RACINE, Wis. — While many are looking forward to viewing the solar eclipse on Monday, zookeepers at the Racine Zoo won’t be looking up at the sky. Instead, they’ll be watching the animals. 

What You Need To Know

  • The Racine Zoo will monitor the animals behavior during the solar eclipse

  • Dan Powell, curator of animal care and conservation, said the eclipse could impact their schedule

  • He said they'll monitor the big cats, different species of birds, the giraffes and zebras 

Dan Powell is the curator of animal care and conservation. He said during the eclipse, zookeepers will be monitoring the big cats, different species of birds, the giraffes and zebras to see how they react. 

“This is usually perceived as a change in schedule,” said Powell. “They don’t have wrist watches and clocks to be able to tell what happens next. They use the sun going down to determine what should happen and what they should be doing as part of their day.”

He said the eclipse won’t have just an immediate effect on the animals for one day. It could impact their behaviors over the next several days. 

“If there was a bird that was a potential prey species of other animals, we would expect them to seek some kind of cover,” said Powell. “Some of the carnivores that are active as the sun goes down might show an increase in activity. If we saw any anxiety issues, I would expect those to be more prevalent in the following day and start to taper off in the next day or so.”

Executive Director of the Racine Zoo Beth Heidorn encouraged zoo visitors to look for unusual behaviors from the animals as well. 

“It’s supposed to be beautiful temperatures so a lot of the animals will be out,” said Heidorn. “We would love to have people come out and help us if they see something different. If they can let the animal care staff know, we’d greatly appreciate that.” 

Both said they’re interested in seeing how the animals react to the eclipse. 

“I’m really excited to be able to potentially get more information and a better understanding on what drives the animals and how they make their decisions and how they will respond,” said Powell. “We’ve got these guys able to make decisions and they’re used to crowds coming by and people coming through. I think they will take the change in stride.” 

In Wisconsin, parts of the state will experience between 80% and 90% coverage during the eclipse outside the path of totality. 

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