The scientists from the University of South Africa found that elephants did not sleep more than two hours a day. In zoos, these animals rest for much longer – up to six hours.

The experts from Botswana planted special chips under the skin of African elephants to track their movement. It turns out that elephant cows are the leaders in the family of these huge animals. They were given special collars to determine the elephant posture during sleep.

The experiment had been lasting for five weeks. There were days when elephants did not sleep at all. The scientists suggest that at this time animals escaped from predators or poachers.

Rapid sleep phase

The researchers found that these animals spent very little time in the phase of fast sleep. This period is very important because it is characterized by high activity of the brain.