Research reveals baboons love to eat antelope poop

By Stephen Beech via SWNS

Baboons love to eat antelope POO, reveals new research.

Scientists uncovered the apes' dirty diet secrets using an innovative camera collar system.

The Durham University team's findings, published in the International Journal of Primatology, provide an unprecedented baboon’s-eye view of their eating habits and interactions with other species.

The researchers found that chacma baboons living in the wild in South Africa are much more opportunistic foragers than previously realized.

The collar cameras allowed the scientists to literally see what a baboon sees - and they were eating antelope feces.

The collar cameras recorded footage showing the apes carefully selecting and eating turds from antelope species including kudu, impala and duiker.

Researchers suggest that they might gain nutrients from the poo when other food is scarce.

The cameras also revealed close encounters between baboons and unhabituated wildlife such as banded mongooses, impalas and nyala.

The researchers said those animals would have fled if the data had been collected by human observation, the more traditional method of studying primate behavior.

They say the pioneering study highlights how collar cameras can uncover the intricate, unseen lives of wild primates for science and conservation.

Lead researcher Ben Walton, a PhD candidate at Durham University, said: “Seeing the world through the eyes of these primates gave us unparalleled insight into their daily lives, including what they eat and how they interact with each other and other species.

“It has been exciting to explore the ways in which cameras such as these could improve our understanding of primate behavior in the future.”

Study co-author Professor Russell Hill added: “Baboons are amongst the best studied primates.

“To uncover undocumented foraging behavior in just a few days using these collar cameras was thus really surprising.

“I have been studying baboons for years, but this primate’s eye view gave me a totally different perspective on their behavior.”

The team says that the method has "amazing potential" to engage the public in research - and footage from the cameras was used in the BBC Natural History Unit documentary: Animals with Cameras.