"Partly because we came to our senses, but mostly because we have jeeps now" 😂 I had a legit spittake, was not expecting that from Michael. Well done to him, Becki, and all the writers for that one
It would take generations of selective breeding, but you could make a zebra that would be a decent draft animal. I'm sure the Auroch we got the moo-moo cow from didn't become a Holstein cow overnight, or even in a century. Likewise, the wild asses we got the donkey from didn't become donkeys quickly and the wild horses no doubt took many generations. Even then, you'd basically have a striped donkey, not a war horse. Individual specimens of zebras were relatively easy to tame. Someone would have to apply the same techniques as the famous fox experiments in Siberia and for as many generations. (I think they are at over 50 generations now.)
Man, I was doing other things and missed this video until now or I'd have (future prediction) hundreds of likes on a comment... "I" would be top chicken!
I lived my entire life waiting for this moment. I trained, I lied, I killed just to get here. I killed in America, Afghanistan, IRAQ... I took life from my own brothers and sisters right here on this continent! And all this death just so I could kill you! - Eric Killzebra
@Krok Krok he's always open for debate you silly moo. And just because you don't agree with everything a person says doesn't mean he's a pseudo intellectual. It's like calling Bill Nye a pseudo intellectual because he doesn't believe the earth is flat.
@@colinp2238 I heard there are called zebroids, but I guess its depends of the parents, like how liger are called like that if the father's cub is a lion while the mother is a tigress, and if its backwards is called a tigon.
I met a tame zebra when I was in Zambia. We were having our afternoon tea outside and he walked right up and licked the jam off my toast. The owner of the house said his name was frederick, and he basically tamed himself and even came inside sometimes.
As an African I Remeber always pondering this question and nobody really seem to have an answer but explain in examples. You can have a dog but not a wild dog, a goat not a bush buck, a cow not a Buffalo (at list not the part I'm from). Good to have a good cietific explanation. Cgp grey has a similar explanation
@@scottmantooth8785 or the fking zookeepers ought not go into the zebra hatch when there is a pissed off zebra in there ... in other words, if you don´t wanna get stung, don´t swat at wasps
I’m glad you guys have slowed down your speech. I’m glad I decided to give your clip a chance again. It is extremely frustrating to try to focus on a speech with no breaks that is fast and full of info.
The first image with the zebra jumping with the guy on it's back is perfect. Both the Zebra's and the guy's expression say 'This has all gone horribly wrong!'. It may be the low resolution of the old picture, but it really looks like his eyes are wide open in panic.
The zebra is the symbol for rare genetic conditions such as Ehlers Danlos syndrome. Many people with the condition have a tattoo of a zebra with the quote 'My joints are more sociable as they go out more than the rest of me'.
That's the Hollywood bonding trope where people unrealistically train feral Mustangs with sugar cubes because "bond" ((*COUGH*flicka*COUGH*)) Nope. Zebras just hate everything and horses are scared of everything. It's easier to get a horse to not be scared than it is to get a zebra to not hate.
I was an extra in a movie called Racing Stripes, about a zebra being raced in a house race. So I've actually seen a person ride a zebra in real life. It was awkward AF and it threw her to the ground once as well.
All those arguments and only one rings true. 'Because we have jeeps now' Given that those victorian era folks managed to tame them enough to ride and pull carriages straight from the wild it is definitely possible. Its just... horses (and camels) got literally hundreds of generations of work behind them. Given the difficulty and costs involved it was simply cheaper to go with the jeep (horse). Concerning the weak back not suitable for riding? We spend literally thousands of years having horses pull chariots because they were too weak and small. As to why it wasn't domesticated way in the past? Probably a mix of the mentioned temper and just seeing it as another foodanimal to hunt. Thou dangerous kicks alone is definitely not the sole reason as to why our ancestors didn't domesticate it. We did domesticate the donkey (can kick forwards AND backwards!) and the ostrich (peck your eyes and disembowel you with it's talons!) after all.
I hope this is a quick question for you SciShow. If we possibly figured out a working equation for the theoretical physics equation the "Theory of Everything," where would you recommend I go to share that and have it tested?
