Why People Have Never Been Able To Domesticate Zebras

In a world with colonialism on its mind, the idea of domesticating the zebra was certainly an appealing one. Horses struggled to survive in the harsh conditions of Africa, you see, limiting the spread of western civilization across the plains. But what if they could be replaced by an animal that was equipped to handle all the challenges of its native terrain?

The idea of domesticating zebras has come up several times throughout the history of mankind, in fact. But you’re unlikely to see any of the striped equines pulling a carriage or being ridden through traffic today. So what happened to Dan and his kin — and why aren’t they as commonplace as horses today? 

Our complicated relationship with domesticated animals began when early humans first tamed the wild wolves which shared their habitat, kickstarting the evolution of dogs. Although scientists cannot agree exactly when this happened, we know that man’s best friend has been with us for at least 14,000 years.

You’d be forgiven for thinking that our initial interactions with domestic animals occurred out of a need for food. But today, many experts believe that the first dogs were kept by hunter-gatherer humans simply as companions and pets. In fact, it would be another 3,000 years before early societies began keeping animals for their meat.

When that happened, though, it would cause a drastic shift in human development, transforming how our ancestors lived and worked. As pigs, sheep, cattle and goats were domesticated, societies found themselves with a mobile and efficient source of food. And thanks to the stability that this brought, communities were able to flourish in new and exciting ways.

By farming animals for their meat and milk, then, early humans laid the foundations that allowed civilizations to develop and thrive. But there was another milestone that also affected the course of history on a grand scale: the domestication of equine species. With the emergence of horseback riding, the concept of warfare and conquest was transformed.

Initially, experts believe, horses were actually domesticated as a source of milk and food, rather than as a means of transportation. As many as 5,000 years ago, equines co-existed with humans in Kazakhstan — although archaeological evidence suggests that they were not ridden. Some 2,000 years later, though, all that had changed.

“The riding of horses was a very significant additional development,” the University of Exeter’s Alan K. Outram told the Journal of Young Investigators in 2012. “This led to a revolution in transport, trade, migration, and forms of warfare. Horseback riding may have been a key component in the fast spread of culturally important ideas and technologies.”

So over time, horses have been put to a variety of uses, from pulling the chariots of ancient Mesopotamia to hauling ploughs across fields as recently as the 19th century. In fact, the domesticated horse has played a pivotal role in countless modern societies across the globe. So perhaps it’s not surprising that people throughout history have attempted to recreate this success.

There are a number of similar animals which, on the surface at least, appear to be ideal for domestication. Take the donkey, for example. Some 2,000 years after humans in Kazakhstan first incorporated horses into their societies, it’s believed, communities in either Mesopotamia or Egypt began doing the same with wild asses.

Like horses, donkeys also belong to the Equidae family, although their long ears and stocky build mark them apart from their cousins. And for centuries, they have been used as pack animals — even taking a starring role in the nativity story. Plus, they played an important role in the American Gold Rush, helping prospectors to carry out their often foolhardy missions.

The creatures proved so useful, in fact, that they inspired the first-ever man-made hybrid — a cross between a donkey and a horse, known as a mule. But not all attempts at equine domestication have been quite so successful. And when humans decided to tame zebras, the results were not what they expected.

It’s easy to see why the zebra might be considered ripe for domestication. Also a member of the Equidae family, these appealing creatures with their black and white stripes share a common ancestor with both donkeys and horses. But around four million years ago, they split off onto their own evolutionary path.

Zebras are today mostly seen in zoos or their native habitats in southern and eastern Africa. But in the past, they have taken center stage in some rather ambitious domestication attempts. Take, for example, the work of the French writer and naturalist Georges-Louis Leclerc, otherwise known as the Comte de Buffon.

Buffon apparently believed that zebras could come to fill the role of horses in modern society — and he wasn’t the only one. Around the same time, according to reports, there were whispers of a cart pulled by the striped creatures somewhere in Holland. Meanwhile, in South Africa, the Dutch Boers were also attempting a similar feat. 

Then there was the work of the European colonialists with their eyes on Africa — those who sought to domesticate Dan the Zebra and his ilk. In the lands near the equator, dangerous insects such as tsetse flies posed a fatal danger to any horses shipped over from the west. The native equines, though, appeared to be immune to such threats.

Thus the prospect of a domesticated zebra, which could fulfil the role of horse but not succumb to native disease, was certainly an appealing one. But try as they might, the colonialists could not tame the wild beasts. So why were they so much harder to get a grip on than their equine cousins?

