Selective deforestation and exposure of African wildlife to bat-borne viruses.

Proposed mechanisms of zoonotic virus spillover often posit that wildlife transmission and amplification precede human outbreaks. Between 2006 and 2012, the palm Raphia farinifera, a rich source of dietary minerals for wildlife, was nearly extirpated from Budongo Forest, Uganda. Since then, chimpanzees, black-and-white colobus, and red duiker were observed feeding on bat guano, a behavior not previously observed. Here we show that guano consumption may be a response to dietary mineral scarcity and may expose wildlife to bat-borne viruses. Videos from 2017-2019 recorded 839 instances of guano consumption by the aforementioned species. Nutritional analysis of the guano revealed high concentrations of sodium, potassium, magnesium and phosphorus. Metagenomic analyses of the guano identified 27 eukaryotic viruses, including a novel betacoronavirus. Our findings illustrate how "upstream" drivers such as socioeconomics and resource extraction can initiate elaborate chains of causation, ultimately increasing virus spillover risk.

Picking pithy plants: Pith selectivity by wild white-faced capuchin monkeys, Cebus imitator.

Understanding diet selectivity is a longstanding goal in primate ecology. Deciphering when and why primates consume different resources can provide insights into their nutritional ecology as well as adaptations to food scarcity. Plant pith, the spongy interior of plant stems, is occasionally eaten by primates, but the context is poorly understood. We examine the ecological, mechanical, chemical, and nutritional basis of plant pith selection by a wild, frugivorous-omnivorous primate (Cebus imitator). We test the hypothesis that pith is a fallback food, that is, consumed when fruit is less abundant, and test for differences between plant species from which pith is eaten versus avoided. We collected 3.5 years of capuchin pith consumption data to document dietary species and analyzed "pith patch visits" in relation to fruit availability, visits to fruit patches, and climatic seasonality. We analyzed dietary and non-dietary species for relative pith quantity, mechanical hardness, odor composition, and macronutrient concentrations. Capuchins ate pith from 11 of  ~300 plant species common in the dry forest, most commonly Bursera simaruba. We find that pith consumption is not directly related to fruit availability or fruit foraging but occurs most frequently (84% of patch visits) during the months of seasonal transition. Relative to common non-dietary species, dietary pith species have relatively higher pith quantity, have softer outer branches and pith, and contain more terpenoids, a class of bioactive compounds notable for their widespread medicinal properties. Our results suggest that greater pith quantity, lower hardness, and a more complex, terpenoid-rich odor profile contribute to species selectivity; further, as pith is likely to be consistently available throughout the year, the seasonality of pith foraging may point to zoopharmacognosy, as seasonal transitions typically introduce new parasites or pathogens. Our study furthers our understanding of how climatic seasonality impacts primate behavior and sheds new light on food choice by an omnivorous primate.

Associations between faecal chemical pollutants and hormones in primates inhabiting Kibale National Park, Uganda.

While anthropogenic pollutants are known to be a threat to primates, our understanding of exposure to pollutants in situ and their sub-lethal effects is still limited. We used non-invasive biomonitoring to examine associations between faecal concentrations of 97 chemical pollutants and faecal hormone metabolites of cortisol and oestradiol in four primate species inhabiting Kibale National Park, Uganda (chimpanzees-Pan troglodytes, olive baboons-Papio anubis, red colobus-Piliocolobus tephrosceles and red-tailed monkeys-Cercopithecus ascanius). Across all species (n = 71 samples), results demonstrated positive associations of organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) (ß = 0.143, p = 0.020) and organophosphate esters (ß = 0.112, p = 0.003) with cortisol in adult females. Additionally, we observed positive associations of OCPs (ß = 0.192, p = 0.013) and brominated flame retardants (ß = 0.176, p = 0.004) with cortisol in juveniles. Results suggest that cumulative pesticides and flame retardants are disruptive to endocrine function in these populations, which could have implications for development, metabolism and reproduction. Our study further demonstrates that faeces can be an important, non-invasive matrix for examining pollutant-hormone associations in wild primates and other critical wildlife populations.

Nutrient balancing in a fruit-specialist primate, the black-and-white ruffed lemur (Varecia variegata).