Consider the Russian experiment with wild foxes to be bred for pelts. When they separated the deciles from the aggrieves, and bred them to each other, they found that the deciles started looking and acting more like dogs, floppy ears and all. Is it possible we could do the same with zebras?
That zebra frown animation is quite fitting, as well as amusing. As far as I know, unlike horses, zebras are individualistic and smart (also they're mean wankers).
I'm kind of surprised that you didn't bring up the social hierarchy of horses vs zebras, as that is arguably the biggest reason horses are generally more tameable than zebras. Or their whole ducking reflex.
All those arguments and only one rings true. 'Because we have jeeps now' Given that those victorian era folks managed to tame them enough to ride and pull carriages straight from the wild it is definitely possible. Its just... horses (and camels) got literally hundreds of generations of work behind them. Given the difficulty and costs involved it was simply cheaper to go with the jeep (horse). Concerning the weak back not suitable for riding? We spend literally thousands of years having horses pull chariots because they were too weak and small. As to why it wasn't domesticated way in the past? Probably a mix of the mentioned temper and just seeing it as another foodanimal to hunt. Thou dangerous kicks alone is definitely not the sole reason as to why our ancestors didn't domesticate it. We did domesticate the donkey (can kick forwards AND backwards!) and the ostrich (peck your eyes and disembowel you with it's talons!) after all.
@@timperry6948 And? If they can be reliable tamed then their disposition isn't as bad as some want to suggest. Those that then say that zebras are more nervous and panic more easily than horses again ignore that the horse has thousands of years of domestication behind it. Domestication is selective breeding. Even if those victorian era zebratamers had kept at it and tried to domesticate the zebras to this day, that would only be 200 years of work. The domesticated horse goes back well over 5000 years! Again, the only argument that rings true is 'Because we have jeeps now'. No one is going to put up the effort to domesticate the zebra since we already have the horse. It would be the work of several HUMAN generations to get a zebra anywhere close to modern horses in disposition and ability. Also, our ancestors didn't start keeping horses as a work animal but kept them as a food animal long before they got any work out of them. In other words, generations of work before even trying to do more than herd them.
alichi101 your ancestors spent thousands of years working with horses... and zebras evolved with humans for millions of years but yeah, those 5k years is what did it for the horses
@@noviedeos Turns out 5000 years of actively domesticating an animal does more to domesticate an animal than one million years of not trying to domesticate an animal.
Leafseason Magbag exactly all the domesticated animals we see around us have taken us hundreds (and in most cases thousands of years ) to reach this point.
@@shatnermohanty6678 Or just give them a hundred years of genetic modification and have zebras that don't ever get tired, have tough lizard skin, clawed feet, and who can eat anything even vaguely organic.
There's an experiment that's been going on since the 1970s we're Russia scientist domesticated foxes by determining which foxes where are the least aggressive towards human and then choosing those foxes to breed. Would it be possible to determine which zebras are the least tame and then breed those in order to domesticate them? I'm sure the ethics of that is a completely different question.
Ellis Sutton the point of the video was that zebras are not suitable for domesticating, the Victorians didn’t fail because they don’t know animal husbandry (they were experts, just look at all the dog, cat, rabbit, pigeon, pig, sheep, etc breeds that came out back then) they failed because zebras can’t be domesticated. Sure, with CRISPR and trans-genetic engineering we could perhaps create a zebra-like animal that is domesticated, but no ordinary amount of selective breeding will create a domesticated zebra. The foxes that Soviet researcher Dmitry Belyayev started an experiment to domesticate back in 1959 were a sort-of success because foxes exhibit several traits that make them amenable to domestication, and even then the success was mixed. Today the offspring are appropriately tame (almost dog-like in their behavior) but they (mostly) don’t look like foxes anymore, instead look more like dogs.
