Hello, and thank you for your question.
Yes, it is normal for adult elephants in the wild to lie down on their
own - but only to sleep at night. They will sleep lying down for a
total of four hours per night, usually from 11 PM or midnight to about
3-4 AM. Resting during the hottest periods of the day is done standing
up. Only a sick elephant will lie down during the day, just as only a
sick elephant will sleep standing up at night. Some researchers have
observed that many elephants will rest standing up at night, only
lying down a couple of hours before dawn. These behaviors do not seem
to differ between the adult African elephant (Loxodonta africana) and
the adult Asian elephant (Elephas maximus).
Adult African elephants (EPVA.org)
http://www.epva.org/Donation/animal9.htm
Elephant InfoStatus2 (Friends of the Asian Elephant)
http://www.elephant.tnet.co.th/eng-version/infosta2.htm
The Thai Elephant -- Symbol of Nation (Chiangmai-Chiangrai.com)
http://welcome-to.chiangmai-chiangrai.com/elep-thai.htm
Samburu Elephant Monitoring
http://www.save-the-elephants.org/research_main.htm
This data refers to elephants in the wild, who are not in captivity or
in a working situation. Circus elephants are trained to go down into a
submissive position called "sleep" which causes the animal to lie
down, though I wouldn't consider this "on their own" as your question
states. Also, sleep deprivation and other brutal methods are used in
training elephants, further skewing the natural or normal amount of
time spent lying down. See resources below for captive elephant
behavior if you are interested in this aspect as well. Elephant sleep
behavior in modern zoos can closely mimic behavior in the wild, under
humane and animal-centric circumstances.
Additional Resources
Research on nocturnal behaviour of African Elelephants (Loxdonta
africana) at Vienna Zoo
http://www.zoovienna.at/e_elepschlaf.html
Circus Facts
http://www.idausa.org/facts/circusfacts.html
Search Strategy
elephant behavior "lie down"
elephant behavior (sleep OR rest)
elephant behavior sleep circus
Hope this is what you were looking for!
-- mother-ga |
Clarification of Answer by
mother-ga
on
18 May 2002 20:39 PDT
knowledge_seeker,
Thank you for your comment and the opportunity to further explore this
question.
As I clearly stated in my answer above, I was referring solely to
elephants NOT in captivity. A "US safari park" is captivity, no matter
how large.
Why does wild vs. captivity matter?
"In the wild, elephants walk long distances--sometimes 20 miles in a
day--in search of food. But elephants in the wild will also hang
around an area where there is a ready food supply. Elephants in
captivity always have a ready food supply, and many zoos with giant
elephant yards have been dismayed to find their behemoth charges
contentedly standing around the barn all day waiting for their next
bale of hay."
Behavioral Enrichment: Keeping Life Interesting (Los Angeles Zoo)
http://www.lazoo.org/elephants/b-e.html
Thus, captive elephants will lie down more often than their wild
cousins because there is nowhere to go. Programs which encourage
walking to exercise and stimulate the elephants serve to keep their
feet healthy and thus encourage more movement, which is natural
behavior for them. Elephants in the wild also enjoy mud bathing
several times a day as a social activity which keeps their skin
conditioned. If an elephant is bred in captivity, and used to being
forced to lie down to receive a bath from a caretaker, then the
behavior you mention would make sense - in captivity.
Elephants in Captivity
http://www.caps-uk.dircon.co.uk/elephants/eart1.htm
Search strategy:
elephant wild captivity "lie down" walk
elephant wild captivity "lie down" bathe
Cheers,
mother-ga
|
