Delightful Dung Beetles at Wilder Doddington

Are you passionate about dung beetles? No? We hope you will be after joining our safari!

Dung beetles are incredibly important insects that play a vital role in improving soil health, cleaning pastures, and providing numerous other benefits. Their clean-up operations can even help reduce the number of biting flies. At Wilder Doddington, we’ve developed quite a passion for these fascinating creatures.

Join our Head of Rewilding, Isobel Wright, and ecologist and dung beetle enthusiast Chloe Francis for an immersive experience exploring the cowpats of Wilder Doddington. We’ll venture off the footpaths to delve into the soils and discover the life within them. Chloe has researched the dung beetles of Doddington, identifying 17 different species, including those that live in dung and those that tunnel into the soil beneath our cowpats, pig and pony manure.

During this safari, you’ll learn why dung beetles are important bio-indicators for soil, pasture and livestock health and how they play an important role as we put nature back into focus at Doddington. We’ll teach you how to find, assess, and identify various dung beetle species. Across the country, dung beetle populations are at risk of extinction due to the loss of grazing animals and the use of anti-parasite veterinary medications.

This tour is perfect for anyone fascinated by wildlife or curious about where all the dung goes. No previous experience is necessary! Chloe and Isobel will ‘dive’ into our herbivore manure to search for beetles. Gloves will be provided for those who want to join in.