The role of leader increases stress in animals too
Keystone-SDA
Listen to the article
Listening the article
Toggle language selector
Generated with artificial intelligence.
A study conducted at the University of Zurich has shown that when animals make decisions for their group, their hearts beat faster.
This content was published on
July 23, 2025 – 10:22
This is particularly the case when members of the group do not agree on how to proceed or when individuals fail in their attempts to lead the group, Damien Farine, one of the researchers at the University of Zurich and author of the study, published on Tuesday in the journal Current Biology, told the Keystone-SDA news agency.
+Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox
To carry out their research, the team from the University of Zurich implanted heart rate monitors in a group of vulturine guinea fowl from East Africa. They specifically studied the direction in which the animals moved.
The guinea fowl that wanted to change direction had a faster heart rate. Those that tried to initiate a change of direction but failed showed particularly high stress symptoms.
Humans too
“This species of bird is well suited to such a study because it is logistically easy to observe,” explained Farine. What’s more, they live in large groups with complex social structures. “We assume, however, that our results are likely to apply to most species living in groups,” she added.
More
More
Feline felons: The issue with Switzerland’s free-roaming cats
This content was published on
Jun 5, 2025
Cats kill millions of birds, frogs and other animals every year in Switzerland.
Read more: Feline felons: The issue with Switzerland’s free-roaming cats
According to the researcher, all social animals face similar challenges: they have to make group decisions, maintain cohesion and at the same time assert their own needs, such as eating when others want to rest. This also applies to humans, according to Farine.
“We go through the same processes every day, for example when we walk with other people and make decisions – often unconsciously – about which way to go.”
Adapted from French by DeepL/ac
How we work
We select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools to translate them into English. A journalist then reviews the translation for clarity and accuracy before publication.
Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles. The news stories we select have been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team from news agencies such as Bloomberg or Keystone.
If you have any questions about how we work, write to us at english@swissinfo.ch
Articles in this story
More
Swiss birdwatching platform crosses 30 million sightings mark
This content was published on
Jul 24, 2025
On Wednesday, the 30 millionth bird sighting was recorded on the Swiss birdwatching platform ornitho.ch.
Read more: Swiss birdwatching platform crosses 30 million sightings mark
More
Catfish thriving in Switzerland due to climate change
This content was published on
Jul 24, 2025
Over the last 20 years, the number of catfish caught in Switzerland has increased massively.
Read more: Catfish thriving in Switzerland due to climate change
More
EU’s refusal to recognise Swiss cheese trademark contested in court
This content was published on
Jul 24, 2025
The European Commission does not want to recognise the trademark of the traditional Swiss cheese Emmentaler.
Read more: EU’s refusal to recognise Swiss cheese trademark contested in court
More
Jewish tourists insulted and spat at in Davos
This content was published on
Jul 24, 2025
A man allegedly repeatedly threatened, insulted, pushed and spat at Jewish holidaymakers in Davos on Tuesday evening. .
Read more: Jewish tourists insulted and spat at in Davos
More
Benedict Cumberbatch to receive award at Zurich Film Festival
This content was published on
Jul 24, 2025
Cumberbatch is to receive the award in person on September 29.
Read more: Benedict Cumberbatch to receive award at Zurich Film Festival
More
More funds for emergency poisoning helpline requested
This content was published on
Jul 24, 2025
Over 100,000 people have signed a petition to save the 24-hour emergency poisoning advice helpline Tox Info Suisse.
Read more: More funds for emergency poisoning helpline requested
More
Proton does not trust Switzerland to host its AI servers
This content was published on
Jul 24, 2025
The Geneva-based cybersecurity firm has lost faith in Switzerland due to proposed surveillance law changes.
Read more: Proton does not trust Switzerland to host its AI servers
More
Nestlé leans on price increases to offset lower sales
This content was published on
Jul 24, 2025
Nestlé continued to grow in the first half of 2025 – but high costs put some pressure on profitability.
Read more: Nestlé leans on price increases to offset lower sales
More
Prince William will attend final of Women’s Euro 2025 in Basel
This content was published on
Jul 23, 2025
The heir to the British throne will be watching the final of the European Women’s Football Championship live in the stadium on Sunday.
Read more: Prince William will attend final of Women’s Euro 2025 in Basel
More
Pilots rate Zurich airport safer than Geneva and Basel
This content was published on
Jul 23, 2025
Zurich airport took third place for safety in a comparison of 31 German and Swiss airports.
Read more: Pilots rate Zurich airport safer than Geneva and Basel