Fungal Diversity and Potential Health Benefits of Mycophagy in Chacma Baboons ( Papio ursinus )

Humans have consumed mushrooms for food and medicine for thousands of years, yet mycophagy remains understudied among our closest relatives, the nonhuman primates. Some species of primates feature fungi prominently in their diets, in terms of food budget or fungal diversity. Most primate species, however, are observed feeding on a general category of mushrooms for a minority of time feeding and the level of detail in reporting varies widely. In this report, we address this gap, describing fungi eaten by free-ranging baboons (Papio ursinus) in Nature's Valley, South Africa. During routine behavioral observations between August 2023 and July 2025, baboons of multiple age/sex classes in Nature's Valley, South Africa, were recorded eating 13 different fungi. We identified 10 of these 13 fungi to the species level using their physical characteristics. We then assessed overlap with other reported fungal species eaten by primates as well as potential health and ecosystem implications of consumption of these fungi based on human and other mammalian mycophagy literature. Our findings suggest fungal consumption may be underestimated in some cases, but, more importantly, even when fungi are a small portion of the diet or consumed rarely, they may still play an important role that warrants deeper investigation.