Social behaviour of the calves of semi-wild Maremma cattle,Bos primigenius taurus

The social behaviour of semi-wild free-ranging Maremma calves, Bos primigenius taurus, was observed daily in their first 2 months from birth at the estate La Trappola (Ponticelli Reserve), 10 Km south-west of Grosseto, Tuscany, Italy. In the first 2–3 days of life the calves hid in the maquis, while the cows grazed in the surrounding area. The time spent at close range to the cows decreased with the increase in the age of the calves, but the time spent far from the mother was always greater than that spent at close or intermediate ranges. Lying down was the dominant activity at a distance over 15 m from the mother, while the time spent in standing still decreased daily. The daily mean of the minutes spent by the calves with their peers reached peaks between their 11th and 40th days of life. Sucking bouts reached a peak between 09.00 and 10.00 h, after the herd reached the grazing area from the night dormitory. Another peak occurred between 15.00 and 16.00 h. Calves solicited and terminated sucking bouts spontaneously more than cows. The mean duration of each sucking bout increased with calf age, but was negatively correlated with the mean daily number of sucking bouts. Immediately before or after a sucking bout, cows mainly sniffed their calves in the muzzle and tail area. Calves sniffed and licked the cows mainly in the area of the udder. Play activity reached a peak in the early morning, decreased strongly at mid-day and increased again in mid-afternoon. Grazing, and to a lesser extent moving to and from the pasture land, were the most frequent activities occurring before and after play. Frontal pushes were the most preferred kind of play by both females and males. Female calves soliciting play in males showed significantly more “frontal pushing” than “non-reproductive mounts”. The male calves were more often initiators of play than were females.