Domestication or otherwise domestication is the process of changing wild animals or plants, in which for many generations they are kept by humans genetically isolated from their wild form and subjected to artificial selection.

The process of domestication of wild animals begins with the artificial selection of individuals to obtain offspring with certain traits necessary for man. Individuals are typically selected for certain desired characteristics, including reduced aggression towards humans and members of their own species. In this regard, it is customary to speak of the taming of the wild species. The purpose of domestication is the use of an animal in agriculture as a farm animal or as a pet. If this goal is achieved, we can talk about a domesticated animal. The domestication of an animal radically changes the conditions for the further development of the species. Natural evolutionary development is replaced by artificial selection according to breeding criteria. Thus, within the framework of domestication, the genetic properties of the species change.

One of the first animals domesticated by man was the dog. It happened according to some sources from 9 to 17 thousand years ago.

The study of the fossil remains of ancient dogs began in 1862, when skulls of the Neolithic period were found in Switzerland. This dog was called "peaty", and later its remains were found everywhere in Europe, including on Lake Ladoga, as well as in Egypt. Peat dog outwardly did not change during the entire Stone Age, its remains were found even in the deposits of the Roman era. The Spitz-shaped dog of the Samoyed is considered a direct descendant of the peat dog. A dog from Lake Ladoga, larger than a typical peat dog, is attributed to the ancestors of Great Danes, and sometimes Laikas. With the ancestors of the dog itself, there is less clarity. The following are named as such: 1) wolves - both our gray Tambov comrade and Indian (the most common hypothesis); 2) wolves and jackals; 3) the now extinct wild "great dog" - Carl Linnaeus, the creator of the first classification of living beings, thought so. According to the method of application, five main types of dogs are distinguished: mastiffs, wolf-like dogs, greyhounds, hunting pointer-like and shepherd dogs. Since ancient times, dogs have been drawn, carved in stone, minted on coins - this gives us the opportunity to trace the development of the "relationship" between a dog and a person. In ancient Egyptian tombs, images of the pharaoh dog, deified by the Egyptians, were found: thus, according to Herodotus, mourning was declared in connection with the death of a dog in Egyptian homes. On the bas-reliefs of Babylon and Assyria, we see mastiffs used for hunting and as fighting dogs. In Greece and Rome, there are many coins depicting dogs, the oldest of which date back to the 7th-6th centuries. BC e. Fighting dogs were in special demand. In the army of Alexander the Great, they occupied a place of honor. Assyro-Babylonian dogs, known as Epirus or Molossian dogs, were brought to Ancient Greece and Rome, where they were also used as fighting dogs. Dogs of hunting breeds, greyhounds and hounds were highly valued (the constellation of Hounds of Dogs, which remained in the sky with their master, Actaeon, is named after them).

In Rome, fighting dogs began to act as gladiators, competing alone with bulls, lions, elephants, and bears. Miniature decorative melites, which later became known as Maltese lapdogs, also became widespread there. The passion of matrons for dogs was so great that the emperors repeatedly condemned him, because, in their opinion, this prevented noble ladies from having children.

In the 1st century BC e. the first treatise on dogs known to us appears. In Marcus Terentius Varro's encyclopedic essay On Agriculture, he describes the different types of dogs, puppy selection, dog food, breeding, and dog training. However, even earlier in China and Japan, written references to the upbringing and breeding of dogs were preserved - they are about four thousand years old. A monument was erected to the dog that saved the ancient Greek city of Corinth. And in Pompeii, covered with ashes, a large dog was found covering the body of a child. The inscription on the silver collar said that the dog had already saved the life of his master twice...

The goat was apparently the next most domesticated. It happened from 9 to 12 thousand years ago on the territory of modern Iran, Iraq, Palestine. Her wild ancestors were bezoar and markhorn goats. The goat was respected as a nurse (according to legend, the goat Amalthea nursed the baby Zeus), and the goat skin refers to the divine attire of Pallas Athena. Images of goats are also on the frescoes of Ancient Egypt. Not all the consequences of friendship with goats were predictable. The domestication of goats gave humans high-quality milk, wool, and leather, but also harmed their habitat. Where herds of goats graze for a long time, all vegetation disappears, and a desert sets in on a flowering land. Goats not only completely destroy the shoots - they even get to shallow seeds that could germinate in the coming rainy season. The soil exposed by goats is subject to erosion. Such a fate befell the plateaus of Castile, and Asia Minor, and the once famous Moroccan and Lebanese cedar groves.

Around the same time - 10-11 thousand years ago - a sheep was domesticated on the territory of modern Iran. From there, domestic sheep - the descendants of wild argali and mouflon sheep - first came to Persia, then to Mesopotamia. Already in the twentieth century. BC in Mesopotamia there were various breeds of sheep, one of which - a fine-fleeced sheep with horns twisted in a spiral - was widely distributed: merino sheep then became the pride of Spain. 7-12 thousand years ago, a cat appeared next to a person. Cats that settled near human habitation of their own free will are an exception among domestic animals.

