toward their night-time shelters. Galápagos tortoises began mating, and giraffes ran together. A nocturnal tawny frogmouth became active during totality, while four species including grizzly bears showed no clear reaction. The researchers concluded that the sudden drop in light, not a universal 'eclipse response', triggered varied behaviours.
The Indian Opinion
This story will likely be spun into two lazy narratives: that animals have a mystical 'eclipse sense', or that the study is trivial. Neither holds. The science is simple and credible: animals follow light cues, and an eclipse is just a faster sunset. The real test is whether future eclipses produce the same patterns, and whether zoos use such data to improve enclosure design. Why isn't that question being asked?
Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com
This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above.
