Welcome to the Science Show. I’m your host, Dominic Weaver.

It’s a full moon tonight, so it’s a good time

to talk about the moon, earth’s closest neighbor. We know that the moon has a powerful influence on
the earth.

By pulling on the oceans, the moon causes the tides, which are the rising and falling levels of the water
in the oceans every day. The relationship between the moon and the tides was discovered more than
300 years ago by an English scientist named Isaac Newton.

However, today we’re going to talk about a different question. Do the cycles of the moon have an effect
on the behavior of animals? According to several studies, the answer is “yes”. In one study, for example,
scientists found proof that some ocean animals are more active on nights when the moon is shining. This
happens even if the animals are inside a laboratory, where the light and temperature never change.

Then, in 2003, scientists in Sweden discovered that some insects also respond to the light of the moon.
The insects walk in a straighter line towards food on nights when the moon is out. Recently, a scientist
named Craig Packer made an amazing discovery about the relationship between the full moon and the
behavior of lions. Dr. Packer is a biologist at the University of Minnesota. Between 1988 and 2009, lions
attacked more than 1000 people in Tanzania, in Africa. Most of these attacks happened in the evening,
for 10 days after the full moon. Dr. Packer wanted to find out why. Let’s see what he discovered.

Normally, lions hunt at night, in the dark. In the days before the full moon, the moon rises before the sun
sets. This means there is more light in the evening, so it’s more difficult for the lions to hunt, and they
become very hungry. On the night of the full moon, again the moon rises early, and there is light all night
long. This makes it the most difficult night of the month for hunting, and the lions become even more
hungry. But after the full moon, the moon rises after the sun sets.

As a result, there are several hours of darkness in the early evening, when people are still awake and
active outdoors. These dark hours are a perfect time for hungry lions to hunt. And this, according to Dr.
Packer, is why lions attack humans more on the days after the full moon.

These three studies show a powerful relationship between the cycles of the moon and the behavior of
animals. Perhaps in the future, studies will show a similar connection between these cycles and the
activities of humans.