It is generally accepted that the North African and Western Asian steppe buckskin cat, domesticated in Nubia about four thousand years ago, is considered the single ancestor of the domestic murka. From here, the domestic cat came to Egypt, later crossing in Asia with the forest Bengal cat. In Europe, fluffy aliens met with a local, wild European forest cat. The result of crossings is the modern variety of breeds and colors. Fossil remains of cats have been found in the Neolithic and Bronze Age layers of Asia Minor and in the Caucasus, Jordan and the cities of Ancient India. On the paintings in the tombs of Sakkarakh (2750-2650 BC), the cat is depicted with a collar, and on the fresco from Beni Hassan, in the house, next to the mistress. In Egypt, cats were in a special position among other deified animals. Their corpses were embalmed and buried in magnificent tombs in special cemeteries. They were considered the incarnation of Bast, the goddess of the moon and fertility, in whose temple in Bubastis sometimes up to 700 thousand believers gathered for the holidays. Archaeologists have discovered about 300 thousand cat mummies dating back to the 4th millennium BC. e. In the 19th century, an enterprising merchant loaded a whole ship with them in Egypt and brought them to Manchester, thinking of selling them for fertilizer. The idea failed, and most of the mummies ended up in scientific collections. The law also protected the sacred animal: for the murder of a cat, severe punishment was threatened, up to the death penalty (Herodotus tells about the unfortunate Greek who unknowingly killed a cat). The export of cats abroad has long been banned. Only in the second millennium BC, domestic cats appeared in Babylon, then in India, China and Japan. From Egypt, the cat on the ships of the Phoenician merchants came to many parts of the Mediterranean, but until the beginning of AD. e. she was a rare and expensive animal. The demand for cats began to fall sharply only with the spread of Christianity, which took them sharply negatively. If in the era of early Christianity, cats could still live at monasteries (in a number of women's monasteries, they were generally the only animals that were allowed to be kept), then later cats (especially black ones) began to be perceived as accomplices of witches, sorcerers and the devil personally. Innocent animals became victims of the Inquisition, they were hanged and burned as heretics.

On all Christian holidays, unfortunate animals were burned alive and buried in the ground, fried on iron rods and in cages with ritual ceremonies in front of crowds of believers. In Flanders, in the city of Ipern, Wednesday in the second week of Lent was called "cat's" - on this day, cats were thrown from a high tower. The custom was introduced by Count Baldwin of Flanders in the 10th century and lasted until 1868. European cats would inevitably have been exterminated, but they were saved by the invasion of rats that brought the "black death" - the plague, and the cats found a worthy use for themselves, and then the respect of the owners .

The "peers" of cats - by the time of taming - are geese. Geese were the first among birds to be domesticated: the wild gray species - in Europe, the Nile - in North Africa, the Siberian-Chinese - in China. Found drawings of the Nile goose, bred in Egypt in the 11th millennium BC. e.

In historical times, geese were kept in almost all countries of Europe, Asia and North Africa. In ancient Greece, geese were dedicated to Aphrodite; in Rome, they began to be treated with great respect after, according to legend, at the beginning of the 4th century. BC e. sensitive birds, raising the alarm, helped to repel the attack of the Gauls. Seven thousand years ago, ducks, descendants of the common mallard, were domesticated in Mesopotamia and China.

Chickens as poultry first appeared in South Asia. Their wild ancestor was the banking rooster. Chickens were bred both for eggs and meat, and for fights. Themistocles, going to war with the Persians, included cockfighting in the training program so that the soldiers, looking at the birds, learned from them stamina and courage. From the bold cocky birds the people of the Gauls got their name.

Buffaloes - the most valuable domestic animals in the countries of Southeast Asia - were tamed about 9 thousand years ago. Surprisingly unpretentious in food, tireless in work and immune to many diseases that are detrimental to other livestock, with the conquests of Islam, they were brought by the Arabs to Asia Minor and North Africa, from Egypt to East. The Arabs brought buffaloes to Sicily and northern Italy, and the Turks to the Balkans.

Approximately 8.5 thousand years ago, a cow was domesticated. This happened, according to different versions, on the territory of modern Turkey, in Spain, South Asia... Its wild ancestor tour was exterminated in the Middle Ages, and the cow, which spread around the world in antiquity, was everywhere elevated to the rank of a sacred animal. This status is still maintained in many Indian religious schools and in Africa. Sacred winged bulls carved from stone adorned the temples of Assyria and Persia. In Egypt, the bull Apis was the earthly incarnation of the patron god of Memphis, Ptah. In Crete, the birthplace of the bull-headed minotaur, bulls participated in the famous bull games - circus performances with religious overtones. And it is not for nothing that one of the epithets of the goddess Hera is “eyed”... Buffaloes and bulls were widely used not only as sources of milk, meat, skins, but also as draft animals. They dragged heavy carts and rallies behind them, helping a person to farm.

Their analogue in South America was the llama and alpaca, tamed five to seven thousand years ago in Peru. Before the arrival of the Spaniards, llamas were the only transport animal among the Indians. On mountain roads, a llama can carry a load of 50-60 kilograms, which is quite a lot, considering that she herself weighs about a hundred. Alpaca is bred for its fine wool.

Pigs were domesticated 9,000 years ago in China and Southeast Asia, bred for meat and skins. Somewhat later, their images appear on the frescoes of Ancient Egypt. The pigs of those times are not like the pigs we are used to, but the current boars: sinewy, agile, very thin by modern standards.

In Europe, pigs were grazed on peculiar lands - in oak groves. These artiodactyls love to feast on acorns, although they are able to digest almost any organic food. The ever-hungry pigs were a source of trouble in medieval cities. Their usual crime is infanticide. They were treated like criminals - they were arrested, kept in the city prison on an equal footing with people, tried, sentenced to hanging ... And the piglets were confiscated in favor of the court.

The first centers of domestication of the horse appeared 4 thousand years BC. e. Presumably, two types of wild horse were domesticated: small, broad-browed steppe horses, vaguely similar to tarpans (wild European horses that died out in the Middle Ages), and larger forest horses, with a narrow forehead, long facial part of the head and thin limbs. Domestic horses retained signs of wild ancestors for a long time. The peoples of the Ancient East were the first to improve horses. In the VII-VI centuries. BC e. The best in the world were the Nesean horses of the Persian kingdom.

The regions adjoining the Caspian Sea were famous for horse breeding. At the end of the first millennium BC. e. the glory of the Nesean horses was inherited by the horses of the Parthian kingdom, which was formed on the site of the northern provinces of Persia and Bactria. The Parthian horses of a golden-red color were stately and for those times high (one and a half meters), they became a desirable military prey of any state. Horse breeding in the forest belt of Eastern Europe was completely different in those days - here horses were used mainly for meat, their height was only 120-130 cm. In the 17th century BC. e. chariots appeared. Thanks to them, the Hyksos, alien tribes, conquered Egypt for a long time. Much later, cavalry appeared - armed horsemen in large military formations (individual riders were much earlier), this happened at the beginning of the 1st millennium BC. e. at the Assyrians. Interestingly, at the beginning, the equestrian warrior, as in chariots, had a right-handed driver: in battle, he controlled two horses (his and his warrior), while the fighter freed both hands for shooting and throwing darts.

