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Although man-raised wolves, like dogs, can be taught many things, they will never be similar to dogs in terms of control, restraint and handling, according to a recent study by ELTE ethologists. Despite intensive socialization
for example, they may be less persuaded to bring and gift the discarded item, showing more aggression than dogs raised in similar conditions
– You can read about the results of the investigation in the report published on the ELTE website. According to ethologists from the Faculty of Sciences, one of the reasons for this is that dogs basically became more manageable during domestication, thus making them suitable for coexistence with humans.
To support their hypothesis, an experiment was carried out in which 16 wolves and 11 cubs were raised in the same way, delivered from a few days of age and regularly tested between 3 and 24 weeks of age. Hand-reared animals came to their keepers at a very young age, even before their eyes were opened. During their socialization in an intensive human environment.
keepers carried the small animals around with them in purses and baskets during their daily activities, thus spending 22-24 hours a day together.
As a result, from a very young age, animals encountered new visual, sound and olfactory devices, people, animals, and foreign objects on a daily basis. The cubs met 2-3 times a week and got to know each other. Keepers of both dogs and wolves have tried to avoid any situation in which the animal needs to be forced, dominated, similar to the way that mother wolves and other members of the pack treat small cubs.
The researchers observed that although dogs and wolves behaved similarly when giving up, summoning, and muzzling, on the in-kind task (that is, when animals have to return a discarded toy), the pups return the ball to the experimenter much more often than wolves. . Wolves typically chased him, caught him, but tended to run away and one in four wolves behaved aggressively when they wanted to take the ball away. During hair care, the wolves tried to bite more times than the dogs at 12 weeks, but then there was no difference.
“Through intensive socialization, we have managed to control wolves in many tasks. But they were less manageable than dogs, especially if they had something or didn’t like to be touched. However, the behavior of the pups raised by mothers and raised by humans did not differ in the tests. From the results, we concluded that manageability was an important aspect during domestication, ”concludes Enikő Kubinyi, lead researcher at ELTE.
“It is important to note that while wolves can be taught to perform certain tasks (such as sitting) or controlled to a certain level, keeping them as pets is dangerous, in large part due to their unmanageability. However, in captive wolves, socialization and training can significantly improve the animals’ quality of life, ”adds biologist Dorottya Ujfalussy.
The results of the ELTE ethologists have recently been published in the scientific journal Scientific Reports. (MTI)
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