Play behaviour and maternal relationship between ewe and lambs in Urial sheep (Ovis vignei bochariensis)

Abstract: Ex situ conservation is done to alleviate the risk of threatened species going extinct and one major conservation aim is increasing the population size. One place working with ex situ conservation is the zoo Nordens Ark in Sweden, and one of their target species is Urials (Ovis vignei bochariensis). The aim of this study was to investigate play- and maternal behaviour in Urials. The play behaviours performed by Urials could be an indicator of welfare and furthermore; to better understand the needs of Urials to preserve them, their welfare is important. Maternal behaviour is of course crucial for lamb survival and hence conservation of the species. As Urials only exist in four different parks in Europe and they have reproduction problems in captivity cooperation with Nordens Ark and their conservation program made it possible to study Urials. Nordens Ark was the only park in Europe in year 2021 where Urial lambs were born. The method used was video recording, using wildlife camera traps during summer after the lambs were born in 2021. Five cameras, set up to take one-minute video clips, were put up in the enclosure. To gain basic information on the Urials´ behaviours, this study registered behaviours performed during daylight hours when the park was open and daylight hours when the park was closed. The result showed that the Urials perform more play-, maternal and locomotor behaviour during park closed hours. The play behaviour performed the most during park open hours was “jumping on to object” performed 50 times. During park closed hours the play behaviour performed the most was “jump”, performed 174 times. “Vocalisation” was also performed almost 300 times during park closed hours, while during open hours only just over 40 times. When using only play behaviours as a parameter of welfare the conclusion is that the Urials have a better welfare during park closed hours since they play more, Urials could be disturbed by the visitors. However, an alternative explanation could be a difference in circadian rhythm. The information about Urials diurnal behavioural pattern is lacking and hence no conclusions can be drawn about the cause of the differences. The maternal behaviours performed by Urial was primarily suckling, also observed at a higher frequency during park closed hours.