Photo: Chaiel Schaffel/WBZ NewsRadio
BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — While millions of humans had their eyes to the sky during the total solar eclipse on Monday, John Linehan was more focused on other species.
Linehan is Zoo New England's president and CEO. During the last total solar eclipse to pass over the United States in 2017, he neglected to check how the animals at Franklin Park Zoo reacted.
"We didn’t ask people to go out and actively observe," Linehan told WBZ NewsRadio Monday.
This time around, zoo workers kept a close eye on the animals to see what they did.
"For many of them, they are what we call corpuscular, so they tend to become more active during sunrise and sunset," Linehan said. "This aviary that we’re in, for example, is all Asian species. Many of them work with sunlight in terms of all the timing of everything they do."
1 of 2 Photo: Chaiel Schaffel/WBZ NewsRadio
2 of 2 Photo: Chaiel Schaffel/WBZ NewsRadio
Other nocturnal animals, like the red panda, might find it hard catching some sleep later, according to Linehan.
"Maybe [they] wake up from their nap and look around and say, 'Ooh, is it the end of the day? Time for me to get busy,'" said Linehan.
The zoo plans to release their findings Monday evening.
WBZ’s Chaiel Schaffel (@CSchaffelWBZ) reports.
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