Abstract: To determine whether pen size affected the behaviour and welfare of farmed red deer confined temporarily in yards, four groups of ten 2-year-old stags were confined for 40 min or 2 days in each of spring and summer, in either large (5 m × 4 m ) or small (2.5 m × 4) pens. In the small pens, wall pacing and vertical/horizontal head movements at the walls were more frequently observed (P < 0.05) and were carried out by a greater percentage of the deer (P < 0.001), and distances between individuals were smaller (P < 0.01), than observations in the large pens. Aggressive activities varied seasonally, with head-butting and chasing being seen most frequently in the spring (P < 0.05) and biting and kicking being seen most frequently in the summer (P < 0.05), and the overall frequency of aggressive activities was low in summer. In spring, in small pens there were fewer threats to head-butt, head butts by moving animals, and less stepping activity than in large pens (P < 0.05). In summer, in small pens there were more threats to butt and more stepping activity than in the large pens (P < 0.05). In both seasons, aggressive activities were correlated with wall pacing (r = 0.58 and 0.55, respectively). It was concluded that the effect of pen size on the frequency and nature of aggressive and other activities varied seasonally. In order minimise aggression and stepping activity, small pens were favoured in spring and large pens were favoured in summer. However, in both seasons there were greater inter-individual distances and reduced pacing and head movements at the walls in large pens. This latter finding may indicate that the large pens were less aversive to the deer, regardless of season.

Abstract: In group-living animals relative rank positions are often associated with differences in glucocorticoid output. During phases of social stability, when dominance positions are clear and unchallenged, subordinates often face higher costs in terms of social stress than dominant individuals. In this study we test this prediction and examine additional potential correlates of stress, such as reproductive season, age and amount of aggression received in wild, seasonally breeding Assamese macaques (Macaca assamensis). During a mating and a non-mating season we collected 394 h of focal observational data and 440 fecal samples of six adult and six large subadult males living in a multimale-multifemale group in their natural habitat in northeastern Thailand. The mating season was characterized by a general increase in aggressive behavior and glucocorticoid excretion across all males compared to the non-mating season. Among adult males, mating season glucocorticoid levels were significantly negatively related with dominance rank and positively with the amount of aggression received. Both relationships were non-significant among large subadult males. Thus, our results suggest that in adult Assamese macaques a high dominance position is not associated with high costs. Low costs of dominance might be induced by strong social bonds among top-ranking males, which exchange frequent affiliative interactions and serve as allies in coalitionary aggression against potentially rank-challenging subordinate males.