Ah, wonderful and relaxing sleep – all animals need it. After a long day (or night), sleep is the best way to rejuvenate. Some species are diurnal, while others are nocturnal or evening active. Some animals, such as cats and sloths, sleep 20 hours a day, while others, such as giraffes, sleep only three to four hours a night. But what about the sleeping habits of elephants?
When and how long do elephants sleep and why? Can they sleep standing up? Do they dream when they doze off? Join me on an in-depth look at elephant sleep patterns and behavior. We’ll explore all the questions you may have about how these gentle giants sleep!
Are elephants diurnal or nocturnal?
Large are loosely diurnal, meaning they are usually awake during the day and mostly sleep at night. However, their sleep schedules vary by species. This contrast is largely due to the fact that the habitats of African and Asian elephants are on very different continents.
As a result, the sleeping habits of African and Asian elephants have evolved in uniquely different ways. These species need to be aware of different predators, need to adapt to different environmental factors, and because their habitats vary widely, their diets also vary widely.
African elephants, for example, sleep almost exclusively diurnal, but their sleep is spread over many hours. They spend about 12 to 14 hours a day foraging on the African savannah. At the same time, they usually take power naps of around 5 to 30 minutes while standing to conserve energy. They sleep late between 1:00 am and 6:00 am.
Asians, on the other hand, prefer dusk in nature. This means they are awake and most active at dawn and dusk, or early morning when the sun rises and evening when the sun sets. Their sleep is similarly spread over several short naps, as long as they can get up (again, usually about 5 to 30 minutes).
How much sleep do elephants sleep per night?
Elephants are among the lightest sleepers in the animal kingdom! On average, African and Asian elephants only sleep about 2 to 3 hours a day in the wild, while captive elephants sleep more, about 3 to 7 hours a day.
As we mentioned before, elephant sleep is spread over many short periods of time. These meetings can range from as few as a few minutes to as long as an hour at a time. Usually, though, their naps are only five to 30 minutes long.
Why these animals have such unusual sleep schedules remains a bit of a mystery to ethologists, but they do have a common hypothesis that partially explains it.
Basically, since elephants have to eat a lot of vegetation to survive, they simply can’t rest much during this time. In fact, studies have found that elephants sometimes even eat in their sleep!
Does it look like it sleeps standing up?
Generally speaking, wild African elephants and Asian elephants like to sleep standing up. Captive elephants, however, sometimes choose to lie down and sleep.
Since elephants typically only sleep for around 5 to 30 minutes at a time and are always on the move, they tend to stand up for dozing convenience. Staying upright also makes them less vulnerable to predators. After all, they can get away much quicker if they’re already on their feet.
In addition, elephants in captivity do not have to worry about predators or food shortages. This makes their sleep schedule and behavior much more relaxed than their cousins in the wild. Thus, captive individuals can tolerate more vulnerability in exchange for more comfortable and restful sleep.
Do elephants dream?
Most animal species have vivid dreams while sleeping, from cats and dogs to birds and even rodents. Sadly, elephants don’t usually have enough time to dream. This is largely due to their eccentric schedules and the fact that they are always foraging and running around.
Dreams can technically occur any time an animal sleeps, but they most often occur during REM (rapid eye movement) sleep. This is when the brain is most active.
Notably, REM sleep did not begin until the animals had slept for at least 90 minutes. Because elephants typically only sleep for short periods of time, they don’t have enough time to enter REM sleep before they wake up and start moving again.
Of course, there are occasional exceptions, as elephant sleeping habits vary wildly from day to day. Captive elephants sleep more and therefore dream more often, while wild elephants dream less.
I am broadly interested in how human activities influence the ability of wildlife to persist in the modified environments that we create.
Specifically, my research investigates how the configuration and composition of landscapes influence the movement and population dynamics of forest birds. Both natural and human-derived fragmenting of habitat can influence where birds settle, how they access the resources they need to survive and reproduce, and these factors in turn affect population demographics. Most recently, I have been studying the ability of individuals to move through and utilize forested areas which have been modified through timber harvest as they seek out resources for the breeding and postfledging phases. As well I am working in collaboration with Parks Canada scientists to examine in the influence of high density moose populations on forest bird communities in Gros Morne National Park. Many of my projects are conducted in collaboration or consultation with representatives of industry and government agencies, seeking to improve the management and sustainability of natural resource extraction.