Animals' foraging behavior and dietary choices are, in part, driven by their ultimate function: to meet nutritional demands. However, depending on their degree of dietary specialization and the availability and distribution of food resources in their environment, species may utilize different nutritional strategies. With shifting plant phenology, increasing unpredictability of fruiting, and declining food quality in response to anthropogenic climate change, existing nutritional constraints may become exacerbated. Such changes are especially concerning for Madagascar's endemic fruit specialists given the nutrient-limitation of the island's landscapes. In this study, we examined the nutritional strategy of one such fruit-specialist primate, the black-and-white ruffed lemur (Varecia variegata), over a 12-month period (January to December 2018) in Ranomafana National Park, Madagascar. We hypothesized that Varecia would balance nonprotein energy (NPE) to protein (AP) at a high ratio similar to other frugivorous primates, and that they would prioritize protein intake given their high degree of frugivory. We found that Varecia balance NPE:AP at a ratio of 11:1, higher than in any other primate studied to date; however, diets shifted such that nutrient balancing varied seasonally (12.6:1 abundant-9.6:1 lean). Varecia meet NRC suggested recommendations of 5-8% of calories from protein, despite having a diet mostly comprising fruits. However, seasonal shifts in NPE intakes result in significant energy shortfalls during fruit-lean seasons. Flowers provide an important source of NPE during these periods, with flower consumption best predicting lipid intake, suggesting this species' ability to shift resource use. Nevertheless, achieving adequate and balanced nutrient intakes may become precarious in the face of increasing unpredictability in plant phenology and other environmental stochasticities resulting from climate change.

Stone tools improve diet quality in wild monkeys.

Tool use is a fundamental feature of human evolution. Stone tools are in the archaeological record from 3.4 Ma, even before Homo,1 and the use of stone tools probably predated the split between hominins and panins.2 Using tools (hereafter, tooling cf Fragaszy and Mangalam3) is hypothesized to have improved hominins' foraging efficiency or access to high-quality foods.4-7 This hypothesis is supported if feeding with tools positively contributes to diet quality in extant non-human primates or if foraging efficiency is increased by tooling. However, the contribution of tooling to non-human primates' foraging success has never been investigated through a direct analysis of nutritional ecology.8,9 We used multi-dimensional nutritional geometry to analyze energy and macronutrients (nonstructural carbohydrates, lipids, and protein) in the diets of wild capuchin monkeys (Sapajus libidinous) that routinely crack palm nuts with stone hammers.10,11 We show that eating nuts obtained through tooling helps monkeys to achieve more consistent dietary intakes. Tooling increased the net energy gain by 50% and decreased the proportion of fiber ingested by 7%. Tooling also increased the daily non-protein energy intake. By contrast, protein intake remained constant across foraging days, suggesting a pattern of macronutrient regulation called protein prioritization, which is also found in contemporary humans.8,9 In addition, tooling reduced dispersion in the ratio of protein to non-protein energy, suggesting a role in macronutrient balancing. Our findings suggest that tooling prior to tool making could have substantially increased the nutritional security of ancestral hominins, sowing the seeds for cultural development.5,7 VIDEO ABSTRACT.

The cost of living in larger primate groups includes higher fly densities.

Flies are implicated in carrying and mechanically transmitting many primate pathogens. We investigated how fly associations vary across six monkey species (Cercopithecus ascanius, Cercopithecus mitis, Colobus guereza, Lophocebus albigena, Papio anubis, and Piliocolobus tephrosceles) and whether monkey group size impacts fly densities. Fly densities were generally higher inside groups than outside them, and considering data from these primate species together revealed that larger groups harbored more flies. Within species, this pattern was strongest for colobine monkeys, and we speculate this might be due to their smaller home ranges, suggesting that movement patterns may influence fly-primate associations. Fly associations increase with group sizes and may thus represent a cost to sociality.

Plant secondary metabolites and primate food choices: A meta-analysis and future directions.

The role of plant secondary metabolites (PSMs) in shaping the feeding decisions, habitat suitability, and reproductive success of herbivorous mammals has been a major theme in ecology for decades. Although primatologists were among the first to test these ideas, studies of PSMs in the feeding ecology of non-human primates have lagged in recent years, leading to a recent call for primatologists to reconnect with phytochemists to advance our understanding of the primate nutrition. To further this case, we present a formal meta-analysis of diet choice in response to PSMs based on field studies on wild primates. Our analysis of 155 measurements of primate feeding response to PSMs is drawn from 53 studies across 43 primate species which focussed primarily on the effect of three classes of PSMs tannins, phenolics, and alkaloids. We found a small but significant effect of PSMs on the diet choice of wild primates, which was largely driven by the finding that colobine primates showed a moderate aversion to condensed tannins. Conversely, there was no evidence that PSMs had a significant deterrent effect on food choices of non-colobine primates when all were combined into a single group. Furthermore, within the colobine primates, no other PSMs influenced feeding choices and we found no evidence that foregut anatomy significantly affected food choice with respect to PSMs. We suggest that methodological improvements related to experimental approaches and the adoption of new techniques including metabolomics are needed to advance our understanding of primate diet choice.

