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This makes me wonder… How much of what he says is just conjecture? Do we ACTUALLY know with good certainty that zebras can’t be domesticated due to their nature? Or is it just a hypothesis/theory that has reached widespread popularity?

I have heard that zebras (along with other African animals) can’t be domesticated because they have evolved to live among humans, when we were still man-apes. But that maybe that’s just conjecture too.

Note how he have no sources in his video or description. And his comparison to chickens, cows, sheep and cats don’t seem to make much sense. The relation between humans and chickens/cows/sheep is markedly different from that of horses. Do wild fowl really have family structures? Cats don’t yet they are still docile among humans.

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cattywampas@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
Yes, people have tried to domesticate zebras before and they’re just too ornery.

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- stenAanden@feddit.dk ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
  But what if we spent longer time doing it? Like centuries, like with most other domesticated animals.
  
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  - stray@pawb.social ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
    I’m not sure why you’ve been downvoted because you absolutely could domesticate them given sufficient time and consistent selective breeding. You could turn them into crabs if you wanted to. The trouble is that they don’t have a very social disposition, so no one is motivated to dedicating their entire bloodline to the project. Most domestication happened kind of on accident as we developed symbiotic or exploitative relationships with various species.
    
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    some_kind_of_guy@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
    +1 for carcinization reference
    
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  - HertzDentalBar@lemmy.blahaj.zone ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
    Domesticated animals generally start out already being somewhat agreeable. Like dogs hung around us, and work in a pack mentality, horses same thing, cats same thing. That’s why we could domesticate racoons or some rodents if we wanted to.
    
    Zebras are assholes and hate everyone
    
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    prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone ⁨5⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    
    cats same thing
    
    I think cats are unique in that they domesticated themselves
    
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    Alcoholicorn@mander.xyz ⁨5⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    Foxes didn’t have many domesticatable features, but it just took the Soviets 40 years or so to domesticate them. It really might just be nobody spent 100 years trying.
    
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    stenAanden@feddit.dk ⁨5⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    Ehhh… Can you really call wolves friendly?
    
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  - BCsven@lemmy.ca ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
    Might take more than centuries, but yes.
    
    We have a rescue dog from Korea as well as some neighbours ( not a standard breed, but a Korean Village dog, they basically live alongside humans as a breed but developed their own way). They are much different than “normal” dogs. They are more like cats. Their way on their terms. Like other dogs, don’t enjoy humans much. So even though they are domesticated, they still show the old lineage of being independent. My dogs idea of a good time is never chasing a stick or ball, but finding the highest vantage point at a park and watching everyone. A carryover from watching the plains from the hillside, or something.
    
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LH0ezVT@sh.itjust.works ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
I saw a historic photo in a magazine once, where some European colonial officers tried to tame and ride zebras

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