Alpha male baboons sacrifice good health for power

We often admire the alpha males of the world – think of a lion leading his pride, a CEO commanding a boardroom, or a wolf leading his pack. These males have dominance, respect and first choice of resources. But what if being at the top isn’t as good as it seems? For alpha baboons, the price of energy is high.

A new study shows that alpha male baboons live under intense stress. Surprisingly, their stress comes not from fighting their rivals but from guarding their companions.

Pressure from leaders on alpha baboons

Becoming an alpha male baboon is no easy feat. Men must fight their way up the ladder – relying on strength, strategy and perseverance. But reaching the top is just the beginning. Staying there requires constant vigilance.

The dominant male must protect his status against his challengers, ensuring that no rival steals his position. But his biggest concern isn’t other males, it’s females.

During fertile periods, he must monitor them closely and prevent other males from mating with them. This requires following the females for days on end, to ensure that he remains their only partner.

“They are essentially staking a claim; prevent other men from accessing it,” said Professor Susan Alberts of Duke University.

This almost constant surveillance has harmful consequences. Instead of spending their time resting, eating, or socializing, alpha males devote their energy to guarding their partners. Over time, this effort exhausts them physically and mentally.

Stress in alpha male baboons

For decades, scientists have studied wild baboons in Kenya as part of the Amboseli Baboon Research Project. Since 1971, researchers have closely followed the social interactions and behaviors of these animals, collecting valuable data on their lives.

A study published in 2011 provided one of the first clues that being an alpha male comes at a cost. The research, led by Duke University senior scientist Laurence Gesquiere, found that alpha males had significantly higher levels of glucocorticoids – hormones linked to stress and the “fight or flight” response.

“In humans, this response is activated for every type of challenge we face, whether it’s running around the neighborhood because you’re late for a meeting, running a marathon, or getting to a stressful meeting with your boss,” Alberts said.

The new study builds on these findings. The research team analyzed 14 years of behavioral data from 204 male baboons and measured their stress hormone levels using feces left in the wild.

A surprising source of stress

The results confirmed that life at the top is stressful. Alpha males had 6% higher glucocorticoid levels than lower-ranking males.

But the study also revealed something unexpected: Aggressive behaviors such as fighting, intimidating or threatening rivals had no impact on alpha male baboons’ stress levels. “It was a big surprise!” cried Gesquière.

The researchers expected that constant battles with other males would be the main cause of stress. Instead, they found that stress hormones increased when alpha males spent more time guarding females.

Their thyroid hormone levels also dropped, indicating that they were burning more calories than they were consuming. This suggests that being an alpha male is not only stressful, it’s also physically exhausting.

“Being alpha really has energetic consequences,” Gesquière noted. Unlike lower-ranking males, who can focus on eating and resting, alpha males are constantly on alert, even when attempting to eat.

“They’re constantly interrupted,” Alberts said. “They start to dig up or open a tasty morsel, but then the female gets up and walks away, and they have to abandon her.”

High cost for short-term rewards

The constant stress of being an alpha male baboon seems to have lasting effects. Previous research on Amboseli baboons has found that high-ranking males age faster and have shorter lifespans than their lower-ranking counterparts.

Chemical changes in their DNA suggest that stress accelerates aging and weakens their bodies over time. Once they lose their alpha status, they may have difficulty recovering from years of physical and emotional strain.

What can humans learn from baboons?

Although baboon society is different from human society, some parallels exist. Alpha males live in a rigid hierarchy, but humans operate in several social structures. A person may be a low-ranking employee at work but a leader in their sports team or community.

Yet the study of alpha male baboons highlights an important lesson: Leadership comes with challenges, and constant stress can be detrimental to well-being. In both humans and baboons, maintaining power requires energy, focus, and sacrifice.

For dominant male baboons, the price of being on top is clear. “Stress certainly has long-term consequences,” Gesquière emphasized.

The study is published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

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