Sometime between 11,000 and 40,000 years ago, early humans domesticated wolves. There are theories, but, in the end, no one’s quite sure how it happened. One of the most widely accepted of these theories is that wolves followed human groups to scavenge from the carcasses left behind after human hunts. The presence of the wolves could have discouraged other predators from approaching the human groups, making it a mutually beneficial partnership. The wolves and the humans became habituated to each other, and eventually the wolves started helping the humans to hunt. Approximately 100 generations of wolves later, you have domestic dogs.
At least, that’s how it happened the first time.
In eastern Africa, researchers have observed gelada baboons and Ethiopian wolves forming what might be the same type of partnership. The geladas let the wolves walk through their herds to hunt rodents, and the wolves don’t try to hunt the geladas. What’s being observed seems eerily similar to how we think early humans domesticated wolves. Further supporting this theory, the geladas ignore the wolves while they will hide in the cliffs from feral dogs, showing researchers they can differentiate between the two similar species.
Scientists believe the wolves are purposefully entering the baboon herds at times of day when rodents are most active and easiest to hunt. The observed wolves were more successful hunters when with the geladas than on their own, although it isn’t clear why that is. Researchers believe it’s this success that discourages the wolves from hunting the geladas and breaking that trust.
No similar benefit seems to exist for the geladas, however. The presence of the wolves doesn’t seem to deter other predators, like the feral dogs that hunt the baboons. If there is a benefit to the geladas, researchers haven’t found it yet. In order for domestication to occur, it needs to be mutually beneficial, like early wolves helping humans hunt, and then scavenging the carcasses.
So, are primates going to domesticate wolves again? Probably not, but it’s still a pretty cool thing to watch.