After all, a few eccentric individuals had enjoyed limited success with domesticating zebras for their own entertainment. In 19th-century New Zealand, for example, governor George Grey had a collection of the creatures that he had imported from South Africa. And according to reports, he was able to train them to pull a carriage in a horse-like fashion.

Similarly, Lord Walter Rothschild, a British aristocrat and zoologist, once rode in a zebra-drawn carriage all the way to Buckingham Palace. His motivation, it’s said, was simply to prove that he could. And there are even stories of the Portuguese physician Rosendo Ribeiro attending appointments in Nairobi, Kenya, while riding on a zebra’s back. Not your average doctor then!

Yet ultimately zebras have stubbornly avoided any attempt by humans to bend them to their will. So what is going on? Well, although the creatures might look like horses, they are actually a very different species — and it’s these differences that have made them almost impossible to domesticate over the years. 

At least part of the answer, it seems, has something to do with natural selection. Over the course of their long, intertwined history, horses have grown used to the presence of humans. But that’s not all. As the years have passed, people have actually bred the creatures to have more of the traits that are desirable in a working animal. 

So the horses that we see today are a far cry from their wild ancestors that once lived freely on the steppes of Asia. Modern zebras, though, are far more similar to these earlier beasts. And without millennia of selective breeding, they have retained more of their fierce, feral characteristics.

Unlike their cousins, who have long enjoyed a comfortable, domesticated life alongside humans, zebras have spent the centuries struggling for survival on the African plains. Sharing an environment with predators such as lions, crocodiles, and cheetahs, they have evolved to be tough — a trait that does not make them easy to tame. 

Anyone who does attempt to domesticate a zebra, then, is in for a rough ride. For starters, they can be aggressive when cornered, equipped with a bite hard enough to deter any predators that might think of making them lunch. Plus their kick is deadly — strong enough to take down a lion with a single blow. 

All that is only a problem to potential zebra-trainers if they actually manage to catch one first. And given the creature’s evolutionary advantages, even that seems somewhat unlikely. According to experts, the equines have a surprisingly accurate ducking reflex, making them almost impossible to capture using a lasso. Sorry cowboys!

Plus some experts believe that zebras’ past encounters with hunter-gatherer societies may have had a lasting impact on their behavior. And that even now, thousands of years down the line, they are still hard-wired to avoid humans. This approach would have kept them alive in the past after all, so why stop now?

Some zebras have still found themselves in captivity over the years, of course, despite their reluctance to interact with humans. Back in 1904, Dan was presented to President Theodore Roosevelt by King Menelik, the ruler of what was then Abyssinia. And when he reached his new home in America, he became the subject of an extensive breeding program.

Dan, though, simply refused to play ball. According to Smithsonian magazine, he attacked his human keepers and turned his nose up at the horses that were brought to his paddock. On one occasion, a 1913 report claimed, he rushed at a mare with such aggression that those present feared she’d be killed.

Dan’s keepers eventually did have some success at breeding him with female donkeys, though. After this, more zebras were brought in, eventually creating a small population of hybrids with less aggressive and more docile personalities. But as these offspring were infertile, they could not reproduce, sending researchers back to the drawing board.

Eventually, the project ran out of funding and came to an end after spectacularly failing to achieve its goal. And Dan, the zebra that could never be tamed, lived out the remainder of his days at the Smithsonian’s National Zoological Park in Washington, D.C. For America at least, the dream of domesticating Africa’s stubborn, striped equines was over for good.

That Dan’s keepers were not able to subdue him would have come as no surprise to Francis Galton, Charles Darwin’s half-cousin. Highly intelligent and well read, he was, among many other things, a geneticist specializing in behavior. And in 1865, he published The First Steps Towards The Domestication of Animals in which he identified certain criteria that make an animal easy to tame. 

According to a 2016 article on the website ScienceAlert, the criteria identified by Galton include “displaying a desire for comfort, being easy to tend, being useful and showing a fondness for man.” Clearly, with their aversion to humans, aggressive temperaments, and stubborn nature, zebras are far from ideal candidates for domestication. 

The fact that there are no zebras pulling carts or carrying human mounts today is probably seen as something of a victory for the equine. But are they really better off having fought off our attempts to domesticate them? You see, there are estimated to be only around 800,000 zebras left in the wild today. 

Yet in comparison, there are believed to be somewhere in the region of 60 million horses. Domestication, then, may have ended up being the smartest strategy after all. And clearly, it’s not out of the question. As well as the aristocrats who managed to tame zebras in the past, there have been a few modern examples that didn’t exactly end in disaster.

