POWELL, Ohio — Thousands of people flocked to the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium to watch the solar eclipse, but eyes were not only on the sky.
The Columbus Zoo collaborated with the Ohio State University for a first-ever study to see how zoo animals would respond during the dusk-like conditions in the afternoon.
From the initial observations, it turned out, the animals with the biggest reactions to the eclipse were the ostriches and the elephants.
“So the ostrich observations, what they saw was they went into the barn like it was nighttime, like it was time to go to bed. So they kind of walked into the barn, started grooming and preening each other. And then when the sun came back out, they came back out of the barn, so something we expected from the ostrich, that they would think they would be ready for bed time,” said Adam Felts, director of animal wellbeing at the zoo.
Researchers had been excited to see how the ostrich would react, but the elephants reaction was less expected.
Felts said a group of the elephants gathered together, began thumping their trunks on the ground, and one elephant who is usually quiet, made chirping sounds during the moment of totality.
Zoo staff and researchers from Ohio State will be compiling their data over the next few weeks, and hope to publish their findings.
The zoo reported at least 7,000 people attended to watch the solar eclipse.
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