The African wild donkey was domesticated 5-6 thousand years ago. Domestic donkeys have long been the main transport animal, especially in those countries where horses were not known or for some reason the use of donkeys was preferable. The donkey's hooves are much stronger than those of the horse, and they do not need horseshoes even on stony and uneven mountainous soil. Donkeys were widely used as riding and pack animals for many millennia, they were used in the construction of the Egyptian pyramids and even in battles. So, the Persian king Darius once, with the help of donkeys, dispersed the army of the Scythians, who had never seen these animals and were frightened.

In Europe and Asia, strong, tall breeds of domestic donkeys were bred, such as the Khomad ones in Iran, the Catalan ones in Spain, and the Bukhara ones in Central Asia. In Greece, the donkey was dedicated to the god of winemaking, Dionysius, and was part of his intoxicated retinue along with the sileni and satyrs.

Originating about five thousand years ago in India, falconry quickly conquered the world, and the "sport of kings" flourished in the early Middle Ages. In Europe, falconry was of a mass nature: it was a hobby for both feudal lords and commoners. There was a special table of ranks, prescribing who and with what bird to hunt. In England, stealing or killing someone else's falcon was punishable by death. Huge and majestic were the hunts of Genghis Khan, with the participation of hundreds of birds and thousands of dogs. Many hundreds of birds were kept under Ivan the Terrible - they even took the travel tax from merchants in pigeons for falcons.

Actually, people domesticated pigeons about 6.5 thousand years ago (in Mesopotamia). Doves were often depicted in Assyrian bas-reliefs. In many countries, doves were sacred animals dedicated to the goddesses of love - Astarte, Aphrodite.

In ancient Rome, pigeons were bred for meat in special columbariums. Pliny the Elder wrote that his contemporaries were "obsessed with roast pigeons." But the main purpose of the dove is different. This is the only bird that faithfully serves as air mail, thanks to its ability to find its way to its native places.

Camels were domesticated 5000-6000 years ago: in Arabia - one-humped (dromedary), in Central and Central Asia - two-humped (Bactrian). In Egypt, a figurine of a loaded dromedary was found, which is over 5,000 years old. Apparently, the drawings depicting one-humped camels on the rocks of Aswan and Sinai are of the same age. In the literature, both camels were mentioned from 700-600 BC. e. Herodotus wrote a lot about camels in connection with the great importance of these animals for wars. "Ships of the desert" were famous for their ability to go without water and food for a long time.

Not left without pets and the north. Reindeer breeding was born in Chukotka two or three thousand years ago. In the rather poor world of the tundra, the deer has become a real salvation for the northern peoples. The carcass of the animal was used in its entirety, and not just the meat and skin. Everything went into food, up to young horns, tendons, bone marrow and larvae of the subcutaneous gadfly!

The same salvation in the mountains, steppes and semi-deserts of Tibet was the yak, tamed in the first millennium BC. e. From fat - twice as fat as cow's - milk, in addition to ordinary butter and cheese, they make special cottage cheese, which does not deteriorate for a long time and weighs almost nothing (which is very convenient for travelers). Wool and yak skins keep out the cold, and dried dung is often the only available fuel in the mountains.

A little later - according to various estimates, from 2300 to 5000 years ago - people began to domesticate bees. The oldest image of a bee was found in the Aran cave (Spain) - a drawing of the Paleolithic period more than 15 thousand years old. The systematic breeding of bees was started by the ancient Egyptians, and beekeeping in Egypt was nomadic: hives on rafts, as the medonium of wasp plants bloomed in the northern provinces of Egypt, slowly moved down the Nile. From the second millennium BC, the custom appeared in Assyria to cover the bodies of the dead with wax and immerse them in honey. The custom lasted for a long time - until Alexander the Great, whose body was also transported in a coffin, filled to the top with honey, to the place of his burial in Egypt. Judging by the frequency of references in literature, bees were one of the most popular animals in antiquity: King Solomon and Democritus, Aristotle and Virgil, Aristophanes and Xenophon wrote about them. In 950, on the orders of Emperor Constantine VII, an encyclopedia on beekeeping, Geoponics, was compiled. Honey was practically the only raw material for the preparation of sweet dishes until the middle of the Middle Ages, and wax was used to make candles.

At the opposite end of Eurasia, they found a use for another insect - the silkworm butterfly. The first mention of silk is found in an ancient Chinese manuscript c. 2600 BC e. For more than twenty centuries, the Chinese have maintained a monopoly on silk production. According to legend, the first successful attempt to smuggle caterpillar cocoons was made in the 4th century BC. n. e. by a Chinese princess who married the king of Lesser Bukhara and brought him a gift of "silkworm eggs" hidden in her hair. It was not possible to breed silkworms outside of China. The second smuggling in 552 turned out to be more successful, when two monks carried cocoons in staffs and handed them to Emperor Justinian. Since that time, sericulture began to develop outside of China. True, then for some time it died out, but was revived after the Arab conquests.

The rabbit began to be domesticated in ancient Rome - there the animals were kept in special pens - leporaria. As everyone knows, a rabbit is "not only valuable fur." The Romans began to fatten them for meat (gourmets especially loved rabbit embryos and newborn rabbits). Rabbits were also valued in medieval Europe - for example, in England at the beginning of the 14th century. a rabbit cost as much as a pig. And already in ancient times, the rabbit began to cause a lot of trouble. In the Balearic archipelago, from a pair of rabbits released into the wild, such a large offspring occurred that the locals began to ask Emperor Augustus to help them cope with the scourge and send soldiers to fight the voracious little animals. Judging by Australia, "eaten" by rabbits already in modern times, this story did not teach anyone anything.

