Wild Democracy

On November 3, millions of Americans will cast their vote for the next president of the United States. Because our country is a democracy, citizens decide who will govern them. Voting might seem like a uniquely human behavior—but that’s actually not the case. Scientists have discovered many examples of animals, from bees to baboons, that give individuals a say in group decision-making.

Within a group, whatever choice members agree upon determines things like when or where they’ll hunt, or where they’ll make their home. Of course, these critters don’t vote by filling out a ballot like people will do in the upcoming U.S. election (see How We Vote). Animals have much wilder ways of expressing their opinions. Take a look at four members of the animal kingdom with a democratic streak.

On November 3, millions of Americans will vote for the next president of the United States. Our country is a democracy, so citizens decide who will govern them. Voting might seem like a behavior only for humans. But that’s really not the case. Scientists have found many examples of voting among animals, from bees to baboons. Each animal in the group gets a say in decision-making.

Within a group, members agree on a choice. This decides things like when or where they’ll hunt, or where they’ll live. Of course, these critters don’t vote like people do. In the upcoming U.S. election, people will fill out a ballot (see How We Vote). But animals have much wilder ways of stating their choices. Here are four members of the animal kingdom with a democratic streak.

One day, animal behavior scientist Andrew King and a colleague were swapping theories about how groups of animals make decisions. They based their ideas on what they had observed in the wild. “Not all members of a group want to do the same thing, so it’s fascinating to see how they reach a consensus and stick together,” says King, who works at Swansea University in the United Kingdom. King’s friend said he suspected that African wild dogs, for example, use sneezes to vote on when they should leave to begin a hunt. “We laughed and joked but decided to investigate,” says King.

A fellow researcher recorded packs of wild dogs in the African nation of Botswana. Then the scientists reviewed the video to analyze the animals’ behavior. After periods of rest, the dogs would start sneezing. The researchers found that the more the dogs sneezed, the more likely the animals would head off in search of food. Each “ACHOO!” was a vote to get moving! If it’s the pack leader that wants to leave, fewer sneezes from other dogs are needed to get the hunt started. “There is a balance between dominance and democracy,” says King.

One day, Andrew King was talking with a colleague. King is an animal behavior scientist at Swansea University in the United Kingdom. The two traded theories about how groups of animals make decisions. They based their theories on their observations in the wild. “Not all members of a group want to do the same thing, so it’s fascinating to see how they reach a consensus and stick together,” says King. His friend gave an example. He thought that African wild dogs sneeze to vote on when they should begin a hunt. “We laughed and joked but decided to investigate,” says King.

Another researcher recorded packs of wild dogs in the African nation of Botswana. The scientists watched the video to study the animals’ behavior. After a rest, the dogs would start sneezing. The researchers found a pattern. The more the dogs sneezed, the more likely they were to start a hunt. Each “ACHOO!” was a vote to get moving! Sometimes the pack leader wants to leave. Then fewer sneezes from other dogs are needed to get the hunt started. “There is a balance between dominance and democracy,” says King.

When Thomas Seeley was 9 years old, he watched a colony of honeybees move into a hollow in a black walnut tree near his home. “Because these bees were living inside a tree cavity, their activities were hidden, and thus mysterious,” says Seeley. He’s now a biologist at Cornell University in New York and still intrigued by bees—particularly how they decide when and where to move.

When a honeybee colony’s population becomes too large or their old home is no longer suitable, the insects swarm. But before they move to a new location in a large group, scout bees must find a place for the colony to live. To learn how this process works, Seeley needed a way to monitor the scouts during their real estate search. “The key was to prepare swarms of honeybees in which all 5,000 bees were labeled so each could be identified,” he explains. He did this by applying a small number tag to the back of each bee.

Seeley discovered that when a scout bee finds a prospective site for a home, it performs what’s called a “waggle dance” by shaking its body back and forth while walking in a figure-eight pattern. The better the location, the more persistently the scout bee dances. That helps convince other scout bees to check out the proposed site. If they like it too, they join in the dance to “vote” for the relocation. Once enough scouts support the decision, the swarm takes flight to move into its brand-new home.

When Thomas Seeley was 9 years old, he watched a colony of honeybees. They moved into a hollow in a black walnut tree near his home. “Because these bees were living inside a tree cavity, their activities were hidden, and thus mysterious,” says Seeley. Now he’s a biologist at Cornell University in New York. Bees still fascinate him, especially how they decide when and where to move.

