• Question: how many times can elephants sleep a day ?

    Asked by bossno1 to Alexis, Dr D, Helen, Jasmine, Mario on 24 Jun 2013.
    • Photo: Andrew Devitt

      Andrew Devitt answered on 24 Jun 2013:

      You know what I love about this I’m a scientist chat? I get asked things I never knew about so I go and look up some information and I learn something from you. That’s the way science and education should work. We teach each other!

      Great question. And the answer…. I haven’t a clue! Elephants are pretty active at night (to avoid heat) but I’ve just read that they can sleep lying down and can sleep for a few hours a night. Some apparently have favourite sleeping spots ( they can tell this by putting a GPS tracker on them).

      Great question

    • Photo: Alexis Barr

      Alexis Barr answered on 24 Jun 2013:

      I also had to look this up! Apparently elephants only sleep for 3-4 hours at a time because they have to be on the look out for predators. And not all the herd will sleep at the same time – some act as security guards for the rest of the herd. Also, apparently they sleep just before dawn and again in the hottest part of the day.

    • Photo: Jasmine Penny

      Jasmine Penny answered on 24 Jun 2013:

      Great question and until you asked I had never really thought about it! Elephants sleep for about 4 hours a night. Some of this time (up to two hours) can be standing up! However, when an elephant needs to have a deep sleep it does so lying down. Apparently elephants can snore and some move their legs whilst sleeping just like dogs do when they are dreaming! Just like small children need a nap, some baby elephants need longer than 4 hours. They have a nap lying down and the mother stands guard. If the baby elephant is still asleep and the mother thinks they have had enough sleep, she will wake her baby up.

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