Baboon bonds: how friendships make up for a bad start in life
Farmer's Weekly|Farmer's Weekly 2 June 2023
Dr Elizabeth Lange, an assistant professor in biological science at the State University of New York Oswego, says that strong adult bonds may be a way to overcome childhood adversity, as seen in a recent study on wild baboons done in Kenya
Dr Elizabeth Lange
Baboon bonds: how friendships make up for a bad start in life

Childhood can predict a great deal about how adult life might play out. For instance, research has shown that people whose childhood involved poverty, abuse and neglect have poorer health and shorter lives than those who have happy, stable childhoods.

Is there a way to overcome a bad start? The evidence suggests that strong social ties may be one way to make up for adversity in early life. People (and other animals such as killer whales, hyraxes and baboons) with strong adult friendships are healthier and live longer than those without such bonds.

I am a biologist working on how social environments affect development and lifespan. I recently collaborated with statisticians and other biologists to understand whether harsh conditions in early life led to weak social relationships and poor health, or if close friendships could develop in adulthood in spite of a tough childhood. We also wondered if having close friends could potentially even make up for a poor early life.

To answer these questions, we studied a population of wild baboons in Kenya. Scientists often use animal models to test hypotheses that are difficult to study in humans. Baboons are a useful proxy for humans because they are similar in their life cycle, social relationships, physiology and behaviour. And research has shown that the effects of early adversity and social bonds on lifespan in humans are paralleled in baboons.

KEYS TO SURVIVAL 

The most important result of our research is that early life adversity and adult social relationships have independent effects on survival. That is, both early life environments and adult social bonds have strong effects, but they don’t depend on each other.

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Denne historien er fra Farmer's Weekly 2 June 2023-utgaven av Farmer's Weekly.

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Syngenta Seedcare celebrates a decade of innovation
Farmer's Weekly

Syngenta Seedcare celebrates a decade of innovation

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Agri workers shine at Western Cape awards
Farmer's Weekly

Agri workers shine at Western Cape awards

Lindie-Alet van Staden, a garden and olive orchard manager at L’Ormarins Wine Estate in Franschhoek, was crowned as the Western Cape Prestige Agri-Worker of 2024 at a gala event recently held near Paarl.

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1 min  |
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Small and large farmers recognised at grain awards
Farmer's Weekly

Small and large farmers recognised at grain awards

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1 min  |
November 22, 2024
Growing partnerships: Fedgroup's flexible and innovative approach
Farmer's Weekly

Growing partnerships: Fedgroup's flexible and innovative approach

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6 mins  |
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Farmer's Weekly

Why fish farms fail, and how to avoid becoming a statistic

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3 mins  |
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Where history and modernity meet in a luxurious setting
Farmer's Weekly

Where history and modernity meet in a luxurious setting

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4 mins  |
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THE HITCHING POST
Farmer's Weekly

THE HITCHING POST

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2 mins  |
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Cutworms: check the weeds on your fields!
Farmer's Weekly

Cutworms: check the weeds on your fields!

Zunel van Eeden explains why understanding the ecological interplay between cutworms and weeds is crucial for effective pest management. Producers should disrupt the life cycle of cutworms to minimise crop damage.

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5 mins  |
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Does high-density grazing mimic grazing patterns of game?
Farmer's Weekly

Does high-density grazing mimic grazing patterns of game?

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Global grain outlook: 2024/25 marketing season
Farmer's Weekly

Global grain outlook: 2024/25 marketing season

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