Elephants are the largest land mammals, but they still manage to lie down to sleep. Elephant species include the African bush elephant (Loxodonta africana) and Asiatic elephant (Elephas maximus), both of which sleep on their sides for long periods or cat nap while standing, leaning against a tree for support. Captive elephants may have different sleep patterns from elephants living in the wild. Here in this post, we will learn more about these mammals and find out how do elephants sleep, how many hours of sleep do elephants need. Amazing facts for kids.
How do elephants sleep?
While elephants are herd animals, they will often choose different preferred spots for sleeping. Elephants not only sleep lying down, but there are instances where elephants can be heard snoring or kicking their feet as if dreaming. The incorrect assumption that elephants only sleep standing up is often formed when the casual observer spots an elephant taking a nap while standing.
Elephants take short naps standing up, but lie down when sleeping for more than a couple of hours. The average elephant sleeps for approximately four hours at a time, and spends at least half of that time lying down on its side. If you want to get other information about elephants such as elephant habitat, food and diet, check out for elephant facts.
How many hours of sleep do elephants need?
That is one of the reasons why elephants do not sleep much, and then only with interruptions, and why the whole group basically never sleeps at the same time. Thus elephants only sleep for around 4 hours per night, and that not at a stretch either.
uman Impact
Living in close proximity to humans causes elephants to change their sleeping habits. Elephants are naturally diurnal animals, which means they sleep at night and are awake during the day, but wild African elephants can become nocturnal when living near villages and farmland. This may be because human activity is reduced during the night.
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