“Unlocking Nature’s Secrets: What Keeps Certain Animals Wild and Untrainable?”
As for dogs, they also offer companionship and security while humans take proper care of them. Most animals that are domesticated today were tamed about 10,000 years ago. They have been present for at least ten generations of humankind.
Factors That Determine Whether An Animal Can Be Domesticated
According to experts, there are six factors that determine whether an animal can or can’t be domesticated. They include:
1. Ability to Find Food Within Human Settlements
For an animal to be domesticated, it must be able to find food within human settlements. Take dogs and cats as an example. These two animals can easily find food within a household. While it’s true that dogs were domesticated from the gray wolf that only ate meat, they eventually started adapting to other foods such as crops and potatoes. They evolved into animals that could eat the same food as humans, thus creating a more convenient co-existence.
2. Rate of Maturity
For an animal to be conveniently domesticated, it ideally should have a faster maturity rate. As aforementioned, humans domesticate animals for mutual gain. As such, it wouldn’t make sense to domesticate an animal that takes longer to mature compared to the human lifespan. This explains why cows and goats are popular domestic animals. They mature quicker than humans, giving the latter enough time to benefit from the animals.
3. Ability and Willingness to Breed in Captivity
The other attribute of domesticated animals is the willingness to breed in captivity. Not many people know this, but different animals have varying breeding rituals. Animals like chickens have become so accustomed to breeding in captivity that they can lay tens of eggs without problems.
