Fox in a box - new pet craze

A new kind of pet is gaining popularity in Russia - the domesticated fox. The animals are being bred at a research institute in Siberia.

Category:

Pets & Animals

Tags:

• pet
• domesticated
• fox
• research
• institute
• Siberia

[ToraXaolin]

dear animal rights activists- not every domesticated animal you see is being abused. How do you know the fox is suffering? Have you talked to it?

[lewiar]

Individually we cannot change the fact that man is taking over more and more of the wild habitat, the animal species that have the best chance of survival are the ones that can co-exist with humans... I think it's unfair to deny a creature the chance to live with humans, especially since ultimately the domestication of a particular type of animal may offer it a greater chance of preserving its genetic diversity.

[Fleefles]

@ToraXaolin Animal rights activists don't care about the animal's feelings, only their own. If it makes *them* feel sad to see an animal in captivity, then they say it is wrong. The animal could be perfectly fine and healthy, but since it makes them personally feel bad it is animal abuse. When PETA employees were caught killing healthy kittens and puppies, PETA defended their employee's actions. They think it is better to kill an animal than have it live in captivity. :(

[Splashstorm04]

@maximum411 But wolves and dogs are so much the same that they can still mate and reproduce. It couldn't have taken so long.

[maximum411]

@Splashstorm04

Most species take millions of years to undergo any noticeable changes, so a few thousand years is, in evolutionary terms, a blink of an eye. For significant changes to occur over several thousand years requires fairly rigorous selection. For such changes to happen over a few decades, as happened in the Belyaev experiment, extreme selective pressure must be applied.

[Splashstorm04]

@maximum411 Perhaps it took longer but surely not thousands and thousands of years longer. Do you have any idea who long a thousand years really is?! I cannot imagine a wolf took that long to domesticate when these foxes took not even 1/10th of that time. O_O

[KindHrt77]

These animal-rights activists do not understand natural selection.

[EtherealPetrichor]

I think the activist in the video is forgetting that not all wild species can be domesticated. Otherwise, why weren't certain species of deer or elk domesticated in North America before the European settlers arrived, while the settlers were able to domesticate cows, pigs, and other livestock? Some animals are wild and will remain so, forever. It's all in the genes. We just happened to have found another species that we're able to domesticate.

[maximum411]

@Splashstorm04

The experiment says nothing about how long it took to domesticate dogs. In this experiment, foxes were subject to harsh selection for tameness and no other qualities, and only the tamest 10% (I believe) were bred. Ancient dogs were subject to human selection, but it was much less deliberate, involved selection for other qualities (like coat color, size, abilities) as well, and was probably less selective in terms of who was allowed to breed, so it likely took much longer.

[GoTodash]

Wild animals become endangered animals. Domesticated animals thrive beyond all others. If you really cared about the well being of a species you might consider helping run or fund a project similar to the one in Siberia for it. Put your money where your mouth is.

[Mintyflip]

there's nothing wrong with domesticating animals. it helps the animals to coexist with humans. actually, it's stupid that humans aren't trying to domesticate everything in sight. imagine the possibilities.