Ellis Sutton you know I was about to make the same point about the Soviet fox experiment. the dog is a product of human selected breeding. I was surprised when I learnt how the Russians succeeded with the fox,an animal which is not a very social creature in the wild (a point generally cited as to why dogs became pets ; because it sees it's owners as members of it's pack) the fox has been generally seen as an animal so smart it will outwit any other creature. in a Russian book by Olga Perovskaya translated to English as "Kids and Cubs" , the author mentions that she as a child had a pet fox who couldn't keep still for a moment, and always on the lookout for mischief, so much so they had to give it away to a mini zoo at their school. If such an animal can be made docile by the Russian project then a zebra domestication experiment on similar lines is definitely worth pursuing
Yes, but horses took thousands of years to become what they are today, why try that again when we already have horses? It's far more efficient to accept that a few horses are going to get sick.
@@violet-trash no all will horses get sick And your cows Ask any force invading africa pre 1700 lol romans came over with horses once ..... Settled in a nice place by the water lmao
This is actually inspirational. If you never give up. Others can't control you. No matter how strong they are. If you be like horses(or sheep) also be ready to be a servant.
@@gorkemvids4839 Domestic horses and feral domestic horses (Equus ferus caballus) live much better than zebra's. I raise horses myself and all domestic horses I've seen in my life are very well taken care of, have a lot of affection from their owner's, have constant vet health care and have space to roam and exercise Being torn apart by one of the many hungry beasts lurking around in Africa isn't a very good indicator of quality of life
@@MybeautifulandamazingPrincess The little sample size in your farm does not represent the whole picture. Worker horses all around the world live in absolute agony. Most of them endure constant whips, hunger, unhealthy diet, cold and captivity in short leashes. Btw zebras in nature is not under constant attack. Only sick, old and young gets eaten while adult zebra live 20 years happily in their herd while roaming great plains. That's a life much better than even your horse farm.
I find these reasons to be more excuses than anything else. Nothing is domesticated over night. If, over hundreds of years, Zebras were bred for both size and non-aggressiveness, you could have a domesticated Zebra you could ride. A domestic horse is not the same thing as the wild horse it originated from, after all. And even if horses had traits that made them easier to domesticate, that does not mean zebras could not be domesticated. We ride horses, and not zebra, because human culture devoted many multiple generations into breeding them taming them, and understanding them. A similar effort has simply never been applied to zebra. You may as well ask "why do we have pet wolves, but not pet foxes?" And the answer is simple. We don't. We have dogs, the result of hundreds, thousands, even tens of thousands of years of controlled breeding and domestication. Genetically, yes, all domestic dogs are from the gray wolf, but they are not gray wolves. Well, breeding experiments have shown that foxes can be bred into a domestic form. Admittedly, domestic foxes are not dogs, just as a domestic zebra would not be a horse, but it is a valid proof of concept, and shows that a fox can be domesticated over generations, which had not been thought possible before. The zebra, if bred for the right traits, over multiple generations, could be domesticated. The wild horse, and the wolf, had to undergo such changes. And the wild horse and the wolf were remarkably receptive to it. But the fox could be domesticated, and so could the zebra. There is nothing inherent and unchanging in their nature that prevents it. That is why we don't ride zebra.
The question is why didnt afircans or boers do it Answer overallbits not cost effective Zimbabwe said would be to expensive and be very harsh since zebra evolved very strong genetic aggressions
@@JcoleMc It’s very commons for natives before modern capitalism to treat animals morally when possible Most cultures give thanks to dying animals we eat
A SciShow episode on just *how bad* the training of a zebra goes would be very educational. Video clips of people getting told off by prey animals are great.
I love Zebra. They are easily one of my all time favorite bands! :D All kidding aside (but seriously, I do love the band), the topic of humans being unable to tame and ride zebras is really fascinating. Thanks for a great presentation of the subject, and kudos for *finally* giving me a compelling reason to check out Skillshare. I'll have more success taming my email than I would a zebra.
We don't ride Zebras because we ride horses. We don't eat horses because we eat cows. We didn't domesticate Hyenas because we domesticated wolves. Rewind the clock and shuffle the deck, the reverse could be true for any.
Not quite. Historically horses have been eaten, as have dogs, but because they're considered companion animals and not just for food/utility it fell out of favor. Time and place have little to do with it either, we domesticated them because their natural traits proved useful. Wolves' circling behavior for example, which is used by shepards to herd livestock. Their particular social behavior made them easier to work with.