Reports emerged in 2013 of an 18-year-old Virginian who kept a zebra as a pet. According to the Mail Online, Shea Inman was inspired to buy the animal, known as Joey, after watching the movie Racing Stripes. Released in 2005, this animation follows the adventures of a zebra dreaming of making it in the competitive world of horse racing.

Against all the odds, Shea was able to break Joey in — although he won’t be winning any races any time soon. Speaking to the Mail Online, she explained, “Some days it’s like he’s been riding for 30 years and other days he acts like he’s never seen a human being.”

The following year, there was a similar story in the press — this time centered around Gary Witheford, a horse trainer who has worked with royals and celebrities. According to CNN, he made a bet in a bar that he could tame any animal, including the famously stubborn zebra. Unbelievably, the owner of a nearby safari park overheard and offered up an animal for him to use.

And Witheford apparently tamed two of the creatures in less than 40 minutes each. In fact, the bond between them was so strong that the animals eventually retired to live on his farm. Speaking to CNN in 2014, the Brit said, “You’d call Mombasa and he’d come galloping over, braying like he does. He was like my dog, he was so friendly.”

According to CNN, Witheford believes that his traumatic past may be what helps him to bond with animals. And there’s certainly something special going on, given that he succeeded where so many others have failed. But will we ever see zebras domesticated on a large scale? It's tough to say, though given some of the other unique and exotic animals people have managed to tame as pets, we won't rule it out just yet.

Yep, you heard us right ‒ a capybara. That’s the world’s largest rodent for those of you who aren’t in the know. Although capybaras are indigenous to South America, Gary’s owner couldn’t look after him any longer. So he went to live in Melanie and Richard Typaldos’ Texas home. They went so far as to get the water-loving rodent his own swimming pool!

In 2013 Melanie told British newspaper The Sun, “Although some people might find it strange, it's really no different than having a dog or a cat. Gary is really very smart and he’s very affectionate.” Apparently he gets along with the other pets in the family’s menagerie, too. Except the tortoise, who apparently has a penchant for invading Gary’s “personal space.”

We’ll grant you that snakes, and rat snakes in particular, are a fairly common pet. But stay with us here. You see, Filé and Gumbo aren’t your average reptiles. It’s hard to say whether you’d even count them as a pair of snakes or a single one, because they share the same body.

Tanee Janusz took Filé and Gumbo in after their neighbor found them in a Louisiana backyard. Apparently, their unique appearance is probably the result of their embryos not splitting properly, leaving them with separate brains in a single body. What’s more, snakes such as this don’t usually live long in the wild either. At least the serpent siblings are in good hands with Janusz.

Juniper, who also goes by “The Happiest Fox,” is the most famous face in Jessica Coker’s rescued exotics home. She isn’t the only one, though. You see, Juniper shares her humans with a group of rescue animals, some of which were saved from fur farms. That means they were bred for their pelts and differ genetically from wild foxes: they wouldn’t survive on their own.

Juniper is now living happily with her fellow foxes and adopted doggie family. “Juniper is sassy,” her humans wrote on their website in 2017. “I’ve never met anyone, human or animal, more sassy than she is. She will always let me know exactly how she feels about something. If she dislikes what’s going on she'll walk over, ears back, and scream at me, then casually walk away. (Yes, foxes can scream).”

If you’re looking for meerkats, you’d probably think South Africa, not Hampshire, England. Still, that’s where Jack and Mila live with their human parents, Laura Gilbert and Tom Dawson. They raised the meerkats from babies and the critters have been part of the family ever since. All the same, the couple don’t recommend you take meerkats into your home lightly, though.

Gilbert and Dawson explained that meerkats require a lot of care. And even so, both genders react very differently to humans. Jack, for example, loves people, including visitors. Yet while Mila is affectionate with her family, if she sees strangers she tends to go on the offensive, often targeting unsuspecting wellwishers’ necks. Meerkats may be small, but they have comparatively big teeth.

When outdoor enthusiast Kelly Lund sought out a companion with similar interests, he found his match in Loki. Kelly’s best pal is in large part husky and malamute, but one of Loki’s recent ancestors is a wolf. That makes Loki a hybrid wolfdog, and their adventurous exploits have made them both social media celebrities.

Since Kelly first uploaded a photograph of himself sleeping with Loki on a hammock, their fame has skyrocketed. Kelly even resigned from his former employment in 2016 in favor of acting as the wolfdog’s full-time photographer and manager! He attributes Loki’s success entirely to the wolfdog, though. “Loki’s this really special dog in that you can see his spirit through his eyes,” he told website Alpha Universe in 2018.

