Guess How Much Sleep These Animals Need – Answers

1) Cats sleep 12 or more hours every day. They sleep mostly at night, but also during the day.

2) African elephants may be big, but they sleep only 3 hours a day. They need the rest of the day to consume large amounts of food.

3) Lucky for us humans, slimy pythons sleep about 15 hours (if they are hungry) or as many as 20 hours after feeding. Tigers sleep 16 hours a day. Both animals conserve precious energy for hunting.

4) Horses sleep less than 3 hours and cows sleep only 4 hours each day because they need more time to eat. Like elephants, horses and cows need plenty of time to eat and digest enough food.

5) Human children should sleep at least 9 hours each day! This is an important point to emphasize with your students.

6) When they aren't eating insects, brown bats sleep nearly 20 hours each day. As with pythons and tigers, bats need to conserve energy for hunting.

7) Giraffes don't need pillows, because they sleep less than 2 hours each day standing up! Giraffes sleep in short bursts. Some scientists speculate that they "semi-sleep" while they are eating as well – a form of "zoning out."

8) Some types of dogs sleep more than others, but most sleep around 10 hours a day. Some, however, sleep as many as 14 hours a day.