They would be a different type of animal, like dogs and wolf. Domestication is a hell of a drug.
Comment on For the little guys.
Mycatiskai@lemmy.ca 2 months ago
Chickens, cows, pigs, and sheep would be extinct if we had no use for them.
daniskarma@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 months ago
Jankatarch@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Can wild pigs even physically die?
MeowZedong@lemmygrad.ml 2 months ago
I once watched this nature documentary named “Princess Mononoke” and can confirm that wild pigs continue to live on even after physical death.
princessnorah@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 months ago
Actually not even close to true for chickens. The Red Junglefowl, the species that gave rise to the domesticated chicken, is classified as Least Concern. As is the Grey Junglefowl, the Sri Lankan Junglefowl, and the Green Junglefowl that contributed to the gene pool. If you’re talking about Gallus gallus domesticus itself, then I think that gets a fair bit murkier as they never did survive on their own in the wild. However, with a population of 26.5 Billion in 2023, I think it would take a lot for them to go extinct, and it certainly wouldn’t happen overnight. It really varies in my opinion. Obviously species bred for meat consumption or cage eggs are going to struggle to survive on their own. But I have a Bantum hen that looks and acts like a Junglefowl, being able to clear fly over a 6ft tall person. She’s able to nest up high for the night, and is near impossible to catch. I strongly believe she’d manage to survive in the wild quite easily.
general_kitten@sopuli.xyz 2 months ago
in addition pigs can survive on their own and in the colonial era they were often left on islands when ships landed and when another ship landed the local ecosystems would be decimated by the pigs as they would outcompete local species.
feral pigs exist and cause fair amount of damage in the us
princessnorah@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 months ago
Feral pigs have also caused huge issues in Australia.
musubibreakfast@lemm.ee 2 months ago
Yes but with what’s happening in America right now there will be a lot less tourism.
Mycatiskai@lemmy.ca 2 months ago
I should have been clearer. If we didn’t domesticate and have use for them then they would have been hunted to extinction long ago.
If we stopped eating eggs and eating chicken for some reason then the domestic chicken wouldn’t be around anymore. They would kill off what is left in farms since they wouldn’t make profit off them, then they would be gone.
princessnorah@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 months ago
Again, I don’t think that’s true. Junglefowl live in incredibly dense tropical locales that would make it very difficult to hunt them.
As well, I think the concept that we would kill all chickens off so they would therefore be extinct because we have no use for them is, well, counter to what this entire post is about and not really much of a thought experiment. You could say the same about dogs, or cats, or any other animal humans decide to decimate. Hell, even each other at times… Even with junglefowl we could burn down their habitat until there were none left.
Midnitte@beehaw.org 2 months ago
See: the original penguin