Buzz
Throughout history, there have been attempts to tame various animals, but these efforts often failed. In most cases, it’s because some animals are so distrustful of humans that they will flee at the sight of people. Others are simply too aggressive, making them dangerous and unsuitable for domestication, sometimes even causing harm or death to their handlers.
Another interesting category of animals includes those that are tamed but not fully domesticated. While these animals may be bred to tolerate and occasionally obey humans, they remain unpredictable and can’t be considered domestic. They retain wild instincts and could become aggressive at any moment.
10. Zebras
In the 19th and 20th centuries, colonists faced transportation challenges as they ventured further into Africa. Their horses were vulnerable to various diseases, and acquiring new horses from Europe wasn’t always a straightforward task.
To address this challenge, colonists turned to the zebra, a close relative of horses and donkeys that thrived across the African plains. Zebras were also resistant to several diseases that plagued horses. Despite these advantages, all attempts to tame them proved unsuccessful.
Zebras are naturally very alert and aggressive. They are highly cautious of other animals, including humans, and will run away at the slightest sign of danger. Their incredible speed makes them difficult to capture. If they are caught, zebras can deliver powerful kicks and bites in an effort to break free.
Although the colonists were able to catch some zebras, they soon discovered that these animals were smaller than horses and uncomfortable to ride. Moreover, zebras have no tolerance for being ridden and will turn hostile even after they’ve been tamed.
The zebra's aggressive behavior can be traced to its evolutionary history. Sharing its environment with predators such as lions, crocodiles, hyenas, leopards, and humans, the zebra had to develop a defensive nature. This created a problem for the colonists, who worried that these predators might be attracted to their domesticated zebras.
9. Great White Sharks
Attempts to tame or domesticate the great white shark have consistently failed, as these sharks typically die within days of being captured. The first great white shark held in captivity passed away within hours. The longest time a great white has survived in captivity is 16 days.
Captured great white sharks are notorious for repeatedly banging their heads against the walls of aquariums. One shark, held at the Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium in Japan, continued this behavior until it succumbed. Another shark at the Monterey Bay Aquarium in California kept striking the wall and even attacked two other sharks before being released.
Great white sharks are not suited for captivity for several reasons. They are migratory creatures, capable of traveling across vast ocean expanses. They also require a large volume of water to breathe, which makes even the largest aquariums too cramped for their needs.
These sharks are incredibly aggressive in captivity and often refuse to eat. When they do feed, they demand live prey, which is a difficult requirement for aquariums to meet.
8. Dingoes
Dingoes are dog-like creatures found in Australia. While they resemble dogs, they are not classified as dogs and remain undomesticated. Australian farmers even regard them as pests. Interestingly, it seems we may have partly domesticated dingoes thousands of years ago before they eventually reverted to the wild.
The way we domesticated dogs and dingoes differs slightly. Dogs are viewed as companions, but the early indigenous Australians who likely domesticated the dingoes saw them more as a food source. Additionally, they did not engage in selective breeding for desirable traits.
7. Moose
Centuries ago, when cavalry units still rode horses, King Karl XI of Sweden sought a more fearsome animal to replace his horses. He wanted a creature that would intimidate enemy horses, causing them to flee in terror at first sight. His choice was the moose.
Unfortunately for the king, his plan was a failure. The moose proved too dangerous to approach, especially during mating season when they became even more aggressive. Moreover, moose are vulnerable to diseases and have a varied diet that was difficult to supply.
Moose are also intelligent animals and tend to steer clear of battlefields. When they did venture near the fighting, they fled as soon as another moose was killed. Efforts to use them as a source of meat also failed, as they would refuse to enter the slaughterhouse upon realizing that previous moose had not returned.
Despite these difficulties, a moose domestication project is still underway at the Kostroma elk farm in Kostroma, Russia. The initiative began in the 1930s when Joseph Stalin attempted to create a moose cavalry. Like King Karl XI's endeavor, Stalin’s project ended in failure. However, Nikita Khrushchev revived the idea in hopes of using moose for meat, but that too was unsuccessful, leading to the closure of several moose farms.
The Kostroma elk farm, however, continues to operate and is still attempting to domesticate moose, primarily focusing on the production of moose milk.
6. Raccoons
Raccoons have the potential to be domesticated. They are excellent climbers and capable of squeezing into tight spaces, making them highly useful as working animals. If domesticated, they could assist senior citizens and those with physical disabilities. Unfortunately, they have not been domesticated and are not suitable for working roles.
Despite their adorable appearance, raccoons can be aggressive and highly destructive. Their natural curiosity and love for movement often lead to chaos when they are confined to a single space. They need constant supervision and can become violent when hungry or irritated. Their bites can be deadly as they have the potential to transmit rabies to humans.
