Chapter 1 Stress and Coping Mechanisms in Female Primates

Abstract

Abstract We review the social and environmental influences of stress and its alleviation in female primates, focusing on wild female baboons in the Okavango Delta of Botswana. Female primates exhibit elevated glucocorticoids (GCs) primarily in response to those events that directly affect their own survival and reproduction, including in particular predation and the threat of infanticide from dominant immigrant males. In contrast, females' GC levels appear to be relatively unaffected by dominance rank, perhaps because rank is relatively unimportant in determining reproductive success. Like humans, female monkeys rely on a stable social network to cope with stress. During periods of social stability, females whose grooming networks are focused on a few individuals show lower levels of stress than females whose grooming networks are diffuse and relatively unselective. When confronted with a stressor in the form of a potentially infanticidal male, females respond by contracting their grooming networks, apparently falling back on their closest companions. Similarly, lactating females with a close male friend experience smaller increases in GC levels than lactating females without male friends. Females experience significant increases in stress when their social network is damaged by the death of a close grooming partner, and they appear to take active steps to seek out and identify new partners. It is the nature and quality of a female's social relationships, rather than sociality alone, that allows a female to cope with and manage stress. Ultimately, focused social networks may influence female reproductive success, because there is some evidence that females who maintain strong bonds with other females experience higher offspring survival and longevity.