Photo credit Alexander Joe / AFP/Getty Images
UTC’s own resident elephant psychology expert, assistant professor of psychology Dr. Preston Foerder, was recently quoted on NBC News regarding elephant sleep patterns.
The article details the study of of two matriarchal elephants in Botswana’s Chobe National Park, which showed that the animals sleep about two hours a day – less than any other mammals, and less than other elephants in captivity.
“Perhaps elephants in larger family groups sleep longer due to increased protection of having other elephants aware of their surroundings,” said Foerder. “It’s also possible that they take turns sleeping. Elephants are in a fission-fusion social group, meaning that groups tend to split up and come back together.”
You can read the full article here:
Up all night: Wild elephants sleep just two hours a day, new study finds.
A study of matriarchal elephants in Botswana revealed the lumbering creatures only slept for two hours a day — apparently the least of any mammals.