Several thousand years BC. e in the New World began the domestication of guinea pigs. It is likely that these animals themselves came to the human dwelling in search of protection and warmth. Among the Incas, pigs were sacrificial animals, which were brought as a gift to the god of the Sun, and were also eaten on holidays. Particularly popular were pigs with motley brown or white color. They were brought to Europe in the 16th century. They are now called "marine" rather by mistake - it is much more correct to call them "overseas".

Ostrich, for the sake of feathers and eggs, was domesticated five thousand years ago by the ancient Egyptians. Birds were kept in flocks and guarded. Young animals were tamed, which, after reaching adulthood, were periodically plucked. Ostriches were also domesticated in eastern Sudan, where they were kept with herds of cattle and camels. In ancient Egypt, guinea fowls also began to be bred. For a long time, guinea fowl in Greece and Rome were only sacrificial birds. This continued until the emperor Caligula, who decided: as a sign of "divine majesty" to sacrifice guinea fowl to him - that is, to the table.

In the 5th century n. e. carp was bred from wild carp. In Europe, carps were bred mainly in monastery ponds. The first mention of them is in the orders sent by the minister Cassiodorus to the governors of the provinces: the minister demanded that carps be regularly supplied to the table of King Theodoric (456-526).

Since ancient times, there were also such pets, whose functions were reduced to purely decorative. In the tenth century BC e. in China, various breeds of goldfish were bred from carp, which quickly spread to Japan and Indonesia. And in the Middle Ages (XV century) the canary was domesticated. Today, we can hardly imagine such animals as thrushes, partridges, swans, storks, cranes, pelicans as domestic animals - in Egypt they were fattened for meat and used as laying hens. For the sake of meat, hyenas were also bred (!), They were also used as guard animals. In ancient Rome, dormouse (small rodents) were kept in special pots (lobes), where they were fattened with nuts. Their meat was valued as a great delicacy. It has long been the custom to put scales on the table at feasts, weigh the dormouse on them in the presence of a notary and record its weight in the protocol. Serve the most well-fed dormouse was a matter of prestige and pride of the rich. And in ancient Roman ponds, moray eels were bred to the delight of gourmets.

In the Ancient East, leopards and lions were kept as sacred and sacrificial animals (and also for the prestige of the ruler). They even hunted with lions, although cheetahs were much more popular as hunters. In some places, with them, as well as with tamed much later - 1000-2000 years ago - caracals (large wild cats) are hunted now. The use of tamed cormorants dates back hundreds of years - in China and Japan they are used as "live fishing rods": an iron ring is put on the bird's neck, which does not allow swallowing the fish, after which the cormorant is released for fishing. In the last two centuries, attempts have been made to domesticate several more animals: elks, musk oxen, antelope; as well as decorative animals - Syrian hamsters and many aquarium fish.

In the process of domestication, under the influence of new environmental conditions and arts, selection, animals developed signs that distinguish them from wild ones, and the more significant, the more labor and time a person spent on obtaining animals with the properties he needed. The size and shape of the body have changed to the greatest extent in animals whose living conditions are very different from wild habitat conditions (cattle, pigs, sheep, horses) and to a lesser extent in animals such as camels and reindeer, whose living conditions are in captivity close to natural. The so-called protective coloration has disappeared; pets have a variety of colors. Compared to wild ones, they have a lighter skeleton, weaker bones, and thinner skin. The internal organs have also undergone changes. In many domestic animals, the lungs, heart, and kidneys are less developed, but the mammary glands and reproductive organs function better than in wild ones (domestic animals, as a rule, are more fertile), and seasonality in reproduction has disappeared in many of them. Most domesticated animals are characterized by a decrease in brain size, a decrease in the reactivity of the nervous system, a simplification of behavioral reactions, an increase in heterozygosity and high phenotypic stability under changing conditions of existence, a change in the phenotypic expression of mutations under the influence of an altered gene pool, and a general increase in variability. Mankind would develop differently if its path did not cross with the paths of the smaller brothers. Would people be able to survive and create a modern culture without the participation of dogs, cows, horses, sheep? Even the absence of such a simple insect species as bees on Earth would greatly change the way of life of a person.

Many peoples have tried for centuries to tame and domesticate a wide variety of animals. In addition to cats, dogs, horses and cows, this list included antelopes, crocodiles and even cave bears and megatheria (now extinct giant sloths). However, as we see, only a few were able to truly get along with a person. Today they are the ones who live in our homes and are true friends, helpers and even breadwinners for us.

Tame does not mean domesticate

Note that people throughout the entire time managed to domesticate no more than 25 species of animals. But all the rest, which can only tolerate the presence of a person next to them, in particular crocodiles, tigers, jaguars, foxes and bears, are only tamed.

What needs to be done to domesticate an animal?

Domestication is a very long and painstaking process, during which a wild animal must get used to living in captivity and begin to regularly bring offspring. Only then can selection be made. By preserving from each litter an individual with the most valuable properties for humans (the main of which is a decrease in aggressiveness) and isolating it from wild counterparts, after many centuries you can get not just a tamed, but a real pet.

So, for example, in ancient times, cheetahs were often kept at the courts of the rulers of Syria, India, Central Asia and even Europe. Emperors valued them for their beauty, strength and excellent hunting qualities. Genghis Khan and Charlemagne had tame cheetahs, but they have not become domestic until now.

The first companion of man

The first to join man was the wolf. Only scientists have not yet come to a consensus when it did happen. According to the most common version, the wolf was domesticated approximately 10-15 thousand years ago, during the Late Paleolithic. It is assumed that it was from tamed wolves, and possibly jackals, foxes or hyenas (depending on the area of ​​​​habitat), that the domestic dog originated.

How was the domestication of the wild dog?

