A team of researchers at the University of Sassari, in Sardinia, used GPS collars equipped with motion sensors to track the activity of the Alpine ibex, a species of mountain goat, between the months of May and October from 2006 to 2019.
They found that on hotter days, the normally diurnal species was more likely to be active during the night.
The research, which compared the nocturnal activity of the ibex in two European national parks, found its nocturnal activity was higher in areas with more night-time predators, suggesting that the species’ need to escape excess heat outweighs their drive to avoid predators.