Tag Archives: domestication of wolves

Dec

2017

Domesticating Wolves: Why Did Humans Do It? Are There Any Consequences?

The process of domesticating wolves started thousands of years ago but how has it fared so far?

Wolf Training At Wolf Science Center, Ernstbrunn, Lower Austria: domesticating wolves

Wolf Training At Wolf Science Center, Ernstbrunn, Lower Austria (Photo: Wolfgang Glock, cc 3.0)

Scientifically called Canis Lupus, humans acknowledge wolves as wild animals since they became aware of this creature’s existence many thousands of years ago.

The Canis part of its scientific name is what gave rise to our popular name for domesticated dogs: canines. In addition, we know that wolves and dogs are related genetically and this has been proven time and time again.

We have successfully domesticated dogs (Canis Lupus Familiaris), but wolves on the other

7 Reasons We Are So In Love With Wolves

Wolves continue to fascinate us and here are 7 reasons we are so in love with them.

No doubt, wolves remain one of the most fascinating terrestrial creatures sharing the planet with us. These animals were even regarded as gods – or companions of the gods – in Norse mythology and were instrumental in the history of places like Rome.

Traditionally, wolves inhabited all of North America. But by the time more Europeans started to settle in North America, the wolf population began dropping rapidly due to intense hunting practices.

That’s because Europeans back then feared and hated wolves based on prejudices passed on

The History Of Wolves And Dogs

In this brief history of wolves and dogs, we look at the relationship between humans, wolves and dogs over the years.

Llop Is A Wolf-Dog Hybrid in Lobo Park, Antequerra, Spain (Author: Mariomassone cc by s.a. 3.0)

The staggering differences between the still-growing list of dog breeds are the effects of thousands of years of interbreeding to create over 150 distinct breeds. Charles Darwin thought that dogs were domesticated from many different types of wild dogs, but according to modern science, he was wrong.

Rather, DNA analysis on wolves and dogs indicate that dogs are direct descendants of the gray wolf.