Who Pooped?

Crappy job? Not like these zookeepers at the Minnesota Zoo. Droppings can reveal much about the health of an animal. In fact, biologists can even extract DNA from the dung. “Plus it’s free, there’s plenty of it and the animals don’t mind if we take it,” said conservation biologist Tara Harris. The ad agency Preston Kelly of Minneapolis also developed an online game that teaches more about the subject. One way scientists learn about animals is by studying their poop—also called “skat” or “dung.”