Due to the fact that not a single written source remains, and the remains found by archaeologists are poor in detail, it is not known for certain how the dog was domesticated. Only one thing is obvious, that this process was preceded by domestication. It is assumed that the wolf came to the man's dwelling, smelling the smell of food. People began to find benefit in a dangerous neighborhood, so they began to feed the animals, catch them and take the puppies from the den. When they grew old and died, they acquired new ones, and so - over and over again. However, this method soon ceased to justify itself: firstly, it is not known when the dog will die, and secondly, puppies must first be found, and then raised and tamed. This whole process was very long and not always productive. Therefore, people came up with the idea to start breeding: they began to contain several dogs in the family, which ensured the change of generations without interruption.

Human friendship with sheep, goats and cows

Human friendship with sheep and goats lasts almost as long (at least 10 thousand years) as with dogs. The stories of their domestication are even somewhat similar.

The first who began to tame mountain sheep (mouflon) and bearded goats were the inhabitants of Southern Europe, North America and North Africa. The hunters kept the lambs and kids caught in the mountains "in reserve" near the settlements. Over time, sheep and goats began to breed in captivity, their numbers increased dramatically, so they needed pastures. So there was a need for a nomadic lifestyle.

By the way, the nomadic peoples of the Arabian, Central Asian and once existing North African steppes were bred in a very large number of sheep. As a result of crossing and careful selection, they created 150 breeds of these domestic animals. With goats, everything turned out much more modestly. The number of their breeds is small, but they are very diverse: Angora with excellent wool, Swiss dairy, small Cameroon, excellent climbing trees, etc.

domestic goat

Of course, the domestication of the aurochs, the ancestor of the modern cow (about 9-10 thousand years ago), brought the greatest benefit to man. Male aurochs were used by people as a traction force in construction and arable farming, and their females gave milk.

Wild tours were found in Europe, North Africa, Asia Minor and the Caucasus and died out relatively recently. So, the last female on earth was killed in Poland, in the forests of Mazovia in 1627.

Strong helpers: when people domesticated the buffalo and the horse

A strong and dangerous animal - the Asian buffalo - was domesticated much later than goats and sheep. It happened 7.5 thousand years ago. Today, domestic buffaloes live mainly in warm countries and are not only a source of meat and skins, but also an indispensable traction force.

Scientists are still arguing about who was the ancestor of the horse: the exterminated tarpan or Przewalski's horse. One thing is known that the horse pedigree begins relatively recently - 5-6 thousand years ago.

Once upon a time, cats were wild

Approximately 10 thousand years ago, man switched to a settled way of life and began to develop agriculture. When settlements and barns full of food appeared, the first domestic cats appeared.

The domestication of the cat took place in the Middle East, in the Fertile Crescent region. The wild Middle Eastern (otherwise Libyan or Nubian) cat began to increasingly come to people and receive treats from them. The man liked the purring fluffy creature, and he decided to leave it at home. The taming and domestication of the cat was not quick, but people still managed to do it.

Steppe cat (Felis silvestris lybica), ancestor of the modern domestic cat

The appearance of the bird yard

Today, we cannot do without chickens at all. For a modern person, they are not only a source of meat, but also eggs, which everyone uses almost daily in the preparation of a particular dish. Modern chickens are descended from bank and red chickens of South and Southeast Asia. By the way, people began to domesticate them about 5 thousand years ago. At the same time, geese, descendants of the wild gray goose, also settled in the barnyard, 3-4 thousand years ago ducks were domesticated in Europe and China, and guinea fowls were domesticated in West Africa.

Note that experiments in the field of domestication are still ongoing. However, breeders have so far only managed to tame elks, antelopes, maral deer, musk oxen, sables and minks. Perhaps one day we will be able to admire them not only in a picture or in a zoo cage, but also in someone's backyard.

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Man has been domesticating and breeding new breeds of animals for more than 10 thousand years. Not all animal species are able to get along with humans, only a few were able to overcome their fear of humans. Different nations tamed many of the most unexpected animals - antelopes, cranes, ostriches, pythons, and even crocodiles. Some scientists believe that primitive people kept in captivity and tamed even megatheriums (now extinct giant sloths) and cave bears. And the Carthaginian commander Hannibal in the wars with the Romans at the end of the 3rd century. BC e. used African war elephants.

However, to tame does not mean to domesticate. The number of species of truly domesticated animals is very small - no more than 25, even fewer bred and domesticated hybrids. Here is some of them.

Savannah - wild prairie cat

This most amazing and expensive cat breed called "" - a domestic version of a wild serval - was bred in the 1980s. And not just for the sake of scientific interest. The fact is that big wild cats are very popular with wealthy gentlemen. In order to protect real cheetahs and leopards from such "nature lovers" (and vice versa), breeders created this alternative - a beast that looks formidable and dangerous, but in fact is affectionate and sociable.

The first savannah was introduced to the world in 1986 by Bengal breeder Judy Frank. It was obtained by crossing a male real serval with a domestic Siamese cat. And in 2001, the breed was officially recognized and registered.

The size of these cats is impressive: they reach 45 centimeters at the withers and weigh up to 14 kilograms. True, it all depends on what generation she is from; the more serval in it, the larger it is. And more expensive - the price of savannas ranges from 7 to 23 thousand dollars.

By habits, savannas are more like dogs than cats - they also like to play “fetch”, walk the streets on a leash and splash in ponds. Yes, and train them - a pleasure.
Cat independence in them, too, is not at all. While you are at home, the shroud will tail after you, and when you leave, it will be bored and waiting at the door. In general, a dog, and nothing more. Unless it barks.

domestic fox

The idea to domesticate a fox first came up with the Soviet geneticist Dmirty Belyaev in the 1950s. Taking as a basis the population of silver-black foxes, Belyaev and his employees raised several generations of animals, diligently selecting the most intelligent and obedient from each generation. Selected individuals were crossed with each other.

