I’d watched a documentary some years ago about a Russian scientist who, in 1959 or so, started trying to domesticate foxes in hopes of discovering how wolves were domesticated into dogs. Surprisingly, the answer to that question still remains a mystery.
This video makes clear that the Russian scientists’ current efforts to domesticate foxes does not produce a substitute for dogs. Dogs have some genetic social instinct with humans that these foxes appear to lack. But there’s potential, which is interesting to witness in how the foxes treat surrounding humans. These foxes are not ready for prime time pet status. But perhaps with more testing and manipulation, they could be. How could these findings be applied to other animals? Lots of possibilities.
