Domestication Of Foxes Essay

It can be argued that along with cats, dogs were one of the first animals to become domesticated. For approximately 10,000 years humans and dogs have more than co-existed, they have developed a special bond unlike any other animal has developed with us. Today hundreds, if not thousands of breeds of dog exist. Although this fact remains true, all dogs belong to the Canis Familiaris family within the animal kingdom. Despite any tamed, domesticated, or docile tendencies, all breeds of dogs have traits that are derived from their wild ancestors and to this day many of those traits still exist and in fact, are quite important to the dog’s survival and mating techniques. Some of the more prominent survival tactics include digging, burying, being

Domestication is a very useful skill that has remained the same for many years. Animals can be used for meat, milk, wool, etc. They are also used as farming tools and transportation. Certain animals much better suited to domestication than others; Jared Diamond calls this the “anna Karenina principle’ (Class Lecture).

Nobody knows exactly when dogs were domesticated there is so many different showings of when dogs were domesticated but the latest would be where it says 32,000 years ago. The domestication of cats and dogs or  any animals come from humans and animals living so close to each other in close quarter communities. Genes during domestication overlaps with the genes from humans, the same kind of genes are for digestion, metabolism, neurological process and cancer according to population genetics. So humans and animals both was domesticated from the same genes. Human and animals are a lot alike. “Biologist Raymond Coppinger has another idea, the wolves domesticated themselves he suspects the process would have begun at the end of the last Ice Age approximately 15,000 years ago” (“What Caused The Domestication Of Wolves”). Coppinger believes in “flight distance” which is a behavioral characteristics that transformed the wild dogs to the modern dog

Since about 1990, island fox populations were relatively stable (Bakker, et al., 2009, p. 1). Fox populations on each island were naturally small and varied in relation to island size, but reproduction and survival were high, and the densities were greater than almost any other North American carnivore. According to Bakker, et al. (2009) Scientists and researchers came to the conclusion that there were two main factors causing the decline in the island fox population.

The animal I was given for this assignment was the Channel Island Fox. They are considered to be near extinction animals with nearly about 2,500 fox left (last checked 2008). The Channel Island Fox is a type of fox that only lives on the Channel Islands, which is located around the coast of Southern California in about 19 to 61 miles away from the continental state. On a clear day in California, many visitors have the chance to see the islands over the shores. Within the eight islands, only six of the islands have the Channel Island Fox on their land. The six islands are San Miguel, Santa Rosa, Santa Cruz, Santa Catalina, San Nicolas and San Clemente. Each island has different features which has given each island fox a different trait compared to each one, but they are still considered as Island Fox.

Throughout history, species have evolved and evolved over time. Evolution is caused by many factors some of which include natural selection, mutations, genetic drift, neutral or random evolution, migration or gene flow. Unlike evolution, many species are being extinct such as the Baiji River Dolphin, the Javan tiger, and golden toad. Before these organisms extinct, they were first endangered. An endangered specie is a specie on the brinck of extinction. This is the case of the swift fox, also known as Vulpes velox. For decades, scientists have thrived to keep the Vulpes velox from extinction through many means. To understand the swift foxes’ lifespan, one must learn their history and background, reasons they’re declining in numbers, historical homeland and present homeland and finally factors that caused this decline.

All around the world, dogs suffer daily from not just their owners, but from their own bodies. Inbreeding and extreme breed standards lower the quality of life for purebred dogs (Rooney and Sargan). Puppy mills, despite government crackdown, continue to operate and sell ill, disfigured dogs (Solotaroff). Breeding purebred dogs only for profit and not for the wellbeing of the dog, is unethical, because of puppy mills, dog defects due to this kind of breeding, and dog quality of life.

Humans and dogs have long shared a bond that was based on function. Early dogs that were the least valuable and useful did not make it into today’s time. On the other hand, the most valuable and helpful of dogs remained and created others like them. Ultimately, breed predecessors were produced by breeding the best hunters to the best hunters and the best guards to the best

The Urocyon cinereoargenteus is also known as the Grey Fox, which is a medium-sized carnivore. “The gray fox is 1 of only 2 extant members of the genus Urocyon (the other is U. littoralis, the Channel Island fox)” (Bozarth). It is very interesting that foxes share the Canidae Family with “wolves, dogs, coyotes, and jackals.” (Habitat).

Human-wildlife co-existence is become more and more common due to global environmental changes. The red fox is one of the agilest and adaptive mammals in existence. Over the years, the population of red foxes in North America is gradually increasing. Primarily their habitat is around the Arctic Circle; however, after incidences of glaciation, the change in temperatures necessitated the need to find new habitats. The red fox is also known as Vulpes vulpes has adapted to the urban life and now, it is not uncommon to spot a one or a whole park of red foxes in the North American woods.

The experiment conducted involved forty-five dogs and their owners. The dogs and their owners split into groups of fifteen and then were photographed at three different parks. The background for the photographs of the dogs and the owners were different so that the judges that were trying to match the dogs and their owners would not match them only on the background. The photos of the women and men in the experiment showed them from the waist up and the dogs were photographed facing forward and it showed the whole dog. “Overall, there were 25 purebred dogs and 20 non-purebreds” (362). After the photos were completed, the twenty-eight judges were shown the fifteen owners from one park. The judges were then given two different dogs and asked which one best represented the owner. Michael M. Roy and

Since the 1950’s Russian scientists Dmitri Belyaev and Lyudmila Trut have run an experiment on the selective breeding of foxes. Each and every generation the foxes was cautiously observed. Searching for only the most amiable among them, the scientists hoped to engineer a fox that didn’t just tolerate human contact, but also craved it. The animals were organized by how friendly they were, then bred with similarly classified foxes. The scientists repeated this process on thousands of foxes across decades, slowly working closer and closer to their final goal: domestication. During the species’s change to becoming companions, the foxes’ “friendly gene came attached to some other physical genes that made the foxes look like other domestic animals:

By selectively breeding dogs for appearance, the gene pool of the different breeds is shrinking at an alarming rate. In the article, “Genetic diversity, inbreeding and breeding practices in dogs” by Leroy Grégoire, the topic of the genetic pool in dogs is discussed as an ill effect selective breeding has on it. The article tests the gene pool of dogs and comes to the conclusion of a decreasing trend in the data. Grégoire (2011) addressed the decrease of the gene pool in dogs by saying, “Since the basis of artificial selection is that only a limited number of chosen animals are allowed to reproduce, it is logical to find that there is a large inequality in the use of breeding animals in domestic species” (p. 179). In doing so, the genetic diversity

Historically, there are three major reasons why humans do this; the first is to create a food source. The second reason I to use animals are a work force, whether it be transportation or working on a farm (Wilkins). The final reason is to use them as companions for humans. This being said, there is a difference between domestication and taming. A wild animal can be tamed if it is captured as a baby and raised with a lot of nurturing (Wilkins). But this is a trait and does not mean it is fully domesticated; it could switch back into its “wild instincts” if it is triggered. They can return to the wild, but when they do it is considered a feral species

The Tiv people realize the importance of hunting so they utilize dogs to make their hunting more efficient. However the people south of the Tiv eat the dogs and mistreat them (Bohannan & Bohannan. 1969). The Tiv take great care of their hunting dogs, the hunting dogs are all male dogs. The female dogs are left at the compound and aren't treat as well as the male dogs. The male dogs are fed and trained well, so they can hunt animals without struggling. Young men are usually are the people to train, care, and give expense necessary to train hunting dogs. The hunting dogs are forced to turn into vegetarian, they are taught to like yam porridge so they don't have to eat meat. A great sign of the perfect hunting dog is that he goes hunting alone