We met the world’s first domesticated foxes 

Should we be domesticating wild animals?

"They greet, they interact, and then they move on." --Me at parties

You want a dog? You want a cat? Boom you got a fox

Turns out, friendliness is only one measure of if an animal is a good pet. It's the most critical one, but it's not everything. They also need to be easily trained, or at the very least, have non-destructive behaviors. These things have not been bred into these foxes yet.

I've started domesticating crocodiles, the results so far are promising, but It's hard to write it all down with one arm

Short bursts of affection and then they go do their own thing? Sounds like a cat.

A fox is an animal running cat software on dog hardware..

Several decades ago I bought a wolf pup from a breeder. I naively expected it to become as domestic as any dog. Well, yes and no, just as this couple with the foxes explained. My wolf bonded with me as her mother. She was loving and very affectionate to my family. She was very playful with a silly doggie-like sense of humor. But she was skittish and frightened of any loud noises. She was destructive, chewing things up, digging hole and even - yes, a cave! - and rearranging the backyard to her liking. She liked other dogs if they were more less her size. But she feared larger dogs, but literally wanted to eat toy breeds (had to be careful when out on the leash) and she killed my beloved cat. It was simply no life for her in suburban backyard. I finally had to make the extremely painful decision to part with my beloved wolf and find her a more appropriate home with a couple who lived in the woods. This was devastating for both me and my wolf, who viewed me as her momma. I am now very critical about people seeking out wild animals as pets. It's not a fair life for them to have to conform to a human world and comes with situations that you're often not prepared to deal with.

The fact that we humans who love petting animals, live in a world full of animals who love getting pet is amazing and tells something about the laws of nature.

Foxes are not pack animals. They will never be like dogs who descended from wolves which are pack animals. If anything I’d say foxes will become more like cats than dogs in the way they communicate as pets.

2100: *"How We domesticated a Blue Whale"*

Be mindful if picking one up for yourself. The older ones tend to come pre-assembled, but the newer models are in kit form.

The JABCECC currently has 14 of the Russian domesticated foxes that people can come and interact with..... We have some that are 11 years old (with no socialization), some 8 years old (with a little bit) and some 3 years old (with a slight amount more) - all behave very differently than our wild or captive bred foxes. The Belyaev foxes seek out human attention (from those they know and those they have never met). They haven't met a person they didn't like and are willing to get scratches and pets from anyone. While they each have different personalities, they all are less afraid of novel environments than their counterparts. They truly are fascinating..... if you are ever in San Diego, look us up and schedule an encounter.

We should domesticate bears for the ultimate good boy

Me: *I want a fox* Fox: *I will poop and pee on your counter* Me: *I Do not want a fox*

I love the term "elite level of friendliness" also I know I'm not the only one who went and called their doggo whenever the part about doggos having an unusual willingness to bond with humans came on.

I wish some human beings could reach a elite level of friendliness today.

The difference is that foxes are relatively solitary animals. Wolves are pack animals. So dogs have that pack mentality and want those relationships.

Wild fox: "no." Domesticated fox: "oh, hello there. Want to play? No? Okay then, I'll give you your space." Dog: *"FRIEND"*

What was learned from the original experiment was fascinating. The conditions in which they kept these animals to preform their experiment was nothing short of cruel.

Behaviorally, domesticated foxes seem to be more like domesticated cats than domesticated dogs. It would be cool to see a video that looks at the differences in behaviour among other domesticated animals :D

This just proves that minecraft foxes should be tameable. Edit:The foxes are not truly tameable,they just won't run away,I mean tameable somewhat like dogs or cats.

"Elite friendliness levels" Fox:"I'm about to do what's called a pro friend move."

I had a pet fox back in the 80's. It's Mom wouldn't feed it so I raised on a bottle. His name was Sampson. He was house trained & everything. I loved him 🥺

I pride being from Novosibirsk, where these cuties was bred

I love how we humans are so fixated on bonding with anything that's cute and fluffy that we obsess over it, collectively, for generations.