The primate gut mycobiome-bacteriome interface is impacted by environmental and subsistence factors.

The gut microbiome of primates is known to be influenced by both host genetic background and subsistence strategy. However, these inferences have been made mainly based on adaptations in bacterial composition - the bacteriome and have commonly overlooked the fungal fraction - the mycobiome. To further understand the factors that shape the gut mycobiome of primates and mycobiome-bacteriome interactions, we sequenced 16 S rRNA and ITS2 markers in fecal samples of four different nonhuman primate species and three human groups under different subsistence patterns (n = 149). The results show that gut mycobiome composition in primates is still largely unknown but highly plastic and weakly structured by primate phylogeny, compared with the bacteriome. We find significant gut mycobiome overlap between captive apes and human populations living under industrialized subsistence contexts; this is in contrast with contemporary hunter-gatherers and agriculturalists, who share more mycobiome traits with diverse wild-ranging nonhuman primates. In addition, mycobiome-bacteriome interactions were specific to each population, revealing that individual, lifestyle and intrinsic ecological factors affect structural correspondence, number, and kind of interactions between gut bacteria and fungi in primates. Our findings indicate a dominant effect of ecological niche, environmental factors, and diet over the phylogenetic background of the host, in shaping gut mycobiome composition and mycobiome-bacteriome interactions in primates.

Zootherapy as a potential pathway for zoonotic spillover: a mixed-methods study of the use of animal products in medicinal and cultural practices in Nigeria.

BACKGROUND: Understanding how and why people interact with animals is important for the prevention and control of zoonoses. To date, studies have primarily focused on the most visible forms of human-animal contact (e.g., hunting and consumption), thereby blinding One Health researchers and practitioners to the broader range of human-animal interactions that can serve as cryptic sources of zoonotic diseases. Zootherapy, the use of animal products for traditional medicine and cultural practices, is widespread and can generate opportunities for human exposure to zoonoses. Existing research examining zootherapies omits details necessary to adequately assess potential zoonotic risks. METHODS: We used a mixed-methods approach, combining quantitative and qualitative data from questionnaires, key informant interviews, and field notes to examine the use of zootherapy in nine villages engaged in wildlife hunting, consumption, and trade in Cross River State, Nigeria. We analyzed medicinal and cultural practices involving animals from a zoonotic disease perspective, by including details of animal use that may generate pathways for zoonotic transmission. We also examined the sociodemographic, cultural, and environmental contexts of zootherapeutic practices that can further shape the nature and frequency of human-animal interactions. RESULTS: Within our study population, people reported using 44 different animal species for zootherapeutic practices, including taxonomic groups considered to be "high risk" for zoonoses and threatened with extinction. Variation in use of animal parts, preparation norms, and administration practices generated a highly diverse set of zootherapeutic practices (n = 292) and potential zoonotic exposure risks. Use of zootherapy was patterned by demographic and environmental contexts, with zootherapy more commonly practiced by hunting households (OR = 2.47, p < 0.01), and prescriptions that were gender and age specific (e.g., maternal and pediatric care) or highly seasonal (e.g., associated with annual festivals and seasonal illnesses). Specific practices were informed by species availability and theories of healing (i.e., "like cures like" and sympathetic healing and magic) that further shaped the nature of human-animal interactions via zootherapy. CONCLUSIONS: Epidemiological investigations of zoonoses and public health interventions that aim to reduce zoonotic exposures should explicitly consider zootherapy as a potential pathway for disease transmission and consider the sociocultural and environmental contexts of their use in health messaging and interventions.

Maternal feeding benefits of allomaternal care in black-and-white colobus (Colobus guereza).