Back in 2014 Laura Young of the Bahamas found an injured baby raccoon: it had suffered a broken leg. Without an animal rescue center nearby, she felt she had no choice but to take the critter in herself. Young called the little girl Pumpkin, but even after nursing it back to health, she couldn’t find Pumpkin’s mother.

Pumpkin stayed with Young, becoming a social media star and charity fundraiser with 1.4 million followers. Sadly, Pumpkin passed away at age four and her adoptive owner paid her a heart-breaking tribute. In 2019 she wrote on Instagram, “Pumpkin would lick the tears from my face and it would make me laugh and smile. She did this so many times.” This is one mammal that will be sorely missed.

Talk about bringing home the bacon! Doriana Giustozzi and Raffaele Petterini found piglet Pasqualina injured in Italian woodlands. Naturally, they took her in and decided to keep the little porker. However, Pasqualina was no teacup pig. She grew into a massive boar, and we don’t mean that as an insult.

Giustozzi’s and Petterini’s porcine pal developed a liking for the indoor life. Pasqualina loved to climb on the furniture and sleep on the bed. Petterini also told The Sun in 2015 that their pig snuggled like a dog. “She loves cuddling,” she described. “She likes physical contact, she communicates a lot with us, she is very affectionate and we are like her parents.”

Jeffrey Condon of Tanzania’s Greystoke Mahale camp became birds of a feather with a pelican separated from its flock during a storm. Staff named the orphan Big Bird and taught him everything a pelican should know. They gave him swimming, fishing and even flying lessons. In fact, camp staff recorded Big Bird’s progress for millions of internet watchers.

The animal rescuers hoped to one day release Big Bird into the wild, but upsettingly he died in a boating accident in 2016. Staff wrote on their blog NomadTanzania, “He was taken too early but had a very loving and exciting life with us all here. To the ones who got to know our friendly pelican: you will have the greatest memories to treasure forever.”

Don’t feel bad if you’ve never heard of a kinkajou. They’re adorable little mammals that usually live in rainforests, but Stella is different. Her home is in Florida with Justin and Samantha Powell, who have had Stella since she was a baby. Although the little critter’s tiny, she’s packed with personality.

Justin told British newspaper the Daily Mail in 2017, “She’s very rambunctious and energetic; we call her ‘our royal highness.’ Kinkajous don’t train very well, it’s a matter of letting her do what she wants.” Incidentally, Paris Hilton also owned a kinkajou called Baby Luv. Paris hit the headlines in 2006 when it bit her, though thankfully the wound wasn’t serious.

In 2020 a touching documentary featuring filmmaker Craig Foster called My Octopus Teacher hit Netflix. It chronicles the year in Craig’s life when he made friends with a wild female octopus. The footage shows the intelligent species in a new light and left Craig changed from his interactions with her.

“The octopus showed me many behaviors that were completely new to science, because this animal trusted me,” Foster told CNN that year. Nor is he the only person to make a connection with octopuses (or octopi, if you prefer). Actor Nicolas Cage reportedly also owned an octopus that apparently helped improve his acting. Though what that means is anyone’s guess.

If you want something to put a spring in your step, check out Damien the kangaroo. Jackson O’Doherty, an Australian comedian, rescued Damien from the roadside where her mother had abandoned her. After that Damien never wanted to leave her human daddy – yes, Damien really is a Sheila – as a 2016 video on his YouTube channel proves.

The footage shows Damien chasing the comedian along the beach, to the store and all around town. The pair even stop to get some attention from passers-by. Watching the little joey bounce after her rescuer is truly heart-warming. See? Not all the Australian wildlife wants to kill you. Just most of it.

When you think of love stories, they don’t usually involve humans and birds. But that’s exactly what the tale between Dindim the penguin and Joao Pereira de Souza is, in the purest sense. Retired bricklayer de Souza discovered Dindim in 2011 soaked in oil and immobilized, so he rushed to the penguin’s aid.

De Souza spent days cleaning the oil off Dindim and feeding him until the penguin was well enough to leave. Dindim did just that ‒ he was free, after all ‒ but it wasn’t the last time they met. Every year since then Dindim has returned to visit the man who saved his life.

Back in 2019 Rambo the alligator went viral thanks to some candid pics on social media. He was a celebrity in Lakeland, Florida, well before that, though. Former professional wrestler Mary Thorn recounted to YouTube channel Beastly how she had rescued Rambo from animal cruelty. Unfortunately the alligator’s four years in captivity had already left him immunocompromised.

Thorn treated Rambo like her baby in the subsequent years, claiming that he would die if released back into the wild. Still, 11 years after Rambo’s rescue the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FFWCC) tried to separate them. Ultimately, the animal-lover was awarded custody of Rambo ‒ on the condition she doesn’t exhibit him. Needless to say, she snapped up the offer.