@@OtakuUnitedStudio Successfully hunting large animals is still pretty new for hominids, evolutionary speaking. Our closest relatives, chimps, and bonobos only rarely hunt, and when they do, it's always animals much smaller than themselves.
I saw a documentary once about a young woman who had been abandoned in the jungle as a kid, she was named Sheena and looked just like Tanya Roberts, I'm quite sure she rode a zebra. I remember other documentaries with a guy called Tarzan who was also raised by wild beasts. Netflix currently have another documentaries about a boy called Mowgli to which the same thing happened. Maybe parents shouldn't bring their kids in the jungle.
In Sheena (1984, starring Tanya Roberts and, ha-ha, probably not a documentary) they used a horse with stripes painted on it. They couldn't risk Ms Roberts getting her million-dollar ass kicked half way across Africa.
I wonder if anyone has tried raising them with horses to see if there are any significant behavioral changes. I would imagine they would be at least a little tamer compared to the wild ones. Cool historical pictures in this episode as well! They might not be made for riding, but they definitely look cool when it works.
The first horse domestication about 4000-5000 years ago involved having horses pull carts to transport goods. Later, chariots would be used for cavalry in warfare. Horses were about the size of ponies then. Horseback riding didn't become popular until about 1000 BC (around 2000 years after horses had become a staple in armies and farms across Eurasia).
so much based on post-knowledge and modernising. the horses of the past - were they as calm and big, "built for riding"? kinda like the domestic banana is "built for eating", as some claim)) the truth is, those horses we domesticated were also damn wild and aggressive, and they had also been hunted by predators a lot. not African predators, yeah, but how do we prove those predators caused less aggression in tarpans and przewalskiis?
Because they didnt evolve to avoid us and becuase every african predator is more sucessful the n its non african counterpart Prz horses even wild ones dont seem to have a genetic fear of humans and dont know we can throw things Zebras do they evolved some traits to avoid spears
Request: Since you have '6 Boss Invertebrates' how about '6 Boss Unicellular organisms'? You've got deep sea foraminifera that tear apart baby starfish, ciliates that eat rotifers, amoeba that eat nematodes, dinoflagelates that hunt copepods in packs, pelagic foraminefera that are delicate 3-D murderwebs, and I'm sure you guys can find even more!
Because the barcode would be hard to find when buying and selling zebras
😆😆😆🤣🤣🤣😂😂😂 Very true!
Okay, you get a thumbs up from me.
i hate this, i hate you for this joke, but man, is it funny
Hahahahahhaahahah
Lol
"Why do we ride horses but not zebras?"
Zookeepers: *PTSD intensifies...*
Has anyone tried saying "please"?
Probably.
Shortly before being kicked in the head.
Yes, they're bastards, it doesn't work
Has anyone taken no for an answer?
@@alfredgomez3128 yes... And im alive
jup
google: "man riding zebra" and youll find some people that did
_Zebras are just horse tigers_
thats such an disgusting insult to tigers!
Giraffes are just camel leopards.
@@pigeonfowl474 isn't their species name literally translate to camel-leopard?
I'm stealing this .. with love ...jk i credited you
delet this 🔫
"Partly because we came to our senses, but mostly because we have jeeps now" 😂 I had a legit spittake, was not expecting that from Michael. Well done to him, Becki, and all the writers for that one
SciShow teaches me so much I love them!!
Anonymous bub AWH yeah! Get that learning on!
Woah, those Victorian carriage zebras!! I'd never heard of that, and the visual is wild!
Yeah, that one kind of blew my mind. Imagine if we had managed to tame them. The Kentucky Derby might look a little different then it does now.
@@richardbidinger2577 we can tame them with todays technology
It would take generations of selective breeding, but you could make a zebra that would be a decent draft animal. I'm sure the Auroch we got the moo-moo cow from didn't become a Holstein cow overnight, or even in a century. Likewise, the wild asses we got the donkey from didn't become donkeys quickly and the wild horses no doubt took many generations. Even then, you'd basically have a striped donkey, not a war horse.
Individual specimens of zebras were relatively easy to tame. Someone would have to apply the same techniques as the famous fox experiments in Siberia and for as many generations. (I think they are at over 50 generations now.)
