Slashdot Mirror
Wolves May Be 'Re-Domesticating' Into Dogs (sciencemag.org)
sciencehabit quotes a report from Science Magazine: It happened thousands of years ago, and it may be happening again: Wolves in various parts of the world may have started on the path to becoming dogs. That's the conclusion of a new study, which finds that the animals are increasingly dining on livestock and human garbage instead of their wild prey, inching closer and closer to the human world in some places. But given today's industrialized societies, this closeness might also bring humans and wolves into more conflict, with disastrous consequences for both. To find out how gray wolves might be affected by eating more people food, Thomas Newsome, an evolutionary biologist at the Deakin University in Melbourne, Australia, and his colleagues examined studies of what's happened to other large carnivores that live close to people. Newsome's 2014 study of a dingo population in Australia's Tanami Desert showed that the wild dogs' habit of dining almost exclusively on junk food at a waste management facility had made them fat and less aggressive. They were also more likely to mate with local dogs and had become "cheeky," says Newsome, daring to run between his legs as he set out traps for them. Most intriguingly, the dumpster dingoes' population formed a genetic cluster distinct from all other dingoes -- indicating that they were becoming genetically isolated, a key step in forming a new species. Is this happening to gray wolves? The conditions are ripe for it, says Newsome, noting that human foods already make up 32% of gray wolf diets around the world. The animals now mostly range across remote regions of Eurasia and North America, yet some are returning to developed areas. The paper has been published in the journal Bioscience.
But given today's industrialized societies, this closeness might also bring humans and wolves into more conflict, with disastrous consequences for both
How could that have "disastrous" consequences for humans? If a group of wolves say inflict a few deaths on humans (nothing like the numbers from say boating accidents let alone road deaths) then the wolves will be wiped out. That may be a shame or even a tragedy but the potential disastrousness from conflict here is only for the wolves.
It happened thousands of years ago, and it may be happening again
So bark we all!
Ezekiel 23:20
The domestication into dogs was the result of introducing wolfs into society from when they where puppies and active breeding. Just having wolfs living closer to humans won't domesticate them, just like birds and other animals that practically like on top of us aren't domesticated.
I think they're just being smart. Why have to forage when you have an all-you-can-eat buffet in your backyard?
and it wont result in dogs 2.0
It wasnt just proximity to humans that cause the first domestication event in wolves (or really, several parallel events), but conditions that also resulted animals with less aggression, which was then amplified by captive breeding.
this event isnt structured to provide that reduction in aggression.
but it will provide an increase in guile.
this isnt dogs 2.0
this is coyotes 2.0
The guy who said the election was rigged won the presidency with the second-most votes.
Alaska, Bears will enter a bus to eat workers lunches.
Deer, suburbs are entering their area so they have to raid what they can till captured as someone will call about them.
Yellowstone, Bears have entered cars through windows forcing people to exit while it searches for food.
One doesn't feed or allow animals to find a source of food or they will make it a habit.
People are too fucking lazy to buy a proper garbage can that is animal proof, they also think feeding the wildlife is helping. The problem is the education level of the population has continued a downward spiral and will only get worse.
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
Am I the only one that thinks "the Dumpster Dingos" would be a good name for a band?
"Meant" by whom?
You first.
"Better" by what standard?
Your attitude is an excellent illustration of why environmentalists are bad for people.
Contribute to civilization: ari.aynrand.org/donate
( ... though he mostly acts like he thinks he owns me, and considering that I'm the one who has to pick up his poop ...)
"Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.
You should live in Beijing were people who hate the environment live.
The EPA made sure we have clean clear air, clean water, etc. As a business will only do what is profitable for them. If they can make more money posioning their own workers they will. See every single environmental catastrophy.
The EPA makes polloution expensive. And creates new business opportunities.
Your attitude is why a business will take every thing you have leaving nothing for your kids. 95% CV hance that it will be a medical company too.
i thought once I was found, but it was only a dream.
As long as they don't start thinking digital watches are a good idea.
rewriting history since 2109
Unsafe to own. All should be wiped out
http://q13fox.com/2017/04/03/3...
Oh gee, a dog bit someone! Using your logic, there wouldn't be many animals left on earth.
The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
The growth is growing exponentially? Fucking rubbish. Learn to math.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
When a male dog meets a female wolf ...