Since raccoons have dexterous hands like humans, they often try to open anything they encounter. They are also escape artists, which is a key reason why domestication attempts have failed. Additionally, raccoons prefer solitude, are not social animals, and lack loyalty to humans.
5. Foxes
At one point in history, we successfully domesticated foxes. However, these foxes eventually went extinct, and modern attempts to re-domesticate them have met with limited success.
Ironically, the extinct fox we once domesticated was known as the Fuegian or Yaghan dog. It was derived from the wild culpeo (also known as the Andean fox). Interestingly, the Fuegian dog was not very popular in its time, likely because it was not as useful as a traditional dog.
There is evidence suggesting that we attempted to domesticate foxes long before the Fuegian dog, but ultimately, we abandoned them in favor of cats. Cats were chosen over foxes because we couldn't figure out a practical use for the foxes.
Foxes are notoriously hard to domesticate due to their remarkable stubbornness. In the 1950s, Russian geneticist Dmitry K. Belyaev initiated a project aimed at domesticating silver-black foxes. These foxes are actually red foxes with melanism, the opposite of albinism, which causes them to appear black.
After four generations, the foxes began to exhibit dog-like behaviors. They became more affectionate towards humans, wagging their tails and licking their handlers. By the 50th generation, they were barking, responding to humans, and recognizing gestures. They also began to make sounds that set them apart from wild foxes.
The project is still ongoing and has been deemed successful. However, the foxes are tamed, not fully domesticated.
4. Elephants
Even though Asian elephants have been captured and trained for more than 3,000 years, they are not considered domesticated animals. Instead, they are classified as tamed or wild. This is because they are not selectively bred like true domestic animals.
“Selective breeding” refers to the process in which humans choose which animals to breed based on desirable traits. For an animal to be considered domesticated, it would need to undergo selective breeding for up to 12 generations, resulting in genetic divergence from its wild ancestors, at which point it would be classified as domestic.
Typically, captured Asian elephants are not selectively bred, with only a few being bred beyond the second generation. This makes them wild animals, and while they can be trained to carry humans, they remain unpredictable due to their untamed nature.
3. Coyotes
Attempts to domesticate the coyote have repeatedly failed due to their instinctive avoidance of humans. Additionally, breeders tend to be cautious about coyotes as they can carry dangerous diseases like rabies and tularemia, which poses risks to humans.
Despite the risks, some breeders have attempted to domesticate the coyote by crossbreeding a male coyote with a female dog. The resulting hybrid tends to be less aggressive toward humans, but it is not a true coyote.
Another approach involves taking young wild coyotes from their mothers and raising them to adulthood. After about three generations, these coyotes become less fearful of humans, yet they are still not domestic animals. In fact, some attempts to domesticate coyotes have ended in attacks on the breeders.
This happens because a coyote that becomes too comfortable around humans may begin to view them as prey, waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike. Interestingly, coyotes are gradually becoming domesticated in a natural process, much like what likely happened with bonobos.
2. Hippopotamuses
Humans wisely avoid the hippopotamus, one of the deadliest creatures on Earth. More people die each year from hippo attacks than from lions, elephants, leopards, buffalo, and rhinoceroses combined.
Clearly, any encounter between a human and a hippopotamus is likely to end badly for the human. Hippopotamuses possess large, sharp teeth and incredible speed. Despite their massive size, they can run as fast as 48 kilometers per hour (30 mph), surpassing Usain Bolt, who reaches only about 45 kilometers per hour (28 mph).
However, there have been attempts to domesticate hippos, though, unsurprisingly, these efforts have not been successful. In 2011, South African farmer and army officer Marius Els was tragically killed by a 1.2-ton, five-year-old hippo he had been trying to tame.
Els, who named the hippo Humphrey, considered it a pet and would often swim with it, even riding on its back. He described the hippo as “like a son” to him, but Humphrey did not share these feelings, as it killed Els in the very river where they once swam together.
Before the fatal incident, Humphrey had already gained a reputation as a local menace. The hippo had previously chased a man and his grandson up a tree after they canoed on the river running through Els's farm. It was also notorious for killing calves and even chasing golfers on a nearby course.
1. Bonobos
Bonobos are distinct from the others on this list because they are not wild animals. While they were never domesticated by humans, they have effectively domesticated themselves.
Scientists are uncertain about the exact process, but they believe it began around two million years ago when the Congo River emerged in Africa. This natural barrier separated the ancestors of bonobos from chimpanzees living in the area. The primates to the north of the river grew larger and more aggressive, driven by competition with gorillas for food.
Meanwhile, the primates on the southern side of the river evolved into what we now know as bonobos. With abundant food and no gorillas to compete with, their females became more selective in choosing mates, favoring gentler males, which led to the decline of more aggressive males.