Caring for infants involves lactation, protection, provisioning, and carrying-all energetically taxing states for primate mothers. Holding and carrying clinging infants often constrains mothers from moving and traveling, potentially reducing their food and energy intake; however, when separated from its mother an infant is at risk of predation. This separation therefore requires that mothers be vigilant, further deterring them from feeding. Allomaternal care (AMC) is hypothesized to allow mothers to safely detach from their infants to feed, permitting them to increase energy intake, which is particularly needed for lactation. We examined the nutritional benefits of AMC in black-and-white colobus monkeys (Colobus guereza) by estimating energy intake by lactating mothers during AMC versus non-AMC. We studied seven mother-infant dyads in three groups of C. guereza during six months in Kibale National Park, Uganda. Immature group members handled infants more often than adults, and females handled infants more often than males. An infant's distance to its mother and its nearest neighbor's age and sex best predicted the occurrence of AMC. Lactating mothers fed more often, fed and rested for longer durations, and consumed more metabolizable energy during AMC compared to when they were caring for their infants. These results demonstrate that AMC in C. guereza provides mothers with feeding opportunities that increase their energy intake.

Western chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) access a nutritionally balanced, high energy, and abundant food, baobab (Adansonia digitata) fruit, with extractive foraging and reingestion.

Intrinsic to several hypotheses explaining the evolution of foraging behavior complexity, such as proto-tool use, is the assumption that more complex ingestive behaviors are adaptations allowing individuals to access difficult to procure but nutritionally or energetically rewarding foods. However, nutritional approaches to understanding this complexity have been underutilized. The goal of this study was to evaluate potential nutritional determinants of two unusual foraging behaviors, fruit cracking with anvils and seed reingestion, by adult male western chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) at Fongoli, Senegal during the baobab (Adansonia digitata) fruit season. We examined these behaviors in relation to nutrient and energy intake, and compared macronutrient and energy concentrations found in baobab fruits to other plant foods. Adult males ingested at least 31 distinct foods from 23 plant species. Baobab fruit comprised the majority of daily energy intake (68 ± 34%, range: 0%-98%). The energetic concentration of baobab fruit varied by phenophase and part ingested, with ripe and semi-ripe fruit ranking high in energy return rate. Males preferred ripe and semi-ripe baobab fruit but unripe fruit intake was higher overall. The seed kernels were high in protein and fat relative to fruit pulp, and these kernels were easier to access during the unripe stage. During the ripe stage, seed kernels were accessible by reingestion, after the seed coat was softened during gut passage. In addition to providing macronutrients and energy, baobab fruit was a relatively abundant food source. We conclude that baobab pulp and seed are high quality foods at Fongoli during the baobab season because they are nutritionally balanced, high in energy, and relatively abundant in the environment. These nutritional and abundance characteristics may explain, in part, why these chimpanzees use anvils and reingestion to access a mechanically challenging food.

Nutritional geometry of female chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes).

Primate foraging is influenced by the spatial and temporal distribution of foods, which may facilitate or constrain optimal nutrient intakes. Chimpanzees are frugivorous primates that mainly subsist on ripe fruit that is typically low in available protein (AP) and high in easily digestible carbohydrates. Because chimpanzees prefer ripe fruit and often eat it in large quantities compared with other foods, we hypothesized that protein intake would be tightly regulated while non-protein energy (NPE) would vary with fruit intake. To test this hypothesis, we conducted all-day follows on female chimpanzees, recorded all types of food consumed (i.e., drupes, figs, and non-fruit foods), estimated the nutritional contributions of these foods to daily NPE and AP intake and investigated how the ratio of NPE to AP varied due to changes in the types of foods consumed. Although the proportions of drupes, figs, and non-fruit foods varied in their diets, female chimpanzees maintained a relatively stable intake of AP while intake of NPE varied depending on the daily diet, demonstrating that like other frugivorous primates studied to date, chimpanzees prioritize protein. The mean daily ratio of NPE to AP was 7:1, which is similar to that of other frugivorous primates studied. Our results support the hypothesis that frugivorous animals may generally prioritize AP, while maximizing NPE intake within that constraint, and could shed light on aspects of human dietary evolution.

High levels of infant handling by adult males in Rwenzori Angolan colobus (Colobus angolensis ruwenzorii) compared to two closely related species, C. guereza and C. vellerosus.

