{"id":13902,"date":"2025-10-14T11:37:09","date_gmt":"2025-10-14T18:37:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/orangutan.com\/?p=13902"},"modified":"2025-10-14T20:00:00","modified_gmt":"2025-10-15T03:00:00","slug":"orangutans-make-up-for-sleepless-nights-with-naps-new-study","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/orangutan.com\/orangutans-make-up-for-sleepless-nights-with-naps-new-study\/","title":{"rendered":"Orangutans Make Up for Sleepless Nights with Naps! | New Study"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Orangutans may look peaceful when they sleep, but recent science shows that their rest is a carefully balanced act. A new study published in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencedirect.com\/science\/article\/pii\/S0960982225006694\"><em>Current Biology<\/em> <\/a>reveals that wild orangutans regulate their sleep with remarkable flexibility\u2014compensating for lost nighttime hours by napping during the day. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This discovery adds an unexpected dimension to our understanding of orangutan behavior and conservation. Sleep isn\u2019t just downtime\u2014it\u2019s part of their survival toolkit in constantly shifting forests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Night, Day, and the Balancing Act<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The study tracked <strong>53 wild <a href=\"https:\/\/orangutan.com\/orangutan-facts\/sumatran-orangutan\/\">Sumatran orangutans<\/a><\/strong> across 455 days of observation, using nest chronology (when and where they sleep) as a proxy for sleep periods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The authors found:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>On nights when orangutans slept less, they compensated the next day with longer cumulative nap durations.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>When naps were shorter, the number of daytime naps increased\u2014indicating flexibility in both frequency and duration.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Several ecological and behavioral factors influence sleep: orangutans slept less when traveling farther the previous day, or when food intake was low, ambient temperature was cooler, or during rainfall events.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Interestingly, social associations had an impact: nights and days with more conspecific presence (i.e. being in groups) were linked to shorter total sleep and nap times.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Together, these results suggest that orangutans maintain <strong>sleep homeostasis<\/strong> (a balance of sleep) by adapting daily rest when environmental or social pressures interrupt regular nighttime rest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Why Sleep Flexibility Might Matter<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>This adaptation is more than a curiosity\u2014it may reflect how orangutans survive in unpredictable forests. Here are key implications:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Resilience to disturbance<\/strong>: In disturbed or fragmented forests, where travel distances, food scarcity, or human presence might disrupt nocturnal rest, the ability to nap may buffer negative impacts on health.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Energy trade-offs<\/strong>: Sleep competes with time for feeding, social behavior, and movement. Flexible napping enables orangutans to optimize survival trade-offs when energetic demands shift.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Indicator of forest health<\/strong>: A population forced into chronic sleep deficits might be under stress. Monitoring rest behavior could become a subtle indicator of ecological well-being.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p>References:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Slocombe, K. E., Boesch, C., Luncz, L. V., &amp; others. (2025). <em>Wild chimpanzees use cultural knowledge to forage adaptively in a changing world<\/em>. <em>Current Biology<\/em>. <a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.cub.2025.07.041\">https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.cub.2025.07.041<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Orangutans may look peaceful when they sleep, but recent science shows that their rest is a carefully balanced act. A new study published in Current Biology reveals that wild orangutans regulate their sleep with remarkable flexibility\u2014compensating for lost nighttime hours by napping during the day.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":13906,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[260],"class_list":["post-13902","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-center","tag-sumatran-orangutan"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Orangutans Make Up for Sleepless Nights with Naps! | New Study - Orangutan Conservancy<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/orangutan.com\/orangutans-make-up-for-sleepless-nights-with-naps-new-study\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Orangutans Make Up for Sleepless Nights with Naps! | New Study - Orangutan Conservancy\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Orangutans may look peaceful when they sleep, but recent science shows that their rest is a carefully balanced act. A new study published in Current Biology reveals that wild orangutans regulate their sleep with remarkable flexibility\u2014compensating for lost nighttime hours by napping during the day.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/orangutan.com\/orangutans-make-up-for-sleepless-nights-with-naps-new-study\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Orangutan Conservancy\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/orangutanOC\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-10-14T18:37:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-10-15T03:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/orangutan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Orangutan-sleeping-in-nest.