this post was submitted on 23 May 2024
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[–] Gigan@lemmy.world 24 points 5 months ago (5 children)

I wish ancient humans had domesticated bears and bred them to be pet-sized

[–] The_Picard_Maneuver@lemmy.world 32 points 5 months ago

The best time to do this was 1000 years ago. The second best time is now!

[–] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 16 points 5 months ago (2 children)

On a less jokey note, pretty much every living mammal has been subjected to domestication attempts at some point in history. Bears, elephants, tigers, hippopotami, moose... More often than not, there's some kind of inherent physiological reason why it doesn't work.

Some animals don't breed well in captivity (pandas, famously, but cheetahs are another classic case). Some can't handle captivity at all - the few efforts at keeping Great Whites in captivity ended with the animals bludgeoning themselves to death on the walls of their enclosures. Others are consistently too aggressive to effectively tame (zebras, coyotes, chimps, elephants, and pythons are notable for all the historic instances domestication failed for these reasons). And some simply aren't pleasant household companions - skunks, raccoons, and foxes are all notable for their powerful odors and their propensity to destroy the interiors of homes.

There's some speculation as to whether cats ever were actually domesticated successfully, or whether we've simply chosen to ignore their feral habits as such.

[–] Soggy@lemmy.world 1 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

Those speculators haven't met the right cats. (Also, we've been living together for thousands of years and have bred some incredibly useless varieties, it's a ridiculous claim.)

[–] kofe@lemmy.world 3 points 5 months ago

Well there are red pandas. I've always wanted to cuddle one

[–] Num10ck@lemmy.world 2 points 5 months ago

i read that Japan tried for a long time and lost many good people to it before giving up, long ago.

[–] Anticorp@lemmy.world 1 points 5 months ago

There's a dog breed that looks like a little bear.