“No pain, no death is more terrible to a wild creature that it's fear of man…. A poisoned crow, gaping and hopelessly floundering in the grass, bright yellow foam bubbling from its throat, will dash itself up again and again onto the descending wall of air, if you try to catch it. A rabbit, inflated and foul with myxomatosis... will feel the vibration of your footsteps and will look at you with bulging, sightless eyes….We are at the killers. We stink of death. We carry with us. It sticks to us like frost. We cannot tear it away.”
“The Saiga is a kind of odd-looking Eurasian antelope that inhabits the open dry steppe grasslands and semi-arid deserts of Central Asia.“In 1993 the total population of Saiga was estimated at over one million. By 2000, however, the Saiga population had decreased to less than 200,000, and by 2003 surveys indicated that less than 30,000 remained in the wild.“This represents a population collapse of over 90% in a span of just 10 years.“Ironically, the conservation community bears some responsibilty as a causal agent in the Saiga's rapid population decline, as Saiga horn was promoted by the World Wildlife Fund as a replacement for the Rhino horn sometimes prescribed by traditional Chinese apothecary shops.“Increased pressure from apothecary suppliers in China resulted in rapid overhunting of the Saiga, and a population crash that appears to have pushed wild populations past the tipping point.“Right now, there is a very real possibility that the Saiga may become extinct in the wild within the next decade.“I tell this story as a cautionary tale about unintended consequences, hubris, and the speed of destruction in the modern world.“The goal of the World Wildlife Fund was not to wipe out the Saiga -- it was to offer buffering protection to critically endangered Rhino populations while giving a nod to the demands of traditional Chinese apothecary shops. With more than a million Saiga running free in large herds in Central Asia, getting traditional medicine shops to use Saiga horn instead of Rhino horn seemed a reasonably safe and culturally-sensitive idea.“The problem, of course, is that things are rarely as simple as they appear. With a population of over 1.2 billion people, the apothecary demands of China cannot be appeased by any animal in the wild -- an important point initially lost on the good people at the World Wildlife Fund.“When an insatiable demand for wild animal horn was coupled with increased access to modern rifles, Central Asia experienced its own version of The Last Buffalo Hunt.“I am reasonably certain the Saiga will eventually be brought back from the edge, just as the American Buffalo has been brought back from the abyss here in the United States.“That said, a turnaround is going to be slow and expensive.“The troubles of the Saiga are not entirely unique. In this country alone, we have stopped just short of wiping out the Condor, the Buffalo, the Black-footed Ferret, the Peregrine Falcon, the Manatee, the Red Wolf, and the American Crocodile.“The developing world is poised to follow our path in all things. What remains unknown is whether they will employ the conservation brake in time to prevent their own wildlife treasures from tumbling into the abyss.“A central problem is that in this modern world we can no longer afford to go slow. It took 2 million years to go from ‘Adam and Eve’ in the Olduvia Gorge to a human population of one billion people, but it took only 100 years to add the second billion people, 30 years to add the third, and 15 years to add the fourth. Today, the world's population is past six billion and is sure to climb past seven billion within the decade (note: it is now past 8.2 billion).“Even as human population has soared, so too has technological progress. Muzzle loaders and iron sights have been replaced by spiral cut barrels and powerful optics. Hemp gill nets a hundred yards long have been replaced by nylon drift nets that can stretch for miles. The ax has given way to the chainsaw, and the chainsaw to the feller-buncher. The shovel and sledge hammer have given way to massive mechanical earthmovers and sequentially-fired dynamite relays. The backyard vegetable plot has given way to thousand-acre monoculture farms planted and and harvested by massive and complicated machines.“Along with technological changes have come cultural and social changes as well. Limited local demands filled by well-known suppliers have fallen away to unlimited international demands and a global marketplace oblivious to the cause-and-effect ramifications of satisfying global needs.“The bottom line is the bottom line, and nothing more.“Chinese demand for horn means disappearing herds of antelope in Russia and Mongolia. Japanese demand for cheap plywood means disappearing forests in Indonesia and Malaysia. The need for catalogue paper in the U.S. means huge swaths of Canada's boreal forests are being cut to the ground to supply bright white copy. What we eat in the grocery store (including what we feed our dogs) may come from China, Chile, Australia, or Antarctica. The fibers we wear on our back may come from pesticide-soaked fields in Africa and may be sewn in sweat-shop factories in Asia.“Out of sight is out of mind. We have no idea where things come from, or under what conditions.“Where it will all end, no one knows, but it's clear that at the speed we are going, we are going to miss a few turns and end up in the ditch -- or worse -- a good percentage of the time.“When that happens, it will not be an ‘accident,’ but a predictable consequence of our speeding down the highway, addled by too much population growth and turbo-boosted by technology.“Yet, when the crack-up occurs, it is sure to be labeled an ‘accident’. That's what they call every wreck at Dead Man's Curve. Never mind the signs, full speed ahead!”
