Greenville Zoo offers rare chance to study animal behavior during an eclipse

The solar eclipse is rapidly approaching.

In less than three weeks we'll be eyes to the sky (with protective glasses, of course) to watch the phenomenon. This is the first time in nearly a century that a total solar eclipse has crossed over the entire continental United States, and Greenville is right in its path. 

While we're keeping an eye on what's happening above, there'll also be plenty of action on the ground. No one knows this better than the folks at The Greenville Zoo, where Director Jeff Bullock expects animals to enter their typical nighttime routines during totality.

“I would expect most of the animals, like the birds go to roost," said Bullock, "cats would probably start settling in and wonder why they aren’t getting fed, because they’re used to getting fed in the evening.”

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A total solar eclipse approaches like dusk as the moon moves in front of the sun. In the afternoon on Aug. 21, the sky will become gradually darker until reaching totality around 2:38 p.m.

The Greenville Zoo is home to about 275 animals in dozens of exhibits, Bullock said. Most of them are diurnal, meaning they stay awake during the day and sleep at night.

"It kind of just throws everybody off," said Bullock. "Animals that are on a diurnal structure will go to bed (during the eclipse). Animals that are used to being up at night will get more active.”

The zoo is located inside one of Greenville's biggest parks, so eclipse day may offer glimpses of nocturnal animals that live nearby.

"We get a lot of owls, bats, rats and possums," said Bullock. "We may see some of those that we don’t usually see when the sun is out.”

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The darkness will remain for about two and a half minutes before the sun comes back out.

“The interesting thing, I think will be once the sun comes back out to see what happens," said Bullock. "It will be like nighttime and then all of a sudden, it’s a short night.”

Greenville Zoo officials hope the community will turn out to witness the rare event.

The zoo is offering free eclipse glasses to the first 1,000 guests on that day. The zoo is also inviting animal behavior majors from Upstate universities such as Bob Jones, Furman and Clemson, as well as citizen scientists. The idea, Bullock said, is to get as many people as possible to help observe the reactions of as many animals as possible, in order to better understand their behaviors. 

The Greenville Zoo admits guests from 9 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. every day during the summer. Adult tickets cost $9.75, children are $6.50 and children 2 and younger are free. Find out more at GreenvilleZoo.com

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