Infant handling (holding or carrying) by adult males is rare in mammals; however, high levels have been reported in some primates. Though infant handling is a costly behaviour, there are many benefits that male handlers can accrue. Infant handling by males is most conspicuous in platyrrhines and tends to be uncommon in catarrhines. In the latter species, research on male-infant interactions has focused on low-cost behaviours, such as proximity and grooming. However, to better understand the evolution of infant handling by males, more data on its occurrence across the Primate order are essential, even in species where it is relatively uncommon. We compare the occurrence of infant handling by males in three closely related species of catarrhine: Colobus vellerosus, C. guereza, and C. angolensis ruwenzorii. We collected focal animal samples on infants to quantify infant handling rates and durations, and found that adult male C. a. ruwenzorii handled infants much more frequently and for much longer than males in the other two species. We discuss how C. a. ruwenzorii's unique social organization may explain high levels of infant handling by adult males in this species. More long-term and detailed comparisons of infant handling across species and populations will shed light on how sociality has shaped the evolution of this behaviour in the Primate order.

Evolution of water conservation in humans.

To sustain life, humans and other terrestrial animals must maintain a tight balance of water gain and water loss each day.1-3 However, the evolution of human water balance physiology is poorly understood due to the absence of comparative measures from other hominoids. While humans drink daily to maintain water balance, rainforest-living great apes typically obtain adequate water from their food and can go days or weeks without drinking4-6. Here, we compare isotope-depletion measures of water turnover (L/d) in zoo- and rainforest-sanctuary-housed apes (chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas, and orangutans) with 5 diverse human populations, including a hunter-gatherer community in a semi-arid savannah. Across the entire sample, water turnover was strongly related to total energy expenditure (TEE, kcal/d), physical activity, climate (ambient temperature and humidity), and fat free mass. In analyses controlling for those factors, water turnover was 30% to 50% lower in humans than in other apes despite humans' greater sweating capacity. Water turnover in zoo and sanctuary apes was similar to estimated turnover in wild populations, as was the ratio of water intake to dietary energy intake (∼2.8 mL/kcal). However, zoo and sanctuary apes ingested a greater ratio of water to dry matter of food, which might contribute to digestive problems in captivity. Compared to apes, humans appear to target a lower ratio of water/energy intake (∼1.5 mL/kcal). Water stress due to changes in climate, diet, and behavior apparently led to previously unknown water conservation adaptations in hominin physiology.

Opportunities for respiratory disease transmission from people to chimpanzees at an East African tourism site.

Respiratory illnesses, including COVID-19, present a serious threat to endangered wild chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) populations. In some parts of sub-Saharan Africa, chimpanzee tracking is a popular tourism activity, offering visitors a chance to view apes in their natural habitats. Chimpanzee tourism is an important source of revenue and thus benefits conservation; however, chimpanzee tracking may also increase the risk of disease transmission from people to chimpanzees directly (e.g., via aerosol transmission) or indirectly (e.g., through the environment or via fomites). This study assessed how tourist behaviors might facilitate respiratory disease transmission at a chimpanzee tracking site in Kibale National Park, Uganda. We observed tourists, guides, and student interns from the time they entered the forest to view the chimpanzees until they left the forest and noted behaviors related to disease transmission. Common behaviors included coughing, sneezing, and urinating, which respectively occurred during 88.1%, 65.4%, and 36.6% of excursions. Per excursion, individuals touched their faces an average of 125.84 ± 34.45 times and touched large tree trunks or branches (which chimpanzees might subsequently touch) an average of 230.14 ± 108.66 times. These results show that many pathways exist by which pathogens might move from humans to chimpanzees in the context of tourism. Guidelines for minimizing the risk of such transmission should consider tourist behavior and the full range of modes by which pathogen transmission might occur between tourists and chimpanzees.

The geometry of resource constraint: An empirical study of the golden snub-nosed monkey.

Apposite conceptualization and measurement of resource variation is critical for understanding many issues in ecology, including ecological niches, persistence and distribution of populations, the structure of communities and population resilience to perturbations. We apply the nutritional geometry framework to conceptualize and quantify the responses of a temperate-living primate, the golden snub-nosed monkey Rhinopithecus roxellana to variation in resource quality and quantity and in nutrient requirements associated with seasonal environments. We present a geometric model distinguishing qualitative constraint, quantitative constraint and 'pseudo-constraint' whereby nutrient intakes resemble response to qualitative resource constraint but are in fact driven by variation in nutrient requirements. The model is applied to analyse nutrient intakes recorded in 164 full-day observations of monkeys from two populations, one wild and the other captive, across seasons. Additionally, we recorded the diet of a single animal over 32 consecutive days in the wild. Despite considerable differences in available resources, the captive and wild populations showed marked similarities in nutrient intakes, including indistinguishable amounts and ratios of ingested macronutrients during summer and autumn and strong year-round maintenance of protein compared to seasonally variable fat and carbohydrate intakes. These similarities suggest homeostatically regulated nutritional targets and provide reference points to identify factors driving population differences in macronutrient intake in winter and spring. Our framework enabled us to distinguish examples of quantitative, qualitative and 'pseudo-constraint'. We suggest that this approach can increase the resolution at which resource constraint is conceptualized and measured in ecological studies.