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1328\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"996\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Eric DePalma\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@orangutanOC\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@orangutanOC\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Eric DePalma\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orangutan.com\/orangutans-make-up-for-sleepless-nights-with-naps-new-study\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orangutan.com\/orangutans-make-up-for-sleepless-nights-with-naps-new-study\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Eric DePalma\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orangutan.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b13f63bbde62f747fc049c1270ce193c\"},\"headline\":\"Orangutans Make Up for Sleepless Nights with Naps! | New Study\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-10-14T18:37:09+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-10-15T03:00:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orangutan.com\/orangutans-make-up-for-sleepless-nights-with-naps-new-study\/\"},\"wordCount\":370,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orangutan.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orangutan.com\/orangutans-make-up-for-sleepless-nights-with-naps-new-study\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/orangutan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Orangutan-sleeping-in-nest.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"sumatran orangutan\"],\"articleSection\":[\"News Center\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/orangutan.com\/orangutans-make-up-for-sleepless-nights-with-naps-new-study\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orangutan.com\/orangutans-make-up-for-sleepless-nights-with-naps-new-study\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/orangutan.com\/orangutans-make-up-for-sleepless-nights-with-naps-new-study\/\",\"name\":\"Orangutans Make Up for Sleepless Nights with Naps! | New Study - Orangutan Conservancy\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orangutan.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orangutan.com\/orangutans-make-up-for-sleepless-nights-with-naps-new-study\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orangutan.com\/orangutans-make-up-for-sleepless-nights-with-naps-new-study\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/orangutan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Orangutan-sleeping-in-nest.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-10-14T18:37:09+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-10-15T03:00:00+00:00\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/orangutan.com\/orangutans-make-up-for-sleepless-nights-with-naps-new-study\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orangutan.com\/orangutans-make-up-for-sleepless-nights-with-naps-new-study\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/orangutan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Orangutan-sleeping-in-nest.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/orangutan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Orangutan-sleeping-in-nest.jpg\",\"width\":1328,\"height\":996,\"caption\":\"A female orangutan in the Suaq Balimbing research area naps in a day nest. Picture by Ellen Meulman.\"},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orangutan.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/orangutan.com\/\",\"name\":\"Orangutan Conservancy\",\"description\":\"Dedicated to the Conservation of Orangutans and their Rainforest Homes\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orangutan.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/orangutan.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orangutan.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Orangutan Conservancy\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/orangutan.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orangutan.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/orangutan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/OCWEBLogo_Gradient.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/orangutan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/OCWEBLogo_Gradient.png\",\"width\":1265,\"height\":1265,\"caption\":\"Orangutan Conservancy\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orangutan.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/orangutanOC\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/orangutanOC\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/orangutan_OC\/\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/orangutanoc\",\"https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/OrangutanConservancy\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orangutan.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b13f63bbde62f747fc049c1270ce193c\",\"name\":\"Eric DePalma\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/orangutan.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/82ae41e26e7d9d52a37319b1273eb961a5e054c21c08813301dea35968ce3853?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/82ae41e26e7d9d52a37319b1273eb961a5e054c21c08813301dea35968ce3853?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Eric DePalma\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/orangutan.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/orangutan.com\/author\/eric\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Orangutans Make Up for Sleepless Nights with Naps! | New Study - Orangutan Conservancy","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/orangutan.com\/orangutans-make-up-for-sleepless-nights-with-naps-new-study\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Orangutans Make Up for Sleepless Nights with Naps! | New Study - Orangutan Conservancy","og_description":"Orangutans may look peaceful when they sleep, but recent science shows that their rest is a carefully balanced act. A new study published in Current Biology reveals that wild orangutans regulate their sleep with remarkable flexibility\u2014compensating for lost nighttime hours by napping during the day.","og_url":"https:\/\/orangutan.com\/orangutans-make-up-for-sleepless-nights-with-naps-new-study\/","og_site_name":"Orangutan Conservancy","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/orangutanOC","article_published_time":"2025-10-14T18:37:09+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-10-15T03:00:00+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1328,"height":996,"url":"https:\/\/orangutan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Orangutan-sleeping-in-nest.