How Long Do Giraffes Sleep (And Why)?

Exact Answer: 30 Minutes To 1 Hour

The sleeping pattern of the giraffe is very interesting to know. The average amount of sleep that a giraffe gets is about 30 minutes to 1 hour only. This is a very small amount of time for giraffes to sleep when compared to other animals or even human beings.

How Long Do Giraffes Sleep?

Sleeping is as important as eating food and breathing air when it comes to living, be it humans or animals. Every human and even animals have their sleep cycle according to their lifestyle. Apart from the sleep pattern, the amount of sleep that one animal or a human must have depends upon many factors.

Every animal has an average sleep amount which is required to live and even for its body to function properly. The average amount of sleep that almost every type of animal has ranged from a minimum of 3 hours to a maximum of 6 hours. However, when it comes to how long a giraffe sleeps, the sleeping pattern and even the sleeping amount are quite different from other animals.

Moreover, it is important to know that many factors determine the time for how long a giraffe sleeps. Among many factors, the major factor is the life stage of the giraffe.

It is known that a young giraffe sleeps for a longer duration of time. On average, a young giraffe sleeps for about a minimum of 1 hour to a maximum of 3 hours. However, in a group of giraffes, if a young giraffe is sleeping then either one or more adult giraffes look after the young sleeping giraffe. The major reason behind that is the constant fear of giraffes being attacked by other animals and predators.

While on the other hand, an adult giraffe sleeps for significantly lesser time as compared to young giraffes. On average, an adult giraffe sleeps for about a minimum of 30 minutes to a maximum of 2 hours. 

Why Do Giraffes Sleep That Long?

The major reason why giraffes sleep for such a short duration of time is that their body needs are built in such a way that they do not require more sleep.

However, apart from this reason, wealth years of advancements and developments in the physiology of the giraffes and the living lifestyle as well, their sleeping habits have changed and reduced to such a short duration of sleep. The major reason behind that is that giraffes have multiple risks of predators while they are living in the wild. Thus to survive, their sleeping habits are changed in such a way that they do not require much sleep.

While, on the other hand, the situation is a bit different when talking about giraffes living in captivity, then it is important to know that they have a longer sleep span as compared to the giraffes living in the wild. On average, young giraffes living in captivity sleep for about a minimum of 6 hours to a maximum of 8 hours. While on the other hand, adult giraffes sleep for about a minimum of 4 hours to a maximum of 6 hours when they are living in captivity.

The major reason behind that is that giraffes who are living in captivity do not have the risks same as those giraffes living in the wild. They have no fear of predators and are provided with a proper diet and everything required to sustain a long life. With everything provided to the giraffes living in captivity to survive, they tend to have a longer time duration of sleeping.

Conclusion

When it is said that giraffes sleep for about 30 minutes to 1 hour, it is not true that they complete their sleep in one go. Giraffes sleep for about 5 minutes to 10 minutes at once. While sleeping in multiple periods, giraffes complete their sleep, which in total is equal to about 30 minutes to 1 hour. This sleeping habit of giraffes is also known as intermittent sleeping, which means, sleeping in multiple spans of time.

References

1. https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=7Qd-AgAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PR9&dq=giraffe&ots=_p84a1XYPT&sig=yGX2EOQaJt45vJOo0cPBUb3LH-w
2. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1365-2028.1972.tb00855.x