Luci Faery ostriches are possible but kangeroos--forget it, dude. That sure as heck will be the bumpiest, whiplash-induced ride you'll ever be on.
Lol Africans couldn’t do it. But Europeans did it for a laugh.
"Because zebras are bastards"-CGP Gray
Damn you beat me to it, just posted a very similar comment
I was thinking about that video.
Beat me to it
Man, I was doing other things and missed this video until now or I'd have (future prediction) hundreds of likes on a comment... "I" would be top chicken!
My mind went straight to that
I'm sad they didn't mention Racing Strips. A zebra racing Thoroughbred horses.. Now that I think about it, it's a hilarious concept for a movie
It is a funny concept, but I did enjoy that movie when it came out 🤣
I love that movie, as they're my favorite animal.
It was a very good movie.
I love that movie
_You wanna know how I got these stripes_
Yeah you wanna elaborate?
*You don't wanna know how I got these stripes*
I lived my entire life waiting for this moment. I trained, I lied, I killed just to get here. I killed in America, Afghanistan, IRAQ... I took life from my own brothers and sisters right here on this continent! And all this death just so I could kill you! - Eric Killzebra
@@mkmasterthreesixfive I actually do.
_I met a human_
"We're top chicken!"
- CGP Grey
i was really hoping someone would say this.
"Because Zebras are bastards"
CGP Grey
Because CGP Grey said so
Because Zebras are bastards
Who is this bloke? Never heard of him.
@@weldonspivey5708 Go to CGP Grey's channel *now* please.
@Krok Krok he's always open for debate you silly moo. And just because you don't agree with everything a person says doesn't mean he's a pseudo intellectual. It's like calling Bill Nye a pseudo intellectual because he doesn't believe the earth is flat.
Jonathan Dee , don't bite; pretty sure he's trolling you
I'm happy to see Michael hosting again. I had not seen him in a while and I thought he was no longer at Scishow
"Their evolutionary History has made them plain nasty" i laughed so hard about that🤣
Ya'll telling me the movie Racing Stripes is a lie :(
No, that documentary was just an incredible exception.
Yeah he even said that there were individual cases of zebra taming back then anyway.
@@sinklar7946 my comment was a joke. The movie is about a talking zebra who's dream is to race like horses
I LOVE THAT MOVIEEE
I haven't thought about that movie in years and now I want to watch it ASAP
The Zorse is my spirit animal.
First reply
Puto pero no le gusta que lo monten(?)
Mine's Chevy Chase
So you want a South African Cowboy to ride you just come out the closet bro it's 2019 already
Wow you watched the video
Lmao all the comments are just referencing CGP Grey
Why have I never heard of Zorses before?! I must now search for adorable images of them!
They have some at Chester zoo!
There are zebroids (half donkey/half zebra) too.
@@nidohime6233 Wouldn't that be a zonkey?
@@colinp2238 I heard there are called zebroids, but I guess its depends of the parents, like how liger are called like that if the father's cub is a lion while the mother is a tigress, and if its backwards is called a tigon.
I saw one at a zoo in Kentucky and it was as mean as a zebra.
I met a tame zebra when I was in Zambia. We were having our afternoon tea outside and he walked right up and licked the jam off my toast. The owner of the house said his name was frederick, and he basically tamed himself and even came inside sometimes.
This is one of the funniest videos you guys have put out. I loved all the special animations it made it so fun to watch!
As an African I Remeber always pondering this question and nobody really seem to have an answer but explain in examples. You can have a dog but not a wild dog, a goat not a bush buck, a cow not a Buffalo (at list not the part I'm from). Good to have a good cietific explanation. Cgp grey has a similar explanation
People in other parts of the world have buffalos like cows
If American zookerpers are hurt the most by zebras, then hire one that isn't American 😇
Helene Trøstrup 🤣🤣🤣
good one
👍👍
dua... or maybe the zebras just need anger management classes or really strong sedatives
@@scottmantooth8785 or the fking zookeepers ought not go into the zebra hatch when there is a pissed off zebra in there ... in other words, if you don´t wanna get stung, don´t swat at wasps
Drums: da da spshhhhh!