“Wild wolves are still being tamed every day.“Why?“Simple enough: for pets.“The same trend is true for every other animal under the sun: coyotes, red fox, monkeys, apes, hyenas, tigers, lions, tapirs, sloths, crows, hawks, parrots, badgers, fenecs, servals, raccoons, cheetahs, bears, bobcats, rats, agoutis, possum, groundhogs... the list is endless. We routinely make pets of them all, in modern culture as well as primitive.”
All of them miss the essence of the glass, which is that it can be re-filled... and filled with anything. Even when "empty," it's full of possibilities and opportunities.
“As odd as it may sound, even physical evidence of the existence of a species does not necessarily mean that this species has ever existed. Here, I am specifically talking about birds, where it turns out some ‘extinct’ species are based on single skins collected in the 19th or early 20th Century….
“The problem with birds is that they hybridize a lot, and bird species are not always very distinct from each other... [F]or example, there are several species of hummingbirds that we know of only due to single examples collected for the millenary trade. These so-called ‘Bogotá Skins’ (for their central shipping point out of South America to Europe) may in fact represent evidence of a new species of now extinct hummingbirds -- or they could simply represent hybrids of other hummingbirds. With about 10 percent of all bird species known to cross the ‘species barrier,’ it's hard to know.”
“Working from the skin Townsend collected in 1833, Parkes concluded in 1985 that Townsend's Bunting was not a distinct species at all.
“His theory: the bird was an aberrant Dickcissel, an individual missing the normal carotenoid pigment that would otherwise have produced the species' usual yellow-breasted, chestnut-shouldered look.”
“Canned big game shoots of exotic animals are a natural outgrowth of the public's fascination with ‘zoo babies’.“Zoos routinely over-breed animals because tiger cubs and baby zebras boost attendance and generate profits. Cute baby animals quickly grow up, however, and that's a problem. It turns out that the world has more caged lions, tigers and zebras than it knows what to do with.“What to do? Answer: canned shooting preserves in Texas. It's not an accident that at one point nine board members of the San Antonio Zoo owned hunt preserves.“Not all exotic animals used in canned hunts come from large zoos. Many come from small zoos and private breeders of large exotic animals. If you have a checkbook in this country, you can buy anything from a lion to a bear, and from a bobcat to a gemsbok.“And if you have ever bought a wildife magazine with amazing shots of baby cougars, lynx, red fox, black bear and wolf, you are a small part of the problem. Most of those pictures were taken in private ‘photography zoos,’ and at least some of those baby animals were later sold, as adults, to canned hunts.“An example is as current as this morning's headlines:"’Country music star Troy Lee Gentry (one half of popular duo Montgomery Gentry) is facing charges for shooting a tame, captive bear and then trying to mask the killing as a proper hunt.... Indictment documents made public this week showed that Gentry paid $4,650 U.S. to kill a 'trophy-caliber' bear named Cubby. The incident took place two years ago at the Minnesota Wildlife Connection, a company that claims to offer photographers a chance to capture wild animals on film. ... Gentry killed the bear using a bow and arrow while the animal was in its pen.’”
Domesticated or wild? Tame or feral?
It’s not quite that simple is it?
Yes, if you are painting broadly, wolves as a group are “wild,” and one on a leash can be described as “tame”.
Conversely, dogs as a group are “domesticated,” but an adult dog that was born in a dump far from humans, eats roadkill, and has never seen the inside of a building or worn a collar on its neck can be described as “feral”.
But things fall apart and come together if we look a bit closer.
Take a truly feral adult dog or cat.
Can they be rehabilitated?
It depends on the animal, but it’s *always* difficult, as truly feral adult cats and dogs are as fearful of people as a naturally wild animal.
Why is that?
Well, it seems the process of “going feral” in dogs and cats fundamentally changes how their brain and central nervous systems deal with novelty.
Anxiety is almost always on the front burner.
These genetically “domesticated” dogs and cats have been effectively “wired for wild”.