The result is a playful and human-friendly creature, reminiscent of a dog in habits. The most curious thing is that although the foxes were not crossed with any other breed, their appearance also changed significantly: white spots appeared, the tails began to twist, and the ears began to hang down. Scientists explain such transformations by the fact that during the process of domestication, the level of adrenaline in the blood of animals decreased significantly.

Now these foxes are sold as pets. True, this pleasure is not at all cheap - for one fox you will have to pay about seven thousand dollars.

Zebroid

- a hybrid of a zebra and a horse, pony or donkey. As a rule, male zebras and females of other equines are used to obtain these hybrids.

Now there are officially 4 zebroids in the world.

Zebroids are usually more similar in shape to the mother and have paternal stripes on the legs or partly on the neck and torso. If the mother is roan, chubar or piebald, in most cases this suit is passed on to offspring. Zebra-donkey hybrids are characterized by a belt on the back, on the belly and a “cross” on the shoulders.

Zebroids, like other equine hybrids (mules and hinnies), are bred for practical use - as mounts and pack animals. In Africa, they have advantages over horses, donkeys, and zebras because they are resistant to tsetse fly bites and are more trainable than zebras.

In 1815, a male quagga zebra and a red Arabian mare were first crossed. During the Boer War, the Boers used zebra-horse/pony hybrids as beasts of burden.

Kama - a small flexible camel

This animal was obtained by crossing a male one-humped camel and a female llama. They are distant relatives, who each went their own evolutionary path for millions of years. Due to the striking difference in growth, the option of natural reproduction did not have to be considered, so fertilization was carried out artificially.

The first Kama was born in 1998 in Dubai (UAE). Scientists, thanks to which this joyful event happened, gave the cub the name Rama. After that, the same team contributed to the birth of three more cam babies - Camila, Jamil and Rocky.

All kamas have short ears and a long tail, like a camel's, but their hooves are cloven like a llama's, and there is no hump. In addition, from their mother, each of them inherited a complaisant character, small stature and soft thick wool, from dad - strength and endurance. In general, a fairy tale, not an animal. And most importantly: all Kama hybrids were fertile!

Wolfdog of Sarlos

Breeders have been working on breeding the “domesticated wolf” for decades. In 1925, a breeder from the Netherlands, Lander Sarlos, crossed a Russian she-wolf and a German shepherd dog, and then all his life he was engaged in selecting the strongest and most enduring wolf-dog puppies and crossing them with each other. And after the death of Sarlos in 1969, his wife and daughter continued the experiments.

The result is an animal that is almost no different in size and appearance from a wolf - just as strong, intelligent and hardy, with the same pack instinct, stubborn and independent character. These dog-wolves do not even know how to bark, they only howl at the moon sometimes. So, in essence, this is still the same wolf ... with one, but very significant difference: the Sarlos dog willingly recognizes a person as the leader of his pack. Therefore, they, as service dogs, simply have no equal. In Holland and some other European countries, these dogs are used as guide dogs, they are involved in rescuing drowning people, helping to pull people out of the rubble, etc.

However, experts still do not advise taking a wolf dog into the house, especially where there are small children. There is too much in him from a wild beast, you never know what ...

Some people love their pets so much that they treat them like children, so for generous pet owners, money spent on their child is not considered a loss. For wealthy pet lovers everywhere, a simple dog or cat is no longer considered an interesting pet. Instead, the favorite pets of the rich and famous are rare and unique animals such as the black fox. Black-brown foxes, or silver foxes as they are called, have only recently become domesticated after many years of experimentation in Siberia, and they cost up to $7,000 per animal. These cute creatures are really only available to those who have huge bank accounts and who don't have a lot of money.

If dangerous wild animals like foxes can be tamed and kept as pets, who knows what species humans might keep as pets in the future? It seems quite clear that sooner or later other fox breeds will also be kept as pets. After everyone can afford a fox as a pet, the rich and famous will have to look for something new and unique to be at the peak of the coolness among pet owners. Nowadays, it is hard to believe that dogs and cats were once wild—there are currently 179 million of these animals in the world living as pets in the United States alone. As of 2012, 47 percent of US homes had at least one dog, while 46 percent of homes had at least one cat. Animal rights organizations express some concerns about the process of domestication of wild animals, while environmentalists are more concerned about the effect that domestication of wild species will have on the natural world. However, the human demand for the company of animals, combined with our natural propensity for novelty, means that the domestication of wild animals is an unrelenting trend - and more and more strange animals are currently in the process of being domesticated.

In this list, we take a look at 10 exotic animals that are likely to be domesticated in the future. Will the family's next favorite be an adorable and cuddly animal, or some weird amphibian or reptile?

10. Mink

For nearly a century, minks have been domesticated, but not as pets. They are known to be much more aggressive than their more friendly cousins, ferrets (which have proven to be popular pets). Instead, minks are bred for their size, color and fur quality, to the chagrin of animal rights activists. However, there is still demand for domestication of these animals to keep as pets, however domestication has proven difficult. However, this circumstance, apparently, still does not prevent us from continuing to try.

9. Skunk


Breeders have been successful in raising tame skunks, and keeping these animals as pets is becoming increasingly popular in North America and parts of Europe. However, existing legal restrictions on keeping skunks as pets in many areas prevent them from becoming common pets. Breeders remove the skunk's scent gland at a young age, but the practice is illegal worldwide. Removing a skunk's scent gland is illegal in the UK, but the people of that country still enjoy keeping them as pets.

8 Prairie Dog


For many farmers, prairie dogs are disease-carrying pests that destroy pastures for livestock, however, for others, these rodents are cute and cuddly pets. Capturing prairie dogs for keeping as pets was illegal in the US from 2003 to 2008 due to numerous infectious diseases carried by prairie dogs kept as pets. The reluctance of these animals to breed in captivity also made full domestication more difficult, however, the practice of picking up baby prairie dogs in the wild to be raised as pets still persists.

