A tame animal is an
animal
Animals are multicellular, eukaryotic organisms in the Biology, biological Kingdom (biology), kingdom Animalia (). With few exceptions, animals heterotroph, consume organic material, Cellular respiration#Aerobic respiration, breathe oxygen, ...
that is relatively tolerant of human presence. Tameness may arise naturally (as in the case, for example, of
island tameness
Island tameness is the tendency of many populations and species of animals living on isolated islands to lose their wariness of potential predators, particularly of large animals. The term is partly synonymous with ecological naïveté, which als ...
) or due to the deliberate, human-directed process of
training an animal against its initially wild or natural instincts to avoid or attack humans. The tameability of an animal is the level of ease it takes humans to train the animal, and varies among individual animals, breeds, or species.
[
In the ]English language
English is a West Germanic language that developed in early medieval England and has since become a English as a lingua franca, global lingua franca. The namesake of the language is the Angles (tribe), Angles, one of the Germanic peoples th ...
, "taming" and "domestication" refer to two partially overlapping but distinct concepts. For example feral animal
A feral (; ) animal or plant is one that lives in the wild but is descended from domesticated individuals. As with an introduced species, the introduction of feral animals or plants to non-native regions may disrupt ecosystems and has, in som ...
s are domesticated, but not tamed. Similarly, taming is not the same as animal training
Animal training is the act of teaching animals specific responses to specific conditions or stimuli. Training may be for purposes such as companionship, detection, protection, and entertainment. The type of training an animal receives will va ...
, although in some contexts these terms may be used interchangeably.
Taming implies that the animal tolerates not merely human proximity, but at minimum human touching. Yet, more common usage limits the label "tame" to animals which do not threaten or injure humans who do not harm or threaten them. Tameness, in this sense, should be distinguished from "socialization" wherein the animals treat humans much like conspecifics
Biological specificity is the tendency of a characteristic such as a behavior or a biochemical variation to occur in a particular species.
Biochemist Linus Pauling stated that "Biological specificity is the set of characteristics of living organism ...
, for instance by trying to dominate
The Dominate is a periodisation of the Roman Empire during late antiquity
Late antiquity marks the period that comes after the end of classical antiquity and stretches into the onset of the Early Middle Ages. Late antiquity as a period was p ...
humans.[For examples with mountain sheep Ovis spp., see Geist 2011a,b.]
Taming versus domestication
Domestication and taming are related but distinct concepts. Taming is the conditioned behavioral modification of a wild-born animal when its natural avoidance of humans is reduced and it accepts the presence of humans, but domestication is the permanent genetic modification
Genetic engineering, also called genetic modification or genetic manipulation, is the modification and manipulation of an organism's genes using technology. It is a set of technologies used to change the genetic makeup of cells, including th ...
of a bred lineage that leads to an inherited predisposition toward humans.[ Human selection included tameness, but domestication is not achieved without a suitable evolutionary response.][
Domestic animals do not need to be tame in the behavioral sense, such as the ]Spanish fighting bull
The Spanish Fighting Bull is an Iberian heterogeneous cattle (''Bos taurus'') population. It is exclusively bred free-range on extensive estates in countries where bullfighting is organized. Fighting bulls are selected primarily for a certai ...
. Wild animals can be tame, such as a hand-raised cheetah
The cheetah (''Acinonyx jubatus'') is a large Felidae, cat and the Fastest animals, fastest land animal. It has a tawny to creamy white or pale buff fur that is marked with evenly spaced, solid black spots. The head is small and rounded, wit ...
. A domestic animal's breeding is controlled by humans and its tameness and tolerance of humans is genetically determined. Thus, an animal bred in captivity
Captivity, or being held captive, is a state wherein humans or other animals are confined to a particular space and prevented from leaving or moving freely. An example in humans is imprisonment. Prisoners of war are usually held in captivity by a ...
is not necessarily domesticated; tiger
The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is a large Felidae, cat and a member of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Asia. It has a powerful, muscular body with a large head and paws, a long tail and orange fur with black, mostly vertical stripes. It is ...
s, gorilla
Gorillas are primarily herbivorous, terrestrial great apes that inhabit the tropical forests of equatorial Africa. The genus ''Gorilla'' is divided into two species: the eastern gorilla and the western gorilla, and either four or five su ...
s, and polar bear
The polar bear (''Ursus maritimus'') is a large bear native to the Arctic and nearby areas. It is closely related to the brown bear, and the two species can Hybrid (biology), interbreed. The polar bear is the largest extant species of bear ...
s breed readily in captivity but are not domesticated.[ ]Asian elephant
The Asian elephant (''Elephas maximus''), also known as the Asiatic elephant, is the only living ''Elephas'' species. It is the largest living land animal in Asia and the second largest living Elephantidae, elephantid in the world. It is char ...
s are wild animals that with taming manifest outward signs of domestication, yet their breeding is not human controlled and thus they are not true domesticates.[
]
See also
* Dressage
Dressage ( or ; , most commonly translated as "training") is a form of horse riding performed in exhibition and competition, as well as an art sometimes pursued solely for the sake of mastery. As an equestrianism, equestrian sport defined by th ...
and reining
Reining is a western riding competition for horses in which the riders guide the horses through a precise pattern of circles, spins, and stops. All work is done at the lope (a version of the horse gait more commonly known worldwide as the cant ...
for horses
* Lion taming
Lion taming is the taming and training of lions, either for protection or for use in entertainment, such as the circus. The term often applies to the taming and display of lions and other big cats such as tigers, leopards, jaguars, cheetahs, ...
* Tame bear
A tame bear, often called a dancing bear, is a wild bear captured when young or born and bred in captivity. These bears have been used to entertain people in streets or taverns. Dancing bears were commonplace throughout Europe and Asia from the M ...
* Tame elephant
Elephants can be found in various captive facilities such as a zoo, Animal sanctuary, sanctuary, circus, or camp, usually under Veterinary medicine, veterinary supervision. They can be used for Outdoor education, educational, entertainment, or wo ...
* Animals in professional wrestling
The usage of animals in professional wrestling has varied through the profession's history. Animals that have been used as opponents to humans in matches include bears, tigers, cheetahs and orangutans.
Species used as wrestlers
Bears
Bears h ...
References
Sources
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*Stringham, S. F. 2010. When Bears Whisper, Do You Listen? WildWatch, Soldotna, AK.
*{{cite journal , last1 = Stringham , first1 = S. F , year = 2011 , title = ikikAggressive body language of bears and wildlife viewing: a response to Geist (2011) , journal = Human-wildlife Interactions , volume = 5 , issue = 2, pages = 177–191
Human–animal interaction