--- title: "Animals Reacted Strangely During the Eclipse" description: "The solar eclipse triggered a number of strange behaviors among animals, who were seemingly confused by the Sun setting far earlier." date: "2024-04-09" modified: "2024-04-09" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/animals-reacted-strangely-during-eclipse" categories: - "Science & Energy" tags: - "animals" - "solar eclipse" - "the digest" --- # Animals Reacted Strangely During the Eclipse ![The solar eclipse triggered a number of strange behaviors among animals, who were seemingly confused by the Sun setting far earlier.]() *\Image: Getty Images\* ## Sleeptime Gorilla Museum Millions of people gathered outside to watch the Sun be completely blotted out by the Moon on Monday, casting a massive shadow over much of North America. The rare cosmological event also triggered a number of strange behaviors among animals, which were seemingly confused by the Sun setting far earlier than expected. "Our gorilla troop got up and walked to the door like it was time to go in for the night," John Griffioen, who led a team of 40 people at Fort Worth Zoo in Texas, [told *Sky News*](). "Two of our flocks of flamingos got much closer together," he added. "They started vocalizing a lot more, and one of them even started marching, which is a group bonding behavior." In the wild, animals also reacted to the strange celestial event in unusual ways. "Hard to put into words how incredible this was," Indiana University associate professor of biology Kim Rosvall [tweeted](), replying to her colleague, who recalled hearing "hootin’ and howlin'" during the eclipse. "The coyotes and the barred owl really took the cake." ## Casting Shade Scientists have long tried to study how the circadian rhythms of animals are disrupted by a brief moment of night in the middle of the day. Light is "such a huge cue that affects everything from plants to animals," Cecilia Nilsson, a behavioural ecologist at Lund University in Sweden, [told the *BBC*](). "As biologists we can't turn off the Sun but every now and then, nature turns it off for us." In 2017, a South Carolina zoo [witnessed]() giraffes huddling together and tortoises mating during the strange darkness. Scientists also observed bumblebees that abruptly [stopped buzzing]() in other parts of the country. But thanks to the fleeting nature of total solar eclipses, it's extremely difficult for scientists to come up with trends or quantifiable behavioral data. To get closer to an answer, NASA is reaching out to the public and is inviting them to [participate in the Eclipse Soundscapes Project](), which is designed to learn how life on Earth is affected by solar eclipses. **More on the eclipse:** *[The Solar Eclipse Looks Absolutely Wild From Space]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()