From time to time I’ve written about the Russian program that’s been going on for the last sixty or so years in which they’ve been selectively breeding foxes for friendliness to human beings. The picture above is of one of the foxes produced under the program. The program resulted in some outcomes they didn’t expect. Not only did they get friendliness, they got some neotenous characteristics, white in the coats, and curly tails.
There’s an update on the program from PBS:
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the domesticated fox experiment fell on hard times as public funding for the project evaporated. The researchers realized quickly that keeping more than 300 foxes is an expensive enterprise. In the 1990s, the lab switched to selling some of the foxes as fur pelts to sustain the breeding program.
“The current situation is not catastrophic, but not stable at the same time,†Institute of Cytology and Genetics research assistant Anastasiya Kharlamova told BBC Earth last year. Now, the lab’s primary source of revenue is selling the foxes to people and organizations across the globe.
One customer is the Judith A. Bassett Canid Education and Conservation Center, located near San Diego. The center keeps six foxes — five of which are domesticated — as ambassadors for their species, so that people can get an up-close-and-personal view of the animals.
“We have a fox whose name is Boris, and as soon as someone walks in, he’ll run up to them like a dog will,†said David Bassett, president of the Conservation Center. “He wants to be scratched and if you don’t scratch him he’ll make you.â€
If you’ve been reading The Glittering Eye for a long time, very friendly canids with white in their coats and curly tails may sound familiar to you.
That’s Kara. The Samoyed dogs with which I’ve shared my life for the last several decades fit that description pretty well. Except that they were bred from wolves and over a period of thousands of years rather than just a half century or so.
Update
I have been asked to clarify something in this post. To date Kara has never peed in my coffee cup.
I knew it. You’re really a Russian spy. So YOU threw the election. Call the New York Times, they’ll print anything……
To date, you have never discovered Kara peeing in your coffee cup…
You might think you would recognize that there is something wrong with your coffee if she did, but are you sure?
How has Kara’s personality shaped up? Seems I remember you wrote that she was more an indoor pup than your others.
Kara is a rascal, a handful. She does like being indoors but she’s a great working dog, very smart. She’s presently being trained for nosework and canine agility.
What sort of nosework?
It’s actually an organized activity. In canine nosework dogs learn to search for a specific odor or odors and identify the source.
Do tell. That looks like fun for all of you.
Hilarious… you are a fortunate man that not only has your pup not peed in your coffee cup, but you also didn’t drink, if she had!! I was not so fortunate. Thanks for reposting the article. If you ever want to learn more about our programs at the JABCECC, reach out!