This research paper describes a validation study evaluating the ability of IceTag accelerometers (Peacock Technology, UK) to detect play behaviour in weaned dairy calves. Play behaviour is commonly observed in young animals and is regarded as an indicator of positive welfare states. Eight Holstein Friesian calves aged three to five months old were monitored using leg-mounted accelerometers for 48 h. Data generated by accelerometers to quantify calf activity included step count, lying times and a proprietary measure of overall activity termed ‘motion index’ (MI). Calf behaviour was filmed continuously over the same 48-h period using closed circuit television cameras and analysed using one-zero sampling to identify the presence (1) or absence (0) of play within each 15-min time period. A positive correlation between MI and visually recorded play was found. Visual observations were compared with accelerometer-generated data and analysed using 2 × 2 contingency tables and classification and regression tree analysis. A MI value of ≥69 was established as the optimum threshold to detect play behaviour (sensitivity = 94.4%; specificity = 93.6%; balanced accuracy = 94.0%). The results of this study suggest that accelerometer-generated MI data have the potential to detect play behaviour in weaned dairy calves in a more time efficient manner than traditional visual observations.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the behavioural effects of keeping circus elephants in paddocks. Therefore some species-typical behavioural characters and the occurrence of stereotyped movements were observed and compared in unshackled paddock keeping versus shackled keeping. The investigation includes 29 elephants (19 Elephas maximus, 10 Loxodonta africana) at four circuses located in Germany and in Switzerland.

The results showed that paddocks offered more freedom for comfort, social and play behaviour since such activities were observed more frequently in paddocks than in shackled keeping. Also, stereotyped movements were nearly absent in paddocks and very frequent in shackled keeping. In comparison to shackled keeping, paddocks were more suitable for the needs of elephants.

The opportunity to perform play behaviour may be an important ontogenic activity that stimulates behavioural variability and may enhance an individual's coping capacity later in life. Play behaviour in juveniles may be enhanced by the presence of cage enrichments relevant to the animal's motivations and natural behavioural repertoire. The present study aimed to investigate play behaviour in juvenile farmed mink reared and housed with the cage enrichments standard for the Dutch housing system (ie a cylinder and platform) and in an experimental group of animals with the same standard enrichments but with additional access to swimming water. Juvenile mink with access to swimming water played significantly more in the main cage than mink reared and housed with the cylinder and platform but without swimming water. The results suggest that swimming water presents the animals with biologically relevant stimuli that directly or indirectly influence the development of play behaviour. Specific implications for the animals' long-term welfare are discussed. Future studies should elucidate the effects of juvenile play on the occurrence of abnormal behavioural patterns in adulthood more precisely and more thoroughly.

Herds of white-lipped peccary (Tayassu pecari) have historically been kept in captivity in order to replace stocks lost to hunting however the lack of knowledge regarding their species-typical behaviour remains an impediment to understanding their captive needs. Environmental enrichment has been suggested as an efficient way of decreasing aggression and apathy as well as increasing the expression of normal behavioural acts — such as play behaviour — which may, in turn, contribute to improved husbandry conditions. Therefore, the aims of this study were to describe play behaviour in this species and analyse the effects of environmental enrichment on such behaviour as well as on agonistic expression and inactivity. The occurrence of solitary and social play acts were recorded, as well as agonistic interactions and inactivity (resting positions) in two conditions (non-enriched and enriched with ball, hose and see-saw). This study included 24 captive peccaries three of which were juveniles, nine sub-adults and 12 adults, with a 1:1 sex ratio. The relationship between social dominance hierarchy and play behaviour was also analysed in each observational condition. Enrichment resulted in increased solitary and social acts of playing both in juvenile/sub-adult and adult peccaries. All the individuals played with the introduced objects and spent less time in resting positions throughout the enrichment phase. However, no decrease in agonistic interactions was observed and dominant individuals played more with the objects. Our study showed that environmental enrichment stimulated play behaviour in white-lipped peccaries as well as decreasing levels of inactivity; this may lead to improvements in the welfare of individuals in captive breeding centres.

The aim of the study reported in this Research Communication was to compare play behaviour and social interactions of dairy calves either separated from their mother and reared in a calf group (Artificial) or with access to their mother and the cow herd (cow-calf contact: Contact). Contact calves had access to a calf area and also to the cow barn where they could suckle their dam. Artificial calves were fed whole milk up to 16 kg per day via an automatic milk feeder and were only kept in the calf area. We observed the animals on 3 d during the first three months of life. Contact calves showed solitary play, consisting predominantly of locomotor play, for longer than Artificial calves and mainly in the cow barn. This indicates higher welfare in Contact calves. In addition, Artificial calves hardly experienced any agonistic interaction, while Contact calves both initiated and received agonistic interactions, which might contribute to the development of higher social competence.

In most species, females invest more in their offspring than males. In mammals, this also holds true after the birth of young since only mothers can lactate and fathers are thus more likely to desert and seek additional mating opportunities. These opportunities are largely dependent on resource distribution and the resulting distribution of females. The emerging social and mating systems of different species give rise to different benefits of investment in paternal care. Paternal care should have evolved in relation to the frequency of losing paternities to other males. Hence, in species living in one-male systems with little opportunity for female extra-pair copulations, paternal care should be more common than in those species living in multi-male groups. The guinea pigs (Caviinae) comprise closely related species exhibiting different social organizations and mating systems. The amount of paternal behaviour and offspring-directed aggression was investigated in three species kept under laboratory conditions: the polygynous Cavia aperea, the promiscuous Galea musteloides and a newly described monogamous species (Galea monasteriensis sp. nov.). All animals were kept in groups of one adult male and one adult female with their non-weaned offspring. Cavia aperea as well as G. monasteriensis males showed a high incidence of paternal behaviour, which consisted primarily of playing with offspring and grooming them. In contrast, G. musteloides males never engaged in paternal behaviour but directed more aggressive behaviour towards their offspring. Mating with multiple partners and multiple paternities are common in G. musteloides whereas in the former two species there is a much higher certainty of paternity. We conclude that paternal behaviour in guinea pigs probably co-evolved in alignment with the certainty of paternity that males of a species encounter under natural conditions.