The first photo, taken by Harvey (of Ella from the EB familiy, waking her calf), inspired me to write down that elephants not only sleep, but also lie down for sleeping.

Adult elephants sleep for about 3 to 4 hours at night, a whole family group at the same place and time, while young elephants are sometimes overcome by sleep at other times. Then you can see their mothers patiently guarding their sleep, like the other photos of the SB and IA/IC families (taken by Harvey in Oct-06).

But if it takes all too long, the mother may wake up the kid, and that's exactly what Harvey caught Ella doing in the photo.

Harvey also mentioned, "We're constantly getting calls, usually from tourists or tour bus drivers, but sometimes even from KWS that there's a 'dead elephant' at such-and-such a location. Like just last week: Katito had to rush to beyond Serena to diagnose the situation. Usually turns out to be a sleeper. Shows that it's quite a common occurrence and that the Amboseli elephants are in general so tranquil that they feel comfortable 'letting down their guard'. You almost never see it in areas where eles are hassled."