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The gastro-intestinal parasites of baboons in the Namib Desert, Namibia, were shown, using seat analysis, to be predominantly protozoans, notably amoebae, in contrast to those of baboons from South Africa, which harbour a helminth-dominated fauna. Due to the extreme abiotic characteristics of both soil and water in the desert, these baboons harbour only parasite species which can complete their life-cycles without prolonged exposure to the outside environment: forms transmitted either directly via the faecal-oral or trans-placental/mammary (vertical) routes or indirectly via arthropod intermediate hosts which are eaten.