7. Moose


The Kostroma moose farm in western Russia is an experimental farm where moose are raised for their milk, antlers and for sale to zoos and safari parks. Interest in domesticating elk has been around for many years, and other ungulates such as deer and wapiti are bred on an ongoing basis. Therefore, it is quite possible that the future in which the elk is a common farm animal is not far off.

6. Mongoose


Mongooses are kept as pets in India and Pakistan and are used to keep rats out of homes. They are also widely used in snake charmer shows. In the Hawaiian Islands and Puerto Rico, it is perfectly legal to keep a mongoose as a pet because the species already lives in the wild in those areas. However, they are illegal in the rest of the US due to the damage they can cause to poultry and endangered reptiles and amphibians. Due to the fact that these animals are caught in the wild and not bred in captivity, they are considered semi-domesticated.

5. Wallaby


In Australia, three species of kangaroo are becoming a popular choice for exotic pet owners. In the case of all three types of domesticated wallabies, the red-grey wallaby, the Eugenia kangaroo, and the red-necked philanderer, there are the same care requirements, such as annual check-ups by an exotic pet veterinarian and plenty of space to walk. Wallabies typically live 12 to 15 years in captivity, and the process of breeding and raising these animals as pets is growing in popularity every day.

4. Axolotl


It's entirely forgivable to mistake this strange looking creature for a Pokémon rather than a real animal, but these bizarre amphibians do exist! These Mexican salamanders can live up to 15 years and, thanks to increased interest in keeping them as pets, they may one day become as familiar pets as frogs. They are relatively easy to breed in captivity, which is very good because they are on the verge of extinction in the wild.

3. Serval


A relative of the cheetah, the serval is an African wild cat that is gaining popularity among feline fanatics who are willing to shell out big bucks for this exotic animal. The price of a baby serval can go up to $10,000, and breeding these cats with domesticated cat breeds such as the Bengal becomes an option for a cat that is gentler and a little more affordable. These hybrids are called savannas and are often a way for pet owners to get a serval-like animal in areas where it is illegal to own any wild African cats.

2. Capybara


The capybara, which looks like a guinea pig on steroids, is native to South America and is the largest rodent in the world. They require meticulous care and maintenance, including a pool so they can swim and a lawn with non-toxic grass to eat. Giant herbivores are social animals and tend to get along with most other pets and people. However, they need constant supervision and can become depressed if left alone. These animals are not fully domesticated, so they need constant interaction from a very young age.

1. Fenech


Given the domestication of the black fox, which is a morph of the common fox, it is only a matter of time before other fox species are also domesticated. There are many indications that this North African fox would be an ideal candidate for domestication as a pet. They are much more social than other fox species and do not have a mucus gland, meaning they do not emit a foul odor like most other foxes. Fenechs resemble dogs in many ways, and can be quite docile if treated like a puppy on a regular basis. However, the fact that they are still not bred in captivity means that they are not completely tame and can run away if released outside without a leash. It is possible that the day will come when these creatures can become common pets like dogs today.

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We tried to tame some animals and failed. There are several reasons for this. Most of the time this is because some animals are so wary of humans that they will run away if you look at them. Others are simply too aggressive to be domesticated as they may attack or even kill the breeder.

There is also a separate category of animals that are classified as tamed, but not domesticated. Such animals were bred to obey and tolerate humans, this is not enough for the animal to be considered domesticated. Tamed animals retain wild instincts, and they can quickly demonstrate their wild nature.

10. Zebra

In the 19th and 20th centuries, as they moved deeper into Africa, the colonists faced the problem of transportation. Their horses were prone to various diseases, and it was not easy to bring new horses from Europe. To solve this problem, the colonists turned their attention to the zebra, a close relative of the horse and donkey. These animals grazed in abundance on the African plains. In addition, zebras are immune to several diseases that affect horses. However, all attempts to tame the zebra were unsuccessful.

Zebra is a very anxious and aggressive animal. It is naturally suspicious of other animals, including humans, and runs away at the slightest hint of danger. Zebra is a fast runner and therefore very difficult to catch. If this succeeds, then the animal will kick and bite in an attempt to free itself. Although the colonists managed to capture a few zebras, they quickly realized that these animals were smaller than horses and were uncomfortable to ride. In addition, zebras do not like to be ridden and become aggressive after a while, even after being tamed.

The aggressive nature of the zebra is due to its evolution. It shares habitat with predators such as lions, crocodiles, hyenas, leopards and humans. This would be a major problem for humans if these predators were attracted to the already domesticated zebras.

9 Great White Shark

Several attempts to tame or domesticate the great white shark have failed because captured white sharks usually die within a few days. The first great white shark to be kept in captivity died within hours. The longest time that this animal lasted in captivity was 16 days.

Caught great white sharks also like to bang their heads against the glass walls of the aquarium. One shark kept at the Okinawa Churaumi Japanese Aquarium kept banging its head against a glass wall until it died. Another shark at California's Monterey Bay Aquarium kept banging its head against the glass wall and attacking the other two sharks until it was released.

Great white sharks do not do well in captivity for several reasons. Firstly, they are real travelers and are able to surf entire oceans. They also need a lot of water to breathe. Therefore, even large aquariums are too small for them. Captured sharks are also incredibly aggressive and usually refuse to eat. However, they require live prey, which is difficult to provide in an aquarium.

8. Dingo

Dingoes are dog-like animals native to Australia. Despite their resemblance to dogs, they are not dogs and are not domesticated. Australian farmers even consider them pests. Interestingly, thousands of years ago, people seem to have already partially domesticated dingoes before the animals returned to the wild.

There is a slight difference in how we tamed dogs and how we tamed dingoes. Although dogs are considered companions, the early Indigenous Australians - who probably domesticated the dingo - viewed them as a source of food. Also, Indigenous Australians did not breed animals based on their favorable characteristics.