Feces are Effective Biological Samples for Measuring Pesticides and Flame Retardants in Primates.

The habitats of wild primates are increasingly threatened by surrounding anthropogenic pressures, but little is known about primate exposure to frequently used chemicals. We applied a novel method to simultaneously measure 21 legacy pesticides (OCPs), 29 current use pesticides (CUPs), 47 halogenated flame retardants (HFRs), and 19 organophosphate flame retardants in feces from baboons in the U.S.A., howler monkeys in Costa Rica, and baboons, chimpanzees, red-tailed monkeys, and red colobus in Uganda. The most abundant chemicals were α-hexachlorocyclohexane (α-HCH), ß-hexachlorocyclohexane (ß-HCH), and hexachlorobenzene among OCPs across all sites, chlorpyrifos among CUPs in Costa Rica and Indiana, decabromodiphenylethane (DBDPE) in Costa Rica and Indiana and 2, 2', 4, 4'-tetrabromodiphenyl ether (BDE-47) in Uganda as HFRs, and tris(2-butoxyethyl) phosphate (TBOEP) as OPFRs across all sites. The detected chemical concentrations were generally higher in red-tailed monkeys and red colobus than in chimpanzees and baboons. Our methods can be used to examine the threat of chemical pollutants to wildlife, which is critical for endangered species where only noninvasive methods can be used.

Wood and meat as complementary sources of sodium for Kanyawara chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes).

OBJECTIVES: Sodium, a vital micronutrient that is often in scarce supply for tropical herbivores, is sometimes found at high concentration in decaying wood. We tested two hypotheses for chimpanzees: first, that wood-eating facilitates acquisition of sodium; second, that wood-eating occurs in response to the low availability of sodium from other dietary sources. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We studied the behavior of more than 50 chimpanzees of all age-sex classes in the Kanyawara community of Kibale National Park, Uganda. We quantified the sodium content of dietary items, including wood samples from tree species that chimpanzees consumed or did not consume. To assess variation in sodium intake, we used 7 years of data on time spent feeding on plant foods, 18 months of data on rates of food intake by adult females, and 20 years of data on meat-eating. RESULTS: Major dietary sources of sodium were wood, fruits and meat. Chimpanzees consumed wood primarily from decaying trees of Neoboutonia macrocalyx (Euphorbiaceae), which had substantially higher sodium content than all other dietary items tested. Wood-eating was negatively correlated with fruit-eating. Females ate wood more often than males, while males had a greater probability of consuming meat at predation events. DISCUSSION: We propose that females ate wood more often than males because females had reduced access to meat, their preferred source of sodium. This hypothesis suggests that the need for sodium is a motivating reason for chimpanzees to consume both meat and wood.

Eating Bushmeat Improves Food Security in a Biodiversity and Infectious Disease "Hotspot".

Hunting and consumption of wild animals, colloquially known as "bushmeat," is associated with health trade-offs. Contact with wildlife increases exposure to wildlife-origin zoonotic diseases yet bushmeat is an important nutritional resource in many rural communities. In this study, we test the hypothesis that bushmeat improves food security in communities that hunt and trade bushmeat regularly. We conducted 478 interviews with men and women in six communities near Cross River National Park in Nigeria. We used interview responses to relate prevalence and diversity of bushmeat consumption to household food security status. Animal-based foods were the most commonly obtained items from the forest, and 48 types of wild vertebrate animals were consumed within the past 30 days. Seventy-five percent of households experienced some degree of food insecurity related to food access. Bushmeat consumption was significantly associated with relatively higher household food security status. Rodents were more important predictors of food security than other animal taxa. Despite increased bushmeat consumption in food-secure households, food-insecure households consumed a higher diversity of bushmeat species. Results show that consumption of bushmeat, especially rodents, is uniquely related to improved food security. Reliance on a wider diversity of species in food-insecure households may in turn affect their nutrition, exposures to reservoirs of zoonotic infections, and impact on wildlife conservation. Our results indicate that food security should be addressed in conservation and public health strategies aimed at reducing human-wildlife contact, and that improved wildlife protection, when combined with alternative animal-based foods, would positively affect food security in the long term.