The animals showed only mild changes in behavior at the Memphis Zoo during the eclipse, on August 21st 2017---except for the alligators, which became very active. The cicadas were heard singing their evening song at the time of the eclipse, some of the animals acted a bit sleepy or like they were ready to go inside.

At 1:22 p.m., the moon was covering 94 percent of the sun.

Winnie the Hippo was said to have gotten out and played in the sand, during what normally would have been her nap time.

I have created a photo gallery and short video of what I observed while there.

The zoo provided a great backdrop as people waited for the eclipse to unfold. A fourth baby reticulated giraffe has been born at the Zoo; three giraffes have been born there in the last four months. The three that have been born since spring were all out on exhibit, Panya, ‘Bogey’ and Wakati. Angela Kate, Panya’s mother, was the first giraffe calf born at the Memphis Zoo for a decade when she was born in 2006. Wakati slept a great deal today, Panya stuck close to her mother and Bogey just played around. At the time of the eclipse, the giraffes started to head back into the barn.

In the past 15 years, the population of wild giraffes has decreased from 140,000 to 80,000.

Short Video Below