You are a natural born lawyer.
I’m glad you guys have slowed down your speech. I’m glad I decided to give your clip a chance again. It is extremely frustrating to try to focus on a speech with no breaks that is fast and full of info.
dear scishow, I wish you cover the Philippine Eagle too because its very underrated and people should know that this rare specie does exist=)
The first image with the zebra jumping with the guy on it's back is perfect. Both the Zebra's and the guy's expression say 'This has all gone horribly wrong!'.
It may be the low resolution of the old picture, but it really looks like his eyes are wide open in panic.
This makes me want to watch "Racing Stripes" again, it's a 2005 movie about a horse trainer training a zebra for the Kentucky open..
YES IVE MISSED YOU IN THE EPISODES !!
Leave the horses alone you know do you want to get kicked or do you want to live
In Vietnamese, zebra literally means stripped horse
“STRIPPED” horse?
Its “STRIPED” horse
I didn’t know a animal was made after a zebra crossing
Because of the great war between Ponies and Zebras which resulted in Equestria becoming a wasteland...
Not gonna lie, I'd be interested in that story.
I thought that the My Little Pony was manifesting itself for a second there
The zebra is the symbol for rare genetic conditions such as Ehlers Danlos syndrome. Many people with the condition have a tattoo of a zebra with the quote 'My joints are more sociable as they go out more than the rest of me'.
I assumed they were just wild and untamed
And didn’t want you
Thats what your mom said
That's the Hollywood bonding trope where people unrealistically train feral Mustangs with sugar cubes because "bond" ((*COUGH*flicka*COUGH*))
Nope. Zebras just hate everything and horses are scared of everything. It's easier to get a horse to not be scared than it is to get a zebra to not hate.
you're my favorite sci-show speaker
Because we dont have zebras over here
Hey, you're that domino guy.
Quit going in the comment section of every video
Your verified
I was an extra in a movie called Racing Stripes, about a zebra being raced in a house race. So I've actually seen a person ride a zebra in real life. It was awkward AF and it threw her to the ground once as well.
Skillshare is offering SciShow viewers two months of unlimited access to Skillshare for free! Try it here: skl.sh/scishow-13
If all your hosts use these apps as you claim there would be no time to make the videos.
All those arguments and only one rings true. 'Because we have jeeps now'
Given that those victorian era folks managed to tame them enough to ride and pull carriages straight from the wild it is definitely possible. Its just... horses (and camels) got literally hundreds of generations of work behind them. Given the difficulty and costs involved it was simply cheaper to go with the jeep (horse).
Concerning the weak back not suitable for riding? We spend literally thousands of years having horses pull chariots because they were too weak and small.
As to why it wasn't domesticated way in the past? Probably a mix of the mentioned temper and just seeing it as another foodanimal to hunt. Thou dangerous kicks alone is definitely not the sole reason as to why our ancestors didn't domesticate it. We did domesticate the donkey (can kick forwards AND backwards!) and the ostrich (peck your eyes and disembowel you with it's talons!) after all.
ruclips.net/video/M98zPLJ2Ub0/видео.html
I hope this is a quick question for you SciShow. If we possibly figured out a working equation for the theoretical physics equation the "Theory of Everything," where would you recommend I go to share that and have it tested?
@@MrPiquo If you have to ask that question , not to mention in a youtube comment, you almost certainly don't have a working equation lol.
First Ad that I am actually considering in a long while, good job👍
“we have jeeps now”
This is like the most specific skillshare ad I've ever seen
Consider the Russian experiment with wild foxes to be bred for pelts. When they separated the deciles from the aggrieves, and bred them to each other, they found that the deciles started looking and acting more like dogs, floppy ears and all. Is it possible we could do the same with zebras?
Theoretically, I feel like we could do that with any animal if given enough time and resources.
I always just want to hug Micheal
He looks really huggable 😅
That zebra frown animation is quite fitting, as well as amusing. As far as I know, unlike horses, zebras are individualistic and smart (also they're mean wankers).
There are so many things that I did not know in this video, even though I thought I knew a decent amount about zebras. Good job!