Normal foxes: "Whine" Russian foxes: "Cyka blyat"

The person who made the closed captions completely gave up when they were supposed to put in a russian name and just typed *[speaks foreign language]* instead🤣🤣🤣

There are other videos posted on this site where an older man has one or more foxes as domesticated pets, much more sociable and affectionate than the ones in this video. In fact, unlike the experience of the couple who have foxes that still relieve themselves in the house, this man has found his favorite fox has learned to be "considerate" and never pee or defecate in the house despite being in the house for long periods of time. It would be valuable for the researchers to visit him and explore more of what he's learned living with foxes.

Genetic foxes: Walked up, interacted, then moved on. Wild foxes: Nope, not going near him. Dog: *FRIEND!*

Finnegan the fox would kindly like to know this location.

It's so nice to know that dogs are literally made of friendship ♥️

me: just let the fox stay wild also me: shut up and give me that domesticated fluffy fox loaf!

Verge Science: Foxes lick wag their tails and are very friendly. There’s nothing quite like them Dog: Am I a joke to u

Getting a fox is three in one. You get a dog, a cat and a dolphin all in one.

I may be 4 years late, But you(Or a team) make absolutely astonishing content!

Great video! I always wondered about the domestication of foxes! I had heard years ago they tried it in Russia! Happy to have learned a lot more!

I've had a wild fox come up to me in the woods once. It was soo curious and followed me everywhere. Definitely had some of those "nice" genes. I wish I could relive that experience.

Animals: *Exist* Humans: *_It's free real estate._*

It was during my own lifetime they were saying foxes could never be domesticated yet here we are.

Russians? Genes? Foxes?!? This is definitely some Metal Gear shit. I approve.

Imagine achieving "Elite" level in your friendliness stat

I have hand-tamed Western Scrub Jays for 30+ years. They remain wild birds that have learned that coming to get a peanut is not dangerous, but any small move toward them results in instant flight.

I love how much time were puttin in to make it possible to cuddle foxes. Good work

0:40 small correction: We didnt domesticate cats. They are semi-wild animals that co-evolved to live with us. That's part of why cats are so..."complicated"

I want a domesticated alligator. Just imagine riding that thing around town and having it eat your enemies

I think those foxes are more like cats that like you enough to not bite your finger off. they look at you and inspect you to see if you're a threat, then they stay away from you because you're a new stranger

I’m pretty sure that gene also correlates with the spitz type tail in dogs as well. The foxes started to develop more curled tails the more domesticated they became. Interesting that these foxes don’t show that trait?

Friend: "are you a cat or dog person?" Me: *fox go FLOOF*

"They greet, they interact, then they move on." Me: maybe I'm a fox

They are gorgeous. Foxes teach me how to smile and love and cherish lives again. The smile they hang around their face is incredibly infectious, I always smile watching them. I LOVE FOXES I WON'T LET THEM GO EXTINCT!

"Wolves were domesticated to dogs so long ago, and we don't know why" Wolves: "Guys, get this! The humans have warm fire, sturdy houses, great meat, and they're willing to give it away for free!"

5:48 “And, for a final contrast, we tested a dog” *gets licked straight away*

A fox on Kew gardens ran towards us the other day when he heard we had food. He stuck around and took some pictures with us but kept his distance. He was as relaxed as I've ever seen one in the city. A beautiful looking creature!

it makes me so exited and happy for the idea of domesticated foxes, foxes are legit my favorite animal so Im looking forward to this

If wolves turned into domesticated chihuahuas, imagine what domesticated foxes can turn into over generations? Hamster size foxes?

My neighbor is from Germany and she feeds the bears to keep them from going through the neighborhood trashcans. It's been going on so long that the bears brought their mates and cubs and after a couple years those grown-cubs brought their own cubs. She's got grand-cubs. They all are well behaved and pretty well known in the area.

I watched 2 unskipable ads for this. Worth it.

Domesticated foxes before GTA6

You're calling cats domesticated? They've trained you well.

3021: We domesticated the kraken

these new dog update leaks are cool af, cant wait for the update

Thank you Dmiti Belyaev for such an amazing creatures! His statue stood next to my workplace. Greetings from Novosibirsk.