Slashdot, fix the reply notifications... You won't get away with it...
Any dog can bite.
Plenty of dogs bite, but they rarely bite their owners.
This kid was mauled by his own "pet".
Wolves' domestication is merely a step towards occupying the niche that has been held by humans over the past couple thousand years, which people are now abandoning as they increasingly begin to act like animals. I attribute this to the rise in 'furry' culture and animal avatars in Second Life, and the whole 'horse schlong' thing.
People have also been observed repeatedly making swiping motions on their smartphones to navigate endless Javascript scrolls on social media platforms like Facebook, which is a re-emergence of social grooming habits. When the cell networks finally go down we will drop our phones and instead resume picking fleas off each other, while the wolves take our places in industry and commerce.
<blink>down the rabbit hole</blink>
Not that I am saying that this is a fair sampling. But typically when you hear about pit bulls killing things those things are its owners and owners children.
Troll is not a replacement for I disagree.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
Documentary: "Meet The Coywolf"
Politics is Treachery, Religion is Brainwashing
Perhaps that dead wolf on his head is controlling him?
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
...and saw a cousin lounging on the couch and they want in on that.
My personal theory is that domestic dogs evolved from coy wolves, a cross between coyotes and wolves that are quite smart, adaptable, opportunistic... and have little fear of humans. Modern coy wolves appear to be attempting to interbreed with domestic canines. Like Captain Kirk, the obviously have no qualms against dating outside their own species.
I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
Imagine if it was a gun that shot someone.
xD
That's different.
The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
I take him out often just as much for my own health as his - though when it's snowing or raining he refuses to go. It's a great way to meet people who share the same interests - or at least one interest. Having to retire early (which sux), it gives me something to do (that doesn't suck so much).
But every hour? We're out for up to an hour or more each time (bad weather excepted), so forget it. 4 hours a day is enough. I get my 10,000 steps in, and he (with those tiny legs) gets his 70,000 steps in.
"Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.
Bartender raises his eyebrows and says, "What's the deal with that?"
The amphibian replies, "I don't know. it started out as a wart on my arse."
Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know.
Ernest Hemingway
It can be done pretty easily -- let people kill any wolves that come into populated areas, like they used to be allowed to do. The wolves that survive will be those that fear people and stick to the wilds.
And it's not like it would actually endanger the wolves -- the IUCN listing for them is Least Concern. The "Endangered Species Act" listing of them as "endangered" merely indicated they were rare in the lower 48 states; Canada, Alaska, Russia, and China have plenty.
Second, the dependence on human garbage that the researchers posit is a fantasy of theirs. Wolf population density maps with their prey population density, not the garbage dump count.
If "normal", natural apex predators are desired, controlling their own numbers as apex predators do and avoiding humans sharing their habitat, being wary enough to be reliably safe, then wolves should simply be left alone to be wolves whenever possible, problem individuals and packs dealt with.
Making their packs bigger with nonbreeding adults and protecting huge territories with prey populations large enough to be sustained, their population controls, aren't going to work with wolf seasons tattering and decimating the wolf packs, and they'll be bred into the equivalent of coyotes, it will simply be easier for them to survive as small packs and pairs, and useless to depend on other pack members that will disappear. Just comparing the reproduction rate in Wisconsin and Michigan shows they adapt to humans giving a new breeding pair territory by killing a couple of wolves in a large pack instantly by moving in and adding their own litter, doubling the pups per adult wolf in that pack's former territory.
coming soon to your local pet store.
FTR, those usually aren't pit bulls. They're just called that after the biting (and once such is claimed it'll be reported around more than other breeds). Kinda like the false claims of introverts being serial killers because even the most ridiculously extroverted people are suddenly retroactively called "quiet" and said to've "kept to himself", even by friends and acquaintances very actively involved with the sudden hermit. It's misreporting triggering over-reporting. It doesn't help when people try to train one as an attack dog by being jackass or specifically use the breeds for dog fights.
Genetic testing of shelter dogs in certain regions prove most "pit bull mixes" in those regions have no identifiable pit bull genes at all. Can't find that exact link now, but it was amusingly reminiscent of HR's expertise and actual good-hire stats. Apparently, this is a general trend, according to this.
http://www.nathanwinograd.com/...
"A soft answer turneth away wrath. Once wrath is looking the other way, shoot it in the head."