WASHINGTON: Just as wealth and social status are often linked to good health in humans, the animal kingdom too has its benefits for those at the top of the hierarchy, according to a US study out yesterday.
After studying 27 years worth of data on baboons in Kenya, researchers found that alpha males were less likely to get sick and recovered faster from injuries than those at the lower rungs of society. The findings were a surprise, since previous research has shown that high-ranking males face surging stress levels and often mate so regularly as to weaken their immune function.
The study authors believe that their research shows the type of stress faced by lower-ranking males — chronic stress, old age, poorer physical condition — might actually be behind the health differences in the two groups.
“In humans and animals, it has always been a big debate whether the stress of being on top is better or worse than the stress of being on the bottom,” said lead researcher Beth Archie, a biologist at the University of Notre Dame.
“Our results suggest that, while animals in both positions experience stress, several factors that go along with high rank might serve to protect males from the negative effects of stress.”
The data for the study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences came from records kept from 1982 to 2009 on 166 adult male baboons living in groups with one to 17 adult males, as well as other females.
High-ranking baboons are healthiest