Poor old Aatu the reindeer didn’t have the best start in life. His mother abandoned him in a forest in Lapland. Aatu’s fortunes turned around when Pia Tuukkanen took him in. She raised the reindeer herself and now he’s somewhat domesticated and enjoys the company of humans.

Tuukkanen spoke to YouTube channel Zoomin Local Heroes on the subject in 2013. She said, “Normally, reindeers don’t want to hang out with people. They don’t want to be touched, they don’t want to be around people. This one thinks he’s a dog.” Aatu spends most of his time outside, but likes to visit his mom indoors on special occasions.

This story doesn't exactly start like a Disney special, but stay with us, it has a happy ending. Exotic-animal-lover Bryan Hawn purchased a hyena called Jake from a private zoo under false pretenses. Unsurprisingly, Jake didn’t like his Miami Beach apartment. In 2011 Bryan told newspaper the Miami New Times, “The first three months were hell.”

Jake’s owner did the right thing and handed the hyena over to Mario Tabraue’s Zoological Wildlife Foundation. Bryan can visit Jake any time he wishes, and the experience has made him realize he wants to work with animals. “The bond I have with this wild animal is absolutely priceless,” Bryan recounted. “The love Jake and I share is unbreakable.”

Where else would you find someone with a pet buffalo but in Texas? The beefcake belongs to Ronnie and Sherron Bridges, who are former buffalo ranchers. Medical expenses caused them to sell the herd, but there was one they couldn’t part with. That was a big boy called Wild Thing.

The Bridges have raised Wild Thing from a three-month-old calf and say his house manners are impeccable. In 2017 Ronnie informed Inside Edition, “He’s a house pet. Outside, he plays really rough but inside the house, he’s really a gentleman.” They also reported that Wild Thing is house-trained. Can you imagine if he wasn’t? Yikes.

We know what you’re thinking: who looked at grizzly bears and decided they would make great pets? Well, more than one person, actually. The first is Casey Anderson, a professional wildlife trainer and keeper. His best buddy is a grizzly called Brutus who he rescued from euthanasia at a wildlife park which had more animals than it could safely accommodate. Anderson raised Brutus from a cub in his own bear sanctuary and regularly wrestles with the gentle giant.

Meanwhile, Moscow couple Svetlana and Yury Panteleenko also raised the softie Stepan from a cub. In his case, Stepan’s biological mother abandoned him at three months old. Both Brutus and Stepan work in movies, while Stepan is also a renowned Russian model. In 2020 the bear’s photographer, Mila Zhdanova, discussed her client with The Moscow Times newspaper. She revealed, “Stepan is so friendly thanks to his trainers’ care and love.”

Let’s not split hairs here, polar bears are dangerous. There are recorded cases of them attacking and killing humans. That’s why animal trainer Mark Dumas is the only man to survive swimming with one. And that polar bear is none other than his best friend Agee, the star of the 1996 movie Alaska. Oh, we should mention Charlton Heston also appeared in the flick, of course.

Dumas trained Agee using positive reinforcement methods and intended to make her a family member. The bear-lover describes Agee as a bit of a diva on set, though. Indeed, Dumas’ wife Dawn is the only other person Agee tolerates. Agee apparently sees Dawn like a sister and she sometimes joins the odd couple’s swimming sessions.

Costa Rican Gilberto Shedden ‒ also known as Chito ‒ always loved crocodiles, but they never let him get too close. That is, until he found an injured one with a bullet wound in its head. Chito couldn’t resist nursing it back to health despite the fears of his friends and family. But that’s how he met Pocho.

Chito and Pocho grew close over the years, and the croc proved very docile. Chito could put his hand in Pocho’s mouth and the two began to put on public shows. The pair developed an unbreakable bond and Pocho became quite the celebrity. It’s no wonder that when the crocodile passed away in 2011 his local town held a touching funeral for him. RIP, Pocho.

Despite their somewhat comical looks, hippopotami are among the deadliest animals in the world. They’re territorial, aggressive and according to a 2016 BBC News feature, they kill about 500 people in their native Africa annually. But you wouldn’t think so to look at Jessica, the loveable hippo who lives near Hoedspruit, South Africa.

Tonie and Shirley Joubert rescued a baby Jessica from the African floods in 2000. Her mother had abandoned the little hippo so recently after birth that she still had her umbilical cord attached. Now as an adult, she lives with other hippos but loves to visit her human parents. In fact, she adores all humans and acts as an ambassador between our species.