7. Moose

Several centuries ago, when horse cavalry still existed, King Charles XI of Sweden decided that he needed a more ferocious animal to replace horses. One that only by its appearance will make enemy horses flee from the battlefield. He opted for the moose. Unfortunately for the king, this plan did not work. As it later became clear, the elk is too dangerous an animal to be approached. The situation is exacerbated during the mating season, when the animal cannot control aggression. In addition, the elk is susceptible to disease, and its diet is too varied, which is difficult to provide in captivity.

In addition, moose are very smart and avoid the battlefield. When they approached the battlefield, they ran away at the moment when they killed another elk. Attempts to use elk meat for food also failed. The animal refused to go to the slaughterhouse when it realized that the elk that had gone there earlier had not returned.

Despite these difficulties, the Kostroma elk farm in Kostroma continues the project to domesticate the elk. It began in the 1930s when Joseph Stalin decided to create an elk cavalry. Like the plan of King Charles XI, the Stalinist project failed. But it was revived by Nikita Khrushchev when he wanted to start using moose meat for food. This also failed and several moose farms closed. However, the Kostroma elk farm operates, and they are still trying to tame elk. Now the company mainly produces moose milk.

6. Raccoon

The raccoon is an excellent candidate for domestication. These animals are skilled climbers and can get into tight spaces, making them excellent working animals. If domesticated, they will be very useful for the elderly and the disabled. However, they cannot be used as working animals as they have not been domesticated.

Despite their cuteness, raccoons are aggressive and destructive. They are naturally curious and love to move, so they destroy everything around if they are in a confined space. They usually need to be supervised at all times and bite when they are hungry or angry. The bite can be fatal because raccoons can infect humans with rabies.

Since raccoons can use their hands like humans do, they tend to open everything they can. Besides, they're just experts at escaping. In fact, this is the main reason why attempts at domestication have failed. In addition, they like loneliness, are not social animals and are not faithful to people.

5. Fox

We once tamed foxes. However, they became extinct, and modern attempts to domesticate them again have been only partially successful. Ironically, the extinct fox we domesticated was called the Yagan dog. She was a domesticated Andean fox. It is curious that this animal was not very popular at one time. Probably because she was not as useful as a normal dog.

There is also evidence that we tried to domesticate foxes long before the Yagan dog, but abandoned them for cats. The cats were chosen because we didn't know how foxes could be useful. Foxes are difficult to tame because of their incredible stubbornness. Russian geneticist Dmitry Konstantinovich Belyaev tried to change that in the 1950s when he started a project to domesticate silver foxes. Silver foxes are actually red foxes suffering from melanism - a disorder opposite to albinism - which is why the animal's fur takes on such a color.

Four generations later, foxes behaved like dogs. They developed a love for people, wagging their tails and licking their breeders. Fifty generations later, they bark, respond to people, and understand gestures. They also make sounds that are different from those made by wild foxes. The project is ongoing and considered a success. However, foxes are tamed, but not domesticated.

4. Elephant

Asian elephants are not considered domestic animals despite being captured and trained for 3,000 years. Rather, they can be classified as domesticated or wild animals. Captured and trained Asian elephants are not considered pets as they are not selectively bred.

"Selective breeding" means that individuals select offspring to breed based on certain favorable traits. To be domesticated, it will need to be selectively bred up to 12 generations. By the 12th generation, the animals should be genetically distinct from their wild ancestors and be considered domesticated.

In general, captured Asian elephants are not selectively bred. (Only a few have been selectively bred for more than two generations.) This makes them wild animals. They let people ride them just because they are trained. However, they are like any wild animal, which makes them unpredictable.

3. Bonobo

Bonobos are different from the other animals on this list because they are not wild animals. They are pets even if they have not been domesticated by humans. Bonobos have tamed themselves.

Scientists are not sure how this happened. But they believe it started about two million years ago when the Congo River formed in Africa. As a result, the ancestors of bonobos and chimpanzees who lived there split up. The primates north of the river evolved to become bigger and more aggressive because they had to compete for food with the big gorillas.

On the other side of the river were the primates who were to become bonobos. They had more than enough food, but the gorillas didn't. The females became picky and began to choose which males to mate with. Aggressive males died out because females preferred softer males.

2 Hippo

People have wisely decided to stay away from the hippopotamus, one of the deadliest animals in the world. Each year, these animals kill more people than lions, elephants, leopards, buffaloes and rhinos combined. Obviously, any encounter between a human and a hippo is likely to end badly for the human. Hippos are big and incredibly fast. Despite their enormous weight, they can reach speeds of up to 48 kilometers per hour. Usain Bolt, the world's fastest man, can barely run 45 kilometers per hour.

However, there have been independent attempts to domesticate hippos. As expected, these efforts ended badly. In 2011, Marius Els, a South African farmer and army officer, was killed by a five-year-old 1.2-tonne hippo he was trying to tame. Els named the hippopotamus Humphrey and considered it a pet. He often took Humphrey for a swim and even rode him, calling him "son". Humphrey didn't think Els was the father because the animal killed the man in the same river they swam in.

Prior to Els' murder, where they lived, Humphrey was known as a local terrorist. One day, a hippopotamus chased a man and his grandson and chased them up a tree after the two canoed down a river that ran past Els' farm. Humphrey was also notorious for killing calves and stalking golfers on a nearby golf course.

1. Coyote

All attempts to domesticate coyotes have failed because they avoid humans. Breeders are also wary of these animals because they can suffer from dangerous diseases such as rabies and tularemia. However, some breeders were not afraid and tried to tame the coyote. One common method is to cross a male coyote with a female dog. Although the resulting hybrid is less aggressive towards humans, it is not a true coyote.

Another way is to take young wild coyotes away from their mothers and tame them. Wild coyotes become less wary of humans after about three generations, but they are not pets. In fact, several attempts to domesticate coyotes have ended in a coyote attacking the breeder. This is because a coyote that lives close to a human may begin to view the human as prey and will look for the best time to attack. Interestingly, coyotes are gradually being domesticated. This happens naturally, just as it probably did with bonobos.