Granby Zoo studied animal behavior during a total solar eclipse

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Granby Zoo took advantage of last Monday's total solar eclipse to study the behavior of some of its animals.

The zoo's research and conservation department was approached by a professor of astrophysics at the University of Quebec-a-Montreal to participate in a study of animal behavior and collect data on their reactions during the rare event.

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The park is located in the Estrie region, which offers one of the most beautiful views of the total solar eclipse in southern Quebec. Although humans are interested in this event, few studies have been conducted on the reaction of animals to it.

Chelsea Puckett, Granby Zoo's conservation coordinator, said the park had the opportunity to intervene. A study will be published to present the results.

“Our conclusion is that light has an effect on animals, and whatever data we find, the conclusions we can draw from zoo species can be extrapolated to wild species,” Paquette said. “This is a rare event, so it is very special to collect data during such a rare event to better understand how sunlight affects animals.”

Observers recorded the animals' activities on two days of the week before the eclipse between 2:00 PM and 5:00 PM, then during the event itself and for two days the following week.

The reactions they witnessed varied.

For example, Japanese macaques, monkeys native to Japan, had the opposite reaction to what the researchers expected.

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“We expected them to get nervous and want to group up and go to their roost,” Paquette said. “But during the eclipse, they seemed to stop vocalizing, they stopped all movement, and they turned their backs to the sun and were just zen and quiet.”

Red-crowned cranes are usually very noisy, but they quieted down when the eclipse was total, Packet noted.

The male red panda spent most of the afternoon roaming his enclosure, but as soon as the eclipse came, he climbed a tree and went to sleep with the entire female, which Puckett said was unusual.

The pack was assigned to Himalayan black bears.

“We thought they might move to their nocturnal habitat when the sun is completely covered, which is what it looks like at night,” he said. “But the bears continued to sleep in the afternoon and didn't seem too affected by the eclipse.”

Tahrs, ungulates belonging to goats and sheep, usually rest quietly in the afternoon, when half of the zoo's animals have gone to bed.

“But during the eclipse, 100 percent of these animals were up and walking, so it was a drastic change for them,” the conservationist said.

The zoo tried to collect data on a wide range of species, some of which are normally active during the day while others tend to be nocturnal.

One observation was that prey species responded more strongly to the eclipse than prey species, Paquette said.

“It's interesting that we were able to do it.”

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