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Eric DePalma","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@orangutanOC","twitter_site":"@orangutanOC","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Eric DePalma","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/orangutan.com\/orangutans-make-up-for-sleepless-nights-with-naps-new-study\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/orangutan.com\/orangutans-make-up-for-sleepless-nights-with-naps-new-study\/"},"author":{"name":"Eric DePalma","@id":"https:\/\/orangutan.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b13f63bbde62f747fc049c1270ce193c"},"headline":"Orangutans Make Up for Sleepless Nights with Naps! | New Study","datePublished":"2025-10-14T18:37:09+00:00","dateModified":"2025-10-15T03:00:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/orangutan.com\/orangutans-make-up-for-sleepless-nights-with-naps-new-study\/"},"wordCount":370,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/orangutan.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/orangutan.com\/orangutans-make-up-for-sleepless-nights-with-naps-new-study\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/orangutan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Orangutan-sleeping-in-nest.jpg","keywords":["sumatran orangutan"],"articleSection":["News Center"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/orangutan.com\/orangutans-make-up-for-sleepless-nights-with-naps-new-study\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/orangutan.com\/orangutans-make-up-for-sleepless-nights-with-naps-new-study\/","url":"https:\/\/orangutan.com\/orangutans-make-up-for-sleepless-nights-with-naps-new-study\/","name":"Orangutans Make Up for Sleepless Nights with Naps! | New Study - Orangutan Conservancy","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/orangutan.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/orangutan.com\/orangutans-make-up-for-sleepless-nights-with-naps-new-study\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/orangutan.com\/orangutans-make-up-for-sleepless-nights-with-naps-new-study\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/orangutan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Orangutan-sleeping-in-nest.jpg","datePublished":"2025-10-14T18:37:09+00:00","dateModified":"2025-10-15T03:00:00+00:00","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/orangutan.com\/orangutans-make-up-for-sleepless-nights-with-naps-new-study\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/orangutan.com\/orangutans-make-up-for-sleepless-nights-with-naps-new-study\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/orangutan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Orangutan-sleeping-in-nest.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/orangutan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Orangutan-sleeping-in-nest.jpg","width":1328,"height":996,"caption":"A female orangutan in the Suaq Balimbing research area naps in a day nest. Picture by Ellen Meulman."},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/orangutan.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/orangutan.com\/","name":"Orangutan Conservancy","description":"Dedicated to the Conservation of Orangutans and their Rainforest Homes","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/orangutan.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/orangutan.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/orangutan.com\/#organization","name":"Orangutan Conservancy","url":"https:\/\/orangutan.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/orangutan.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/orangutan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/OCWEBLogo_Gradient.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/orangutan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/OCWEBLogo_Gradient.png","width":1265,"height":1265,"caption":"Orangutan Conservancy"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/orangutan.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/orangutanOC","https:\/\/x.com\/orangutanOC","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/orangutan_OC\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/orangutanoc","https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/OrangutanConservancy\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/orangutan.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b13f63bbde62f747fc049c1270ce193c","name":"Eric DePalma","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/orangutan.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/82ae41e26e7d9d52a37319b1273eb961a5e054c21c08813301dea35968ce3853?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/82ae41e26e7d9d52a37319b1273eb961a5e054c21c08813301dea35968ce3853?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Eric DePalma"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/orangutan.com"],"url":"https:\/\/orangutan.com\/author\/eric\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/orangutan.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13902","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/orangutan.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/orangutan.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orangutan.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orangutan.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13902"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/orangutan.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13902\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13966,"href":"https:\/\/orangutan.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13902\/revisions\/13966"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orangutan.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13906"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/orangutan.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13902"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orangutan.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13902"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orangutan.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13902"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}