Sometimes, a honeybee colony grows too large, or their old home is no longer right for them. Then the insects swarm. They move to a new location in a large group. But first, scout bees must find a place for the colony to live. Seely wanted to learn how this process works. He needed a way to follow the scouts during their real estate search. “The key was to prepare swarms of honeybees in which all 5,000 bees were labeled so each could be identified,” he explains. To do this, he placed a small number tag to the back of each bee.

Seeley watched the scout bees. When one bee finds a possible site for a home, it performs a “waggle dance.” It shakes its body back and forth as it walks in a figure-eight pattern. The better the location, the longer the scout bee dances. That helps convince other scout bees to check out the new site. If they like it too, they join in the dance. That’s how they “vote” for the move. After enough scouts vote “yes,” the swarm takes off. The colony moves into its brand-new home.

Meerkats are highly social mammals found throughout the dry regions of southern Africa. They live in packs of up to 50 animals. Meerkats “talk” to one another using a variety of yelping sounds, or calls, says Marta Manser, a biologist at the University of Zurich in Switzerland. Manser studies meerkats in the wild to learn more about how they communicate. “When following a group closely, it becomes easy to study their behavior and hear their many different call types,” she says.

Meerkats’ diets are made up mostly of sand-dwelling insects. Manser found that when it comes to deciding where to forage, or search for food, the animals rely on a voting process. Her team analyzed meerkats’ calls that signal when they want to move to a new feeding spot. The researchers then tracked the animals’ location using GPS. The scientists discovered that one individual would start to make calls to move. If two or more members responded with the same call—signaling they supported the decision—the entire group would speedily move to a new foraging area. Otherwise, the group continued to forage in the same location.

Meerkats are highly social mammals. They live across the dry areas of southern Africa in packs of up to 50 animals. Meerkats “talk” to one another using different yelping sounds, or calls, says Marta Manser. She’s a biologist at the University of Zurich in Switzerland. Manser studies meerkats in the wild to learn more about their communication. “When following a group closely, it becomes easy to study their behavior and hear their many different call types,” she says.

Meerkats eat mostly sand-dwelling insects. Manser found that the animals use a voting process to decide where to forage, or search for food. Some meerkat calls tell when they want to move to a new feeding spot. Manser’s team studied those calls. Then the researchers tracked the animals with GPS. The scientists discovered that one animal would start to make calls to move. Others could make the same call to support the decision. If two or more members joined in, the entire group would quickly move to a new foraging area. If not, the group continued to forage in the same place.

Baboons live in tight-knit social groups called troops. Meg Crofoot, an anthropologist at the University of California, Davis, wanted to learn how monkeys within a troop made decisions. She fitted each member of a troop in Kenya with a tracking collar, and then monitored the baboons as they searched for food.

The collars recorded the location of each baboon as the troop moved. This data revealed that different baboons led the group at different times. In some instances two leaders would disagree on where to go next. Each monkey guide would head in the direction it wanted the troop to go. If the suggested paths were extremely different, the baboons would vote on who to follow by walking over to that leader. The monkey with the most supporters won—sometimes by a single vote. “There’s a strong majority rule,” says Crofoot.

Much like people, baboons don’t put every group decision to a vote. They may be democratic when making travel plans, but not when arguing over who gets the comfiest spot in a tree, says Crofoot.

Baboons live in tight-knit social groups called troops. Meg Crofoot wanted to learn how monkeys within a troop made decisions. She’s an anthropologist at the University of California, Davis. So she put a tracking collar on each member of a troop in Kenya. Then she followed the baboons as they searched for food.

The collars recorded the location of each baboon as the troop moved. This data showed that different baboons led the group at different times. Sometimes, two leaders would disagree. Each chose a path for the troop to follow. And each leader would head in the direction it wanted to go. If the two paths were very different, the baboons would vote. They would walk over to the leader they wanted to follow. The monkey with the most supporters won, sometimes by a single vote. “There’s a strong majority rule,” says Crofoot.

Much like people, baboons don’t vote on every group decision. They may be democratic about travel plans. But they argue over who gets the most comfortable spot in a tree, says Crofoot.