Where and when does this wiring occur?
It occurs in the Limbic System of the brain, and it occurs in the first few days and weeks after birth.
What’s the Limbic System?
The Limbic System is the part of an individual animal’s brain that controls “flight or fight,” emotion, fear, and mood.
An individual animal’s Limbic System is wired and rewired starting at birth and over the next few weeks.
Changes in the Limbic System are, as far as we can tell, one-way events.
What’s that mean? It means that if a domesticated animal, such as a dog or cat, is born and raised to adulthood without human contact, it’s always going to be wild, and its “flight or fight” button will govern a great deal of its life.
Conversely, if a wild animal, such as a wolf or big cat, is born and raised to adulthood with lots of positive human contact, its “flight or fight” button will be attenuated due to changes made to the Limbic System shortly after birth
What about domesticated dogs that are born with genetic fear?
There’s a topic that too often gets little attention!
Dogs born with genetic fear may have been well-cared for through their first 12 weeks of life, but they remain anxious and hand-shy nonetheless. These animals are, in the words of Lady Gaga “born that way”.
Can they be “fixed”?
Not easily.
A dog with genetic fear is a dog with a broken Limbic System. People are free to do what they want, but in my opinion a dog with genetic fear needs to be put down as humanely as possible, as the defect is in the brain, and makes them maladaptive as a pet.
Now, let’s flip it around and look at it the other way. What about wild animals that are captured when only a few days old?
Here things go in the opposite direction. Several things are happening in this situation, especially with animals whose eyes are not yet open.
Imprinting, socialization, and rewards-based training all work together in this scenario to “tame” the natural fear of humans that pervades most wild animals.
This is Limbic Imprinting.
Limbic Imprinting begins with Filial Imprinting, in which baby animals naturally follow the first moving thing they see. When that instinctive behavior is rewarded with food, warmth. and positive contact, the imprinting that occurs is likely permanent, and certainly difficult to change.
Why is it so hard to change?
That’s because an animal’s neonatal experience wires, or rewires, the brain’s Limbic System (aka, the paleo-mammalian cortex) which is involved in emotional processing and motivation in vertebrate animals.
Limbic Imprinting is a physical thing, and it’s key to understanding why the “taming” of wild animals captured when only a few hours or days old, is so often successful.
Limbic Imprinting also explains why adult feral versions of “domesticated” animals are so difficult to work with despite descending from thousands of years of domestic stock.
Can “wild” animals taken at birth be tamed to the point of being far safer and more tractable than adult “domesticated” animals allowed to go fully feral?
Absolutely. We can see that in every country, every culture, in every era, and with damn near every animal, from elephants to lions, from chimpanzees to cheetahs, from horses to buffalo, from camels to red fox, and from badger to wolves.
Some wild animals seem to tame rather easily, such as camels, horses, water buffalos, yaks, ducks, geese, hamsters, pigs, wild cats, and junglefowl.
These same animals, of course, have no trouble going feral.
Are they domesticated animals going feral, or wild animals made tame?
Does it matter?
It’s really a tautological word game isn’t it? Six of one and half a dozen of the other, as the old saying goes.
To be clear, imprinting and training *alone* will not make a wolf a bird dog or a good family pet.
Even if a “wild” animal is always friendly and safe, there will be other issues that remain; size, urine marking, denning behavior, food caching, and the like. And, in the case of coyotes, foxes, and wolves, their body movements and play behavior may not be dog-like.
But can a wolf stolen from the den at two days old be turned into an animal that is safer than a three year old poorly socialized and truly feral 120-pound dog?
Absolutely.
And so now we get down to it: “domesticated” does not mean much,
Despite being domesticated for over 15,000 years, pet dogs routinely kill sheep and goats, kill other dogs, and maul and kill people.
And what about cattle and horses? They’ve been domesticated for millennia, but woe be the fool that crosses the wire into a bull pasture.
If you go to Pamplona and find yourself running with four feet of horn and two thousand pounds of muscle bearing down on you, be sure to yell backwards, “But you’re domesticated!” I’m sure that will work wonders.
By the way, a truly feral dog is NOT the same as a stray or a village dog. Strays and village dogs generally have had quite a lot of experience with humans, early on, and these animals see people as potential sources for food handouts. A truly feral dog does not.
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▪️The Wolf In the Dog House >> https://terriermandotcom.blogspot.com/2012/01/distinctions-without-difference.html?
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