A capacity for Joy

Play is important to animals to express their Joy.

Elephants are particularly playful. A young elephant tried to swing when it saw children were swinging. Obviously, it finally failed after trying again and again.
Alaskan buffalo have been seen playing on ice. They are bracing their legs so that they spun across the ice with the tails in the air and then turned back to make another run.

Enimals also like playing with objects. A Komodo dragon played with a shovel, pushing it noisily about the enclosure. A alligator spent forty-five minutes playing with the drops of water falling from a pipe into a pond.Captive gorillas and chimpanzees enjoy playing with dolls and spend time in other imaginative play.

In other animals, object play becomes social play. Dolphins like playing together to chase or take turns. Beluga whales carry stones or seaweed on their heads and other whales at once try to knock them off. Lions, both adults and cubs, may try to wrest pieces of bark or twigs from each other.

Though the extent of animals playing games recognize implicit rules is not clear, a few instances trainers have successfully taught formalized games to animals. A simplified version of cricket was taught to elephants of the Betram Mills’ Circus after several months of training. At an oceanarium, several dolphins were trained in the skills of water polo.

Animals sometimes find playmates across the barrier of species.