Why Do Some Animals Eat Poop?

Animals eat their own poop in order to gain extra access to nutrients or to microbes that help digest those nutrients.

LEARN MORE
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To learn more about this topic, start your googling with these keywords:
- Coprophagy: Consuming feces
- Allocoprophagy: Consuming others’ feces
- Autocoprophagy: Consuming one’s own feces
- Fecal microbiota transplant: A treatment for C. diff that involves transplanting feces from a healthy individual into a patient.
- Cecotropes: Also known as night poops, these are the soft, shiny pellets that rabbits excrete and then consume.
- Pap: A special substance produced by mother koalas that their babies feed on during the transition from drinking milk to eating eucalyptus leaves.

CREDITS
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Script Writer: David Goldenberg
Script Editor: Emily Elert
Video Illustrator: Ever Salazar
Video Director: David Goldenberg
Video Narrator: Emily Elert
With Contributions From: Henry Reich, Alex Reich, Kate Yoshida, Peter Reich
Music by: Nathaniel Schroeder

MinuteEarth is produced by Neptune Studios LLC

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OUR LINKS
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REFERENCES
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Eckman, L. (2018). Personal communication. Professor of Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology, UCSD.

Suen, G. (2018). Personal communication. Assistant professor, Department of Bacteriology, University of Wisconsin-Madison.

[cass]

After everything I know about koalas, I’m incredibly surprised that they haven’t gone extinct yet

[saturnzrose]

0:14 I just love how the dog is just a stick figure

[nylaheverything]

Koala: Mommy I’m hungry

*koala mom just finished taking a poop*

Koala Mom: ITS DINNER TIMMEEEE

[juanda]

I love when this channel goes full weird

[nic-xoim]

3:20 me with my little sisters in front of a deadly animal

[animalogic]

Thanks for teaming up with us on this one!

[ThreeSided]

How much time do you spend coming up with those ending puns for each video? I bet it's way longer than you'd like to admit.

[WizardfDogs]

“Ejects a helpless Joey and runs the other way, but it makes sense, she has a spare”. Parents of twins: 👀

[Ben]

Weird question, but if a human were to eat a lot of koala pap, would they then gain the ability to eat eucalyptus leaves?

[ALPHAz]

0:15 theres these perfectly drawn animals then theres the fuken stick figure cat

[rrrrhhhh]

''Pigs eat their own poop''

People: that sounds delicious!!

[oniondev]

poop cycle
- animal eats poop
- poops
repeat

[spottedmask]

1:26 when you realised the animators had a bit too much fun with making this. *Hammond from overwatch*

[zahyeet]

MinuteEarth: poop is nutritious

Me: 👌

[UnPuntoCircular]

I solemnly swear that I have nothing against that freaking rat U_U

[eliseheartless]

Now I know why flies are poop addicted...

[isobelaladin]

This makes sense. This must be why pip (my rabbit) eats her poo. I always thought that she was hungry so I gave her more kibble.

[freddypoop]

When my mom try’s to cook something new 2:42

[gilliansprettyhat]

I caught my Rabbit eating His own Poop ;-;

[pilapilvictoria]

"Thou must eat thine poop" 😥