TOLEDO, Ohio – On April 8, a solar eclipse will put a large part of North America into darkness. It will be the last solar eclipse visible in the Contiguous United States until 2044.
It going to be strange to see darkness in the middle of the day, but for animals, it is going to cause a whole host of other reactions.
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“What we’ve seen in other studies during other eclipses is that many of the animals just go through whatever their regular evening routine is,” said Beth Posta, with the Toledo Zoo. “So, as the sun starts setting and they’re getting ready to roost, go underground or whatever is normal for that species. So, we would expect a good bit of that.”
Posta, the Curator of Behavioral Husbandry and Research at the Toledo Zoo, is one of the people who will be monitoring the animals to make sure they’re fine every second the eclipse is visible.
“There have been some animals during total eclipses that during totality show signs of fear and anxiety. So, we’re curious to see if we see some of those signs of confusion where animals don’t know what’s going on, but then they kinda work through it,” Posta said.
Some animals will even get a little more attention than others because of their habitat.
“The brown bears, the tigers, the cougars, as well as the polar bears, sea lions, bald eagles, and a couple of bird species,” Posta said. “The other animals may do nothing. I would expect animals that are inside under artificial light, we don’t expect to change. Some of the nocturnal animals probably won’t even notice.”
At the end of the day, you can expect the animals to be fine, as they’ve been since almost the beginning of time.
You can find more information on the Toledo Zoo’s eclipse event here.