Tamed

About this book

This enthralling narrative combines history and storytelling, like The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks and The Beak of the Finch, in a rare glimpse at the internationally renowned animal behavior experiment that tamed wild foxes into affectionate companions and led to major discoveries about the compelling question of how dogs—and humans—evolved. Any pet owner knows that humans and domesticated animals can form deep and lasting bonds with each other. But we have never known why that bond comes so easily; in other words, why an animal and a person can develop such an intense and meaningful commitment to care about and cooperate with each other. Consider this striking possibility: When we look into a domesticated animal’s eyes, we are looking at ourselves. Sixty years ago a remarkable experiment began in the Soviet Union that continues to this day. The project set out to replicate in real time the domestication of the wolf into the dog, using the silver fox, a cousin of the wolf, as a stand-in. The Silver Fox Experiment has had sensational results and yielded poignant stories of fox-human friendships over generations. Until now, they have never been told because no one has had acce…