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Coprophagia

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Coprophagia is the consumption of feces, from the Greek copros (feces) and phagein (eat). Many animal species have evolved to practice coprophagia; other species do not normally consume feces but may do so under unusual conditions. Only in rare cases is it practiced by humans.

Evolved coprophagia

Two Common Blue butterflies feed on a small lump of feces lying on a rock.

Coprophagous insects consume and redigest the feces of large animals; these feces contain substantial amounts of semi-digested food. (Herbivore digestive systems are especially inefficient.) The most famous dung-eating insect is dung-beetle and the most ubiquitous being the fly.

Pigs are most commonly associated with eating not only their own feces, but those of other animals and humans. In parts of the third world, where villager dwellers excrete in the open, pigs are known to eat this excretia.

Rabbits, cavies (guinea pigs) and related species do not have the complicated ruminant digestive system. Instead they extract more nutrition from grass by giving their food a second pass through the gut. Soft caecal pellets of partially digested food are excreted and generally consumed immediately. They also produce normal droppings, which are not re-eaten.

Young elephants eat the feces of their mother to obtain the necessary bacteria for the proper digestion of the vegetation found on the savannah. When they are born, their intestines do not contain these bacteria. Without them, these elephants would be unable to get any nutritional value from plants.

Gorillas eat their own feces and the feces of other gorillas.

Hamsters eat their own droppings; this is thought to be a source of vitamins B and K, produced by bacteria in the gut. Apes have been observed eating horse droppings for the salt. Monkeys have been observed to eat elephant droppings.

Theories on Dogs

Coprophagia is a behavior sometimes observed by dog owners. Hofmeister, Cumming, and Dhein (2001) wrote that this behavior in dogs has not been well-researched, and are currently preparing a study. In a preliminary paper, they write that there are various theories for this, although none have been proven:

  • To get attention from their owners.
  • From anxiety, stress, or having been punished for bad behaviors.
  • From boredom.
  • In an attempt to clean up in crowded conditions.
  • When dogs observe their owners picking up feces, and imitate this behavior (allelomimetic behavior). This is highly improbable because the behaviour has also been observed in environments where owners never picked up the dog's (or other) feces.
  • Because puppies taste everything and discover that feces are edible and, perhaps, tasty, especially when fed a high fat content diet.
  • Because dogs are, by nature, scavengers, and this is within the range of scavenger behavior.
  • To prevent the scent from attracting predators, especially mother dogs eating their offspring's feces.
  • Because the texture and temperature of fresh feces approximates that of regurgitated food, which is how canine mothers in the wild would provide solid food.
  • Because of the protein content of the feces (particularly cat feces), or over-feeding, leading to large concentrations of undigested matter in the feces.
  • Due to assorted health problems, including:
    • Pancreatitis
    • Intestinal infections
    • Food allergies, creating mal-absorption
  • Because they are hungry, such as when eating routines are changed, food is withheld, or nutrients are not properly absorbed.
  • As a dieting technique

Another theory proposes that carnivores sometimes eat the feces of their prey in order to ingest and exude scents which camouflage their own.

Several companies produce food additives that can be added to the troublesome animal's food to make its feces taste excessively bad.

Humans

Coprophagia is extremely uncommon in humans. It is generally thought to be the result of the paraphilia known as coprophilia, although it is only diagnosable in extreme cases where it disturbs one's functioning. Consuming other people's feces carries the risk of contracting diseases spread through fecal matter, such as hepatitis. Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B, pneumonia, and influenza vaccinations are generally recommended for those who engage in this practice. Consuming one's own feces potentially involves risk, as the bowel bacteria and eggs of parasitic worms are not safe to ingest. Similar risk can apply to related sexual practices, such as anilingus or inserting an object into the mouth that has recently been in the anus (see ass to mouth). The practice of coprophagia in humans is also depicted in a handful of motion pictures. For examples see section Coprophagia in motion pictures below.

Lewin (2001) reports that "... consumption of fresh, warm camel feces has been recommended by Bedouins as a remedy for bacterial dysentery; its efficacy (probably attributable to the antibiotic subtilisin from Bacillus subtilis) was confirmed by German soldiers in Africa during World War II."

Coprophagia in motion pictures

Of course, there are only a small handful of films where the procedure of eating real human feces, is shown in pictures, but they do exist. One of the most well known films - besides often rated as one of the most disgusting and brutal films ever made in film history - is Pier Paolo Pasolini's Salò o le 120 giornate di Sodoma where the human feces were actually a mix of black chocolate and marmalade.

Other notable films (mostly comedy films too, which, however, do not involve human feces) include

Coprophagia in literature

See also

References

  • Lewin, Ralph A. (2001). ""More on Merde"". Perspectives in Biology and Medicine. 44 (4): 594–607.
  • Hofmeister, Erik, Melinda Cumming, and Cheryl Dhein (2001). "Owner Documentation of Coprophagia in the Canine". {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link). Accessed November 17, 2005.
  • Wise, T.N., and R.L. Goldberg (1995). ""Escalation of a fetish: coprophagia in a nonpsychotic adult of normal intelligence"". J. Sex Marital Ther. 21 (4): 272–5.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
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