# Dung Beetle — Facts, Threats & Conservation

*Scarabaeus sacer*

> Dung beetles are beetles that feed on animal droppings, and many are famous for rolling dung into balls and pushing them away to bury as food or a brood chamber. They are remarkably strong for their size and play a vital role in recycling waste, improving soil, and reducing pests.

**IUCN status:** Least Concern  ·  **WARN range:** Africa, Europe, Asia

## Quick facts
| Fact | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Scientific name | Scarabaeus sacer |
| Diet | Coprophagous (animal dung) |
| Habitat | Grasslands, farmland, forests, and deserts |
| Lifespan | Around 1 to 3 years |
| Length | 0.5–3 cm depending on species |
| Strength | Can move many times its own body weight |
| Conservation status | Least Concern (IUCN) |

## Scientific classification
- **Kingdom:** Animalia
- **Phylum:** Arthropoda
- **Class:** Insecta
- **Order:** Coleoptera
- **Family:** Scarabaeidae
- **Genus:** Scarabaeus

## Conservation status
- **Status:** Least Concern (IUCN Red List category)
- **Population:** Global population not compiled for this guide
- **Trend:** See the IUCN Red List assessment
- **Assessed:** See the IUCN Red List assessment
- **CITES:** See CITES appendices
- Conservation figures are drawn from the IUCN Red List and CITES; this guide links to the authoritative sources rather than restating population counts.

## Key facts: Dung Beetle
- Dung beetles use dung in different ways depending on the species.
- Dung beetles are among the strongest animals for their size.
- Both adults and larvae feed on dung, which provides nutrients and moisture.

## Rollers, tunnelers, and dwellers
Dung beetles use dung in different ways depending on the species. Rollers shape dung into balls and push them away to bury, tunnelers dig down beneath a dung pat to store it, and dwellers simply live within the dung itself. The rolling species are the most famous, navigating in straight lines sometimes using the sun, the moon, or even the band of the Milky Way.

## Remarkable strength
Dung beetles are among the strongest animals for their size. Some species can pull loads many hundreds of times their own body weight, the equivalent of a person hauling several loaded trucks. This strength helps them move dung balls far larger and heavier than themselves across uneven ground.

## Diet and reproduction
Both adults and larvae feed on dung, which provides nutrients and moisture. Many species form a brood ball in which the female lays an egg, so the hatching larva has a ready food supply. By burying dung, the beetles also plant it underground where it nourishes the soil.

## Ecological importance
By burying and consuming dung, dung beetles recycle nutrients, improve soil structure, and reduce the breeding grounds of pest flies and parasites that thrive in droppings. They also help disperse seeds contained in dung. These services make them valuable to farmers and to natural grassland ecosystems worldwide.

## What WARN does
WARN does not run a dedicated dung beetle programme — this guide is part of the World Animal Rescue Network's free educational library. The dung beetle is currently widespread and not globally threatened, and this guide helps readers understand the pressures that can change that. Building public understanding of species like the dung beetle supports the broader conservation awareness that underpins WARN's partner-led rescue work across its network.

If clear, science-based wildlife guides like this help you understand and value animals, please consider supporting the World Animal Rescue Network's educational and rescue work so we can keep producing them.

## Frequently asked questions: Dung Beetle
### Why do dung beetles roll dung?
Rolling species shape dung into balls and push them away to bury as a food store or as a brood chamber for their eggs. Moving the dung away reduces competition from other beetles at the original pile.

### How strong are dung beetles?
Dung beetles are among the strongest animals relative to their size, with some species able to pull many hundreds of times their own body weight. This lets them move dung balls far heavier than themselves.

### What do dung beetles eat?
Dung beetles feed on animal droppings, which provide both nutrients and moisture. Both the adults and their larvae rely on dung as their main food source.

### Are dung beetles useful?
Yes. By burying dung they recycle nutrients, improve soil, disperse seeds, and reduce pest flies and parasites. These services make them valuable to farming and natural ecosystems.

### How do dung beetles navigate?
Rolling dung beetles move in straight lines using cues such as the position of the sun or moon, and some can even orient by the band of the Milky Way. This keeps them from circling back to the dung pile.

### Where do dung beetles live?
Dung beetles are found on every continent except Antarctica, in habitats ranging from grasslands and farmland to forests and deserts. They live wherever grazing animals leave droppings to feed on.

### Are dung beetles dangerous?
Dung beetles are not dangerous to people. They have no sting or venom and do not bite humans in normal circumstances. These small beetles feed on animal droppings, recycling nutrients into the soil and reducing pest flies at dung piles. Some rolling species can pull loads many hundreds of times their own body weight. They are listed Least Concern.

### How long do dung beetles live?
Dung beetles typically live around one to three years, though this varies by species and climate. Both adults and larvae feed on dung, with many females laying an egg inside a brood ball that provides food for the hatching larva. By burying dung underground, beetles improve soil structure and disperse seeds contained in droppings — services that benefit farming and natural grassland ecosystems worldwide.

### How big is a dung beetle?
Dung beetles range from about 0.5 to 3 cm in length depending on species, with a typical length around 2.5 cm and weight near 3 g. Despite their small size, they are among the strongest animals relative to body mass, with some species moving dung balls far heavier than themselves across uneven ground. Rollers, tunnellers and dwellers use dung in different ways across grasslands, farmland, forests and deserts.

## Sources
- [Wikipedia — Dung Beetle](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scarabaeus_sacer)
- [Wikidata — Dung Beetle](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1750802)

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Full guide: https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/dung-beetle