Domesticated fox: exists Dogs: Finally, a worthy opponent

"They greet and move on." So they took foxes and made cats, seems like progress, I guess

The closest thing to a domesticated fox I’ve seen was one that couldn’t be released back into the wild after rehabilitation. It still seemed so nervous and anxious it made me anxious

Foxes are like a mixture between dogs and cats in look and behaviour, but still their own. So I don't think one should ever expect them to behave exactly like dogs through domestication.

Now if only they could isolate the "table pooping" gene

It would be interesting to see if this "friendly gene" exists in humans.

I love the colors, the black fox was so cool. Love the coats.

I like watching them from a tree stand, happy little critters !! 🐶

I feel like this is going to lead to "emotional support lions"

“Elite level of friendliness” is also a criteria for being hired at Chick-fil-A

Foxes are wonderful. Some days ago I saw a fox walking in the backyard. I threw him some bread. I have seen foxes before. I live in eastern-Finland.

The way the lion puts her arms around the human at 0:27. She's like 'FRIEND!!!'

You're forgetting the fundamental biology of these species Wolfs are pack animals, very sociable by nature which makes it a lot easier for a dog to interact with humans. Foxes are NOT social animals, they are solitary very scared animals, they are by far not the top predator in their environment so a domesticated fox would be more similar to a domestic cat than a dog...

Interesting question: Dogs raised with cats sometimes express odd behaviors. They climb more. Groom more. Sometimes they are more standoffish. What might happen if some of these foxes are raised with litters of puppies? Particularly highly sociable breeds?

I desperately want this to work out, foxes are so wonderful and I would love to have one as a pet.

And still no other animal beat dog friendliness. It's incredible how friendly dogs are.

This will probably be lost in the comments but.... I live in the suburbs outside Philadelphia, in a rural area that is completely surrounded by urbanization. We have a huge diversity of wildlife and red foxes are no a exception. We have had a generations of the same family living in the naturalized brush on the edges of our property. Over the years they have slowly adapted to be less and less timid of my family. We now frequently see them during times that are non typical like laying on our lounge chairs during the daytime. We don’t give them hardly anything over than leaving our sole occasional meat scraps. So I guess we been unintentionally domesticating them? Nice! They certainly keep the mole, rabbit, and mice population under control. It also thing that being surrounded by urban development on all sides has prevented the coyotes from being able to compete as they require a large amount of territory that our township just doesn’t quite have. Thanks for reading if you got this far

My Mom had a pet fox when she was a kid. She rescued it when it was a kit. Lived in the house. She said he was totally tame but the smell never went away. It got out one day and a freak killed it. I see them in the mountains on occasion and all I want to do is feed them and hang out. They're not terribly skittish. That's no-no but still, they're gorgeous animals.

Sometimes I think I want an exotic pet but then they say how their fox shits on their counter and it reminds me how much I love my dog.

It was hilarious when he brought the dog in. 😂 No hesitation on the part of the dog. 😂

My aunt had foxes 40 years ago. she had four of them and after five years had seven .They lived in her home so these are not the first they are very shy end reserved animals. But ran around the bar my aunt ran .

Well I think its because foxes are solitary creatures and wolves are pack animals. So then that explains why they don’t want to constantly be loved by humans.

When they finally get these mf’s to act right, I’m gettin me a catdog😎

2:25 Ah yes, (speaks foreign language), my favorite town in Russia

“When you domesticate a Fox, it doesn’t become a dog.” Me-“NO BECAUSE IT BECOMES A CAT!”

This is the Fox News I want to see

My favorite animals are foxes. This was a nice watch ❤

One of them better be named Swiper.

Best description of having a fox as a pet that I’ve heard was cat software on dog hardware

I can't believe I can watch this for free! Very interesting video.

Man this was so interesting! A mini window into domestication. What else could we eventually domesticate?

How can I domesticate my mother in law?

People buy fox: "we had no idea they were so mischievous."

the foxes reaction vs the dog made me lol. dogs really are the best

7:40, the bit about digesting human food is interesting, because a part of that is largely put forward as to why we were able to attain large brains, regarding increased efficiency of digestion and nutrient content.

Me: "Where can I get one" Price: *$9000* Me: nvm

“I’ve gotta ignore you for two minutes” Dog: “YOU CAN’T!!!”