Verified by 
Just last week, after I learned that one my favorite musicians, Leon Russell, had passed away, I found myself listening to a collection of his wonderful songs as well as those of the late Joe Cocker, with whom Leon sang on a number of occasions. One of my favorite albums of all times is "Mad Dogs and Englishman" on which both Leon and Joe performed. And, one of my favorite songs is the Beatles' "With a Little Help From My Friends," that Joe Cocker sang in the Mad Dog's concert.
On the day I learned of Leon's death, I also learned about a new study that showed that family and friends help to reduce stress in wild chimpanzees living in the Budongo Forest in Uganda. The results of this very significant study are reported in a research essay published in Nature Communications by Roman Witig (who works with Taï Chimpanzee Project) and his colleagues called "Social support reduces stress hormone levels in wild chimpanzees across stressful events and everyday affiliations," The abstract of this essay (available online) reads:
Stress is a major cause of poor health and mortality in humans and other social mammals. Close social bonds buffer stress, however much of the underlying physiological mechanism remains unknown. Here, we test two key hypotheses: bond partner effects occur only during stress (social buffering) or generally throughout daily life (main effects). We assess urinary glucocorticoids (uGC) in wild chimpanzees, with or without their bond partners, after a natural stressor, resting or everyday affiliation. Chimpanzees in the presence of, or interacting with, bond partners rather than others have lowered uGC levels across all three contexts. These results support the main effects hypothesis and indicate that hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) axis regulation is mediated by daily engagement with bond partners both within and out of stressful contexts. Regular social support with bond partners could lead to better health through daily ‘micro-management’ of the HPA axis, a finding with potential medical implications for humans.
Not surprisingly, this research received a lot of interest in mass media. A very good summary can be found in a piece titled, "Support from family, friends significantly reduces stress in wild chimpanzees" in which it's reported "Support from family and friends significantly reduces stress in wild chimpanzees, both during conflicts with rival groups and during everyday affiliation."
What I really like about this study, in addition to its significance, is that the researchers used non-invasive methods assessing urine samples to answer the questions at hand concerning the linkage between hormone levels and behavior. Not only is this ethically preferable to methods that potentially can harm individuals, but it also is necessary because animals can become stressed if more invasive techniques are used and this can influence the results of a study.
All in all, Dr. Wittig and his colleagues discovered "friends might be even more important for us and our health than we have previously thought -- helping us to micro-manage HPA axis activity, a finding with potential medical implications also for humans."
The "F" word, friends: Yes, nonhumans do form friendships and have friends
What I also like about this study is the use of the word "friends." It has always seemed to me to be one of the most ludicrous of questions to ask if nonhuman animals make friends (please see "Odd Couples Redux: Animals Make Friends with Other Species"). In this essay I noted that I always have found the uncertainty that other animals form friendships to be simply absurd, even when applying the most rigorous criteria to the concept of 'friend.'
In a New York Times essay by Erica Goode called "Learning From Animal Friendships," primatologist, Dr. Barbara King, notes that a friendly relationship "must be sustained for some period of time; there must be mutuality, with both of the animals engaged in the interaction; and some sort of accommodation must take place in the service of the relationship, whether a modification in behavior or in communication." These are excellent guidelines for assessing the nature of a relationship between two or more individuals. Applying these criteria, animals clearly form friendships with members of the same species, and we see the same is true for members of different species, often called odd couples.
Along these lines, back in the mid-1980s, Dr. Barbara Smuts, a primate researcher who worked at the University of Michigan and who brazenly and openly used the word friends notes, "We know this is happening between all sorts of species. I think eventually the scientific community will catch up.” Her excellent book called Sex and Friendship in Baboons is a great and forward-looking read. I couldn't agree more with Dr. Smuts. Let's get over thinking that we're the only species in which friendships form, and learn more about the other fascinating animals with whom we share our magnificent planet.
I hope that more researchers will use non-invasive methods in the field. And, I hope that questions about the importance of social support from family and friends will be studied in other wild animals.
Please stay tuned for more information on the fascinating social lives of the animals with whom we share our magnificent planet.
Reference:
Roman M. Wittig, Catherine Crockford, Anja Weltring, Kevin E. Langergraber, Tobias Deschner, Klaus Zuberbühler. Social support reduces stress hormone levels in wild chimpanzees across stressful events and everyday affiliations. Nature Communications, 2016; 7: 13361 DOI: 10.1038/NCOMMS13361
Marc Bekoff’s latest books are Jasper’s Story: Saving Moon Bears (with Jill Robinson), Ignoring Nature No More: The Case for Compassionate Conservation, Why Dogs Hump and Bees Get Depressed: The Fascinating Science of Animal Intelligence, Emotions, Friendship, and Conservation, Rewilding Our Hearts: Building Pathways of Compassion and Coexistence, and The Jane Effect: Celebrating Jane Goodall (edited with Dale Peterson). The Animals’ Agenda: Freedom, Compassion, and Coexistence in the Human Age (with Jessica Pierce) will be published in early 2017.
