Dung beetles play a crucial role in cleaning up elephant dung by burying it underground. When an elephant defecates, dung beetles are attracted to the fresh feces and lay their eggs inside. The larvae hatch and feed on the dung, breaking it down and burying it underground. This not only helps to clean up the environment and reduce the amount of dung on the ground, but also helps to enrich the soil with nutrients. The burying of dung by dung beetles also helps to prevent the spread of diseases that might be present in the dung and reduces the attraction of other insects and animals that feed on dung.

Dung beetles use their hind legs to roll dung into a ball, then use their front legs and head to push the ball along the ground to their burrow, where they lay their eggs in it.