Noah's Ark Zoo Farm: Footage of cuddling elephants gives insight into sleeping habits

  • Footage captured at Noah's Ark Zoo Farm also shows nine-year-old Sutton trying to get 18-year-old Janu to play during the night

The sleeping habits of the world's largest land animal, the African elephant, have been caught on camera in North Somerset.

Footage captured at Noah's Ark Zoo Farm, near Bristol, sheds light on the behaviour of African elephants during the night.

Zookeepers said CCTV footage captured during the night shows a "playful and endearing" interaction between the elephants.

The video shows 9-year-old Sutton trying to get 18-year-old Janu to play, as well as making room for him to lie as close as possible and cuddle up during the night.

Zookeepers said the footage sheds light on the sleeping habits of elephants. Credit: Noah's Ark Zoo Farm

Tom Lindley, Elephant Section Leader at Noah's Ark Zoo Farm, said the footage helps keepers understand the elephants' behaviour.

"Elephants sleep for around 4-6 hours a night on average, but they won't sleep for a whole night in one go like humans do," he said.

He explained that elephants usually sleep for a couple of hours at once, then get up and move around before going down for their next lot of sleep.

"They almost always go back to sleep on their opposite side," he said. "This is because elephants are such large and heavy animals that if they spend too long lying on one side, it can cause pressure build-up on their internal organs."

Noah's Ark Zoo Farm is currently home to the UK's largest elephant enclosure. Credit: Noah's Ark Zoo Farm

Elephant Eden, at Noah's Ark Zoo Farm, is the UK's largest elephant habitat.

The 20-acre site is currently home to four African bull elephants, with 13-year-old Uli, joining 32-year-old Shaka, 18-year-old Janu, and 9-year-old Sutton earlier this year.

Noah's Ark Zoo Farm say the facilities play a key role in the European Endangered Species Programme (EEP) for African elephants.