I'm kind of surprised that you didn't bring up the social hierarchy of horses vs zebras, as that is arguably the biggest reason horses are generally more tameable than zebras. Or their whole ducking reflex.
This video is why I subscribed to your channel. So informative, interesting and funny!
All those arguments and only one rings true. 'Because we have jeeps now'
Given that those victorian era folks managed to tame them enough to ride and pull carriages straight from the wild it is definitely possible. Its just... horses (and camels) got literally hundreds of generations of work behind them. Given the difficulty and costs involved it was simply cheaper to go with the jeep (horse).
Concerning the weak back not suitable for riding? We spend literally thousands of years having horses pull chariots because they were too weak and small.
As to why it wasn't domesticated way in the past? Probably a mix of the mentioned temper and just seeing it as another foodanimal to hunt. Thou dangerous kicks alone is definitely not the sole reason as to why our ancestors didn't domesticate it. We did domesticate the donkey (can kick forwards AND backwards!) and the ostrich (peck your eyes and disembowel you with it's talons!) after all.
Taming a single animal is not the same thing as domesticating an entire breed.
@@timperry6948 And? If they can be reliable tamed then their disposition isn't as bad as some want to suggest. Those that then say that zebras are more nervous and panic more easily than horses again ignore that the horse has thousands of years of domestication behind it.
Domestication is selective breeding. Even if those victorian era zebratamers had kept at it and tried to domesticate the zebras to this day, that would only be 200 years of work.
The domesticated horse goes back well over 5000 years!
Again, the only argument that rings true is 'Because we have jeeps now'. No one is going to put up the effort to domesticate the zebra since we already have the horse. It would be the work of several HUMAN generations to get a zebra anywhere close to modern horses in disposition and ability.
Also, our ancestors didn't start keeping horses as a work animal but kept them as a food animal long before they got any work out of them. In other words, generations of work before even trying to do more than herd them.
alichi101
your ancestors spent thousands of years working with horses...
and zebras evolved with humans for millions of years
but yeah, those 5k years is what did it for the horses
@@noviedeos ...yes? Those five thousand years is what did it for the horses.
@@noviedeos Turns out 5000 years of actively domesticating an animal does more to domesticate an animal than one million years of not trying to domesticate an animal.
ive rode zorses before. my friend boyd has ten. my favorite is half clidsdale. what a beast to behold!
Speaking of things getting the upper hand:
Emus.
Ain't gonna lie, that sponsorship transition was smooth!
I have never thought of a Jeep for a zebra replacement...
If I recall correctly, zebras also have a ducking reflex that makes it almost impossible for them to be lassoed.
We just need to selectively breed them for a few thousand years.
Leafseason Magbag exactly
all the domesticated animals we see around us have taken us hundreds (and in most cases thousands of years ) to reach this point.
@@shatnermohanty6678 Or just give them a hundred years of genetic modification and have zebras that don't ever get tired, have tough lizard skin, clawed feet, and who can eat anything even vaguely organic.
Leafseason Magbag 😁😁😁
They dont have the same social structure as Horses do as well they wont see you as the leader of the heard because they dont have those.
@@LeafseasonMagbag Selective breeding IS genetic modification.
Normally, I would just be yelling "That's not Hank!", but it was such a neat and well done story that I can't bag on the host. This time. :-)
Ok I see your point but I rode a zebra in red dead so.... How do you explain that?
I love this channel! Thank you so much Sci Show.
There's an experiment that's been going on since the 1970s we're Russia scientist domesticated foxes by determining which foxes where are the least aggressive towards human and then choosing those foxes to breed. Would it be possible to determine which zebras are the least tame and then breed those in order to domesticate them? I'm sure the ethics of that is a completely different question.
Ellis Sutton the point of the video was that zebras are not suitable for domesticating, the Victorians didn’t fail because they don’t know animal husbandry (they were experts, just look at all the dog, cat, rabbit, pigeon, pig, sheep, etc breeds that came out back then) they failed because zebras can’t be domesticated. Sure, with CRISPR and trans-genetic engineering we could perhaps create a zebra-like animal that is domesticated, but no ordinary amount of selective breeding will create a domesticated zebra. The foxes that Soviet researcher Dmitry Belyayev started an experiment to domesticate back in 1959 were a sort-of success because foxes exhibit several traits that make them amenable to domestication, and even then the success was mixed. Today the offspring are appropriately tame (almost dog-like in their behavior) but they (mostly) don’t look like foxes anymore, instead look more like dogs.
