The Bubas bison dung beetle was introduced to Tasmania about 20 years ago to bury cow dung, reduce fly numbers, and improve soils... but we don't know if the introduction was successful, and we need some help.
Knowing which dung beetle introductions have been successful is an important part in developing future strategy around dung beetle driven dairy and beef landscape scale soil and productivity improvement. It helps inform decisions around future introductions aimed at filling the spatial and seasonal gaps in dung beetle coverage.
It provides information to help with further distribution of existing species and allows us to update dung beetle distribution maps. Basically, it provides a picture of what is currently happening for people working on dung beetle introductions to respond to.
Andrew Doube has made some dung-beetle shaped chocolates for anyone who spots the beetle.
Can you help us find a Bubas bison? All you have to do is sift through some poo!
Looking for a dung beetle can be as simple as digging around in cow or horse dung with a stick and seeing what is there... sound fun? Get sifting folks!
