Can all animals be domesticated?

Question

I'm not saying it would be right, I'm just wondering if it's possible.

Answer 1

No.  It would not matter if you got a tiger cub, etc at the moment of birth and raised it.  The predator instinct will always be there-you could never be sure that might set it off and have the animal "turn on you".  It wouldn't be the animals fault either.

Answer 2

No.

Some animals require incompatible environments, such as deep sea or very very cold.

Some animals are too big – bears or whales or giraffes or elephants or hippos. All too big. Wouldn't fit in your yard.

Some animals are just never going to get on with people. They will always regard us as being too scary or too edible. I don't beleive we could ever truly domesticate a tiger or a crocodile.

There are a certain number of traits that an animals must have in order for it to be considered domesticated. They need to be able to get along with other animals. Things like sheep and cattle are good because they are herd animals and the humans are sort of "boss" of the herd. Dogs are good because they are pack animals and all we have to do is make sure that we are "leader" of the pack.

Some animals will never get that, though. And some, even though they can be made into pets – such as spiders and cockroaches and snakes, are just never going to get the whole domestication thing. It seems to be a lot easier with mammals and birds.

Answer 3

If you got a tiger on the day it was born then it could grow to love you, maybe?

Answer 4

No , because many animals wouldnt survive in a human environment. Even though if they were provided with the basics , their place its the forest because they have already adapted to it .

Answer 5

No, they cannot.  Humans have already domesticated all the animals that can be domesticated, long ago.

For an animal to be domesticated there are really very narrow guidlines the animal must fall under.  Ever wonder why horses were domesticated, but not zebras?  Or how come cattle were, but bison were not?  

Domesticated animals must be useful to humans, for flesh, fiber (wool), dairy, eggs, or working muscle.  They must breed well and rapidly in captivity.  They are almost all herd, or pack oriented (exceptions like cats and ferrets). They must be trustworthy enough for humans to work with.  They must not be too flighty.

Did you know there are only 14 large animals in the entire world which are domesticated?  People get domesticated, and captive, or captive raised confused all the time.  A lion, tiger, or elk will NEVER be domesticated, although all can be raised in captivity.

Zebras would appear to fit nearly every catigory I mentioned.  There's one difference between horses and zebras....zebras are mean and nasty.  Humans cannot safely work with them.  Humans can capture a completely wild horse, and domesticat it.  That horse will be completely trustworthy, same as any other horse raised for generations by humans.  Humans can take a zebra who's parents have been raised in captivity by humans for generations, and that zebra will never prove itself to be completely trustworthy with humans.  Sooner or later it's highly likely to attack, and possibly kill a human near it.

Same story, with bison vs. cattle.

Indian elephants do indeed work well with humans, and can prove be quiet trustworthy, especially if they are owned by a human that grows up with the elephant from a baby, and works with it its entire life, in mostly natural conditions (such as logging in areas the elephants would naturally live).

However elephants will never be domesticated.  The males go into muhst at breeding age, and become quiet dangerous.  Mostly however, elephants do not breed fast enough.  They will never be able to produce infants at a fast enough rate, so would never be concidered domesticated.

Just very tiny genetic varriations can make a world of difference in animals.  Humans share 99.4% of their DNA with Bonobo Chimps.  Yet look how different chimps, and humans are.

Humans are domesticated (think about it) but chimps never will be.

~Garnet

Permaculture homesteading/farming over 20 years

Active wildlife study over 40 years