During the solar eclipse, strange animal habits were seen at the Fort Worth Zoo in Texas. Certain species, including flamingos, macaws, lions, giraffes, and gorillas, whom the researchers monitored, showed alertness and curiosity during the celestial event. Researchers had earlier discovered odd animal behaviours in 2017 in a South Carolina zoo located in a region of total darkness.
According to the Fort Worth Report (FWR), in response to the eclipse, tortoises hurried towards their barn to resume their nightly ritual. The giraffes gathered close to the opening of their enclosure. Elmo, the silverback gorilla, yawned more often than usual, which is usually a sign of hostility and dominance in monkeys, according to Adam Hartstone-Rose, a professor at North Carolina State University who was in charge of animal behaviour research during the eclipse.
During the 2017 total solar eclipse, giraffes at other facilities formed a herd and began to gallop, which was one of the oddest animal occurrences observed. This year the giraffes at the Fort Worth Zoo huddled together and attempted to go into their nightly enclosures, but they did not gallop.
On the other hand, nocturnal animals, such as a ringtail and multiple species of owls, were seen waking for daybreak. Following several months of preparation, Hartstone-Rose assembled a large group of researchers and high school students in Fort Worth to repeat his 2017 study on animal reactions to eclipses. This time, his team also gathered data sheets from Americans who submitted their observations via the Solar Eclipse Safari website, as well as from zoo visitors around the nation.
An observer told FWR, “I was honestly wanting to see what the lions were doing, but we were at the wrong place at the wrong time. We saw the flamingos, and they looked back and forth weirdly for a couple of minutes and then, when it was complete, they all huddled up.”
The zoo was packed for Hartstone-Rose’s earlier research, and the eclipse caused the audience to scream and holler loudly. In 2017, that conduct seemed to affect certain animals. In South Carolina, giraffes started to run, displaying signs of anxiety as though they had been frightened in the wild.
According to Hartstone-Rose, crowds in Fort Worth were “more polite” and far easier to control. While lions and primates seemed to be aware that something strange was occurring, unlike in 2017, their increased awareness did not result in stress or anxiety reactions.
Simultaneously, reports of peculiar behaviours were received from the Indianapolis Zoo and the Dallas Zoo. Chimpanzees at Dallas Zoo patrolled the perimeter of their enclosure, zoo officials told CBS News. Additionally, an ostrich laid one egg. Other birds started to get silent before totality, and flamingos and penguins gathered together.
Birds also exhibited strange behaviour, an Indianapolis Zoo spokesperson informed the media. Birds such as macaws and budgies exhibited their nighttime habits by becoming silent and raising their wings in the air.
The flamingos at the zoo huddled together and also fell silent. A cheetah and a warthog were two of the animals that displayed evidence of nighttime behaviour. The cheetahs were pacing at the highest point in their grassy yard, while a warthog was waiting at the back gate during the eclipse.
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