Coprophage (Coprophagic Animals)

A coprophage is an animal that particularly consumes feces or dung. The term coprophage stems from Ancient Greek words kópros, meaning dung, and -phágos, meaning eater.¹ Also known as coprophagous or coprophagic animals, they include those that eat feces regularly, such as dung beetles, as well as those that opportunistically eat feces, such as rats.

Coprophagy is different from scavenging, which means eating carrion, and from geophagy, which means eating soil or clay. It is also more specific than detritivory, which refers to eating dead leaves, wood, or other organic debris. Because feces are a type of organic waste, coprophages fit within the broader detritivore category.

Contrary to popular belief, fecal matter is not simply expelled waste. Although it is the end product of digestion, feces can still contain nutrients, essential microbes, and organic matter that another animal may be able to extract more efficiently than the animal that produced it. Thus, for coprophages, feces can serve as a surprisingly rich food source.²

Common Examples

The following table lists the common coprophages that typically feed on fecal matter, as well as how they feed on it.

Animal	How It Feeds
Rabbits	They produce a special, soft fecal material called cecotrophs from the fermented contents of their cecum. They usually eat them directly as they are passed, giving nutrients and microbial products a second chance to move through the digestive system.
Guinea pigs	They re-ingest cecotrophs, often at night, to recover nutrients.
Hamsters	They re-ingest cecotrophs.
Chinchillas	They re-ingest cecotrophs.
Dung beetles	They feed on dung left by larger animals.
Dung fly larvae	They feed on dung left by larger animals.
Termites	They pass fecal material or hindgut fluids between their nestmates, which helps spread the gut microbes they need to digest wood.
Koala joeys (only in the developmental stage)	They feed on pap, a soft maternal fecal substance produced during weaning. This provides the joey with essential gut microbes needed for digesting eucalyptus leaves.
Baby elephants(only in the developmental stage)	They eat small amounts of dung from adult elephants, which helps introduce the gut microbes needed for digesting plant material.

However, not all animals are regular coprophages. For example, red foxes may eat dog feces while foraging,³ Svalbard reindeer may use goose droppings when other resources are not available,⁴ and plateau pikas may eat yak dung during harsh winters.⁵ In a domestic setting, some dogs may eat their own feces or feces from other species, though such a behavior might have underlying medical reasons.

Since coprophagic animals break down feces rapidly, they rapidly release nutrients, such as nitrogen, calcium, and phosphorus, back into the soil, thereby improving its fertility.⁶