Ellis Sutton you know
I was about to make the same point about the Soviet fox experiment.
the dog is a product of human selected breeding.
I was surprised when I learnt how the Russians succeeded with the fox,an animal which is not a very social creature in the wild (a point generally cited as to why dogs became pets ; because it sees it's owners as members of it's pack)
the fox has been generally seen as an animal so smart it will outwit any other creature. in a Russian book by Olga Perovskaya translated to English as "Kids and Cubs" , the author mentions that she as a child had a pet fox who couldn't keep still for a moment, and always on the lookout for mischief, so much so they had to give it away to a mini zoo at their school.
If such an animal can be made docile by the Russian project then
a zebra domestication experiment on similar lines is definitely worth pursuing
Yes, but horses took thousands of years to become what they are today, why try that again when we already have horses? It's far more efficient to accept that a few horses are going to get sick.
@@violet-trash no all will horses get sick
And your cows
Ask any force invading africa pre 1700 lol romans came over with horses once ..... Settled in a nice place by the water lmao
@@palebluedot7435
Are you saying there are no domestic horses in Africa?
I love that there are animals that cannot be used and mistreated by humans.
CGP Grey also did an episode about this.
Both videos are great!
This is actually inspirational. If you never give up. Others can't control you. No matter how strong they are. If you be like horses(or sheep) also be ready to be a servant.
It's better to be a horse and we'll taken care of, than be a zebra and get eaten alive by a croc or a lion
@@MybeautifulandamazingPrincess if you think domesticated horses live better than wild zebras, you've no clue about the world we live in.
@@gorkemvids4839 Domestic horses and feral domestic horses (Equus ferus caballus) live much better than zebra's. I raise horses myself and all domestic horses I've seen in my life are very well taken care of, have a lot of affection from their owner's, have constant vet health care and have space to roam and exercise
Being torn apart by one of the many hungry beasts lurking around in Africa isn't a very good indicator of quality of life
@@MybeautifulandamazingPrincess The little sample size in your farm does not represent the whole picture. Worker horses all around the world live in absolute agony. Most of them endure constant whips, hunger, unhealthy diet, cold and captivity in short leashes.
Btw zebras in nature is not under constant attack. Only sick, old and young gets eaten while adult zebra live 20 years happily in their herd while roaming great plains. That's a life much better than even your horse farm.
Because zebras were ticked that we kept trying to eat them
Ya they avoid humans
0:13
You can't fool me! THAT'S A TIGER IN DISGUISE
I find these reasons to be more excuses than anything else.
Nothing is domesticated over night. If, over hundreds of years, Zebras were bred for both size and non-aggressiveness, you could have a domesticated Zebra you could ride.
A domestic horse is not the same thing as the wild horse it originated from, after all. And even if horses had traits that made them easier to domesticate, that does not mean zebras could not be domesticated.
We ride horses, and not zebra, because human culture devoted many multiple generations into breeding them taming them, and understanding them. A similar effort has simply never been applied to zebra.
You may as well ask "why do we have pet wolves, but not pet foxes?"
And the answer is simple. We don't. We have dogs, the result of hundreds, thousands, even tens of thousands of years of controlled breeding and domestication. Genetically, yes, all domestic dogs are from the gray wolf, but they are not gray wolves. Well, breeding experiments have shown that foxes can be bred into a domestic form. Admittedly, domestic foxes are not dogs, just as a domestic zebra would not be a horse, but it is a valid proof of concept, and shows that a fox can be domesticated over generations, which had not been thought possible before.
The zebra, if bred for the right traits, over multiple generations, could be domesticated. The wild horse, and the wolf, had to undergo such changes. And the wild horse and the wolf were remarkably receptive to it. But the fox could be domesticated, and so could the zebra. There is nothing inherent and unchanging in their nature that prevents it.
That is why we don't ride zebra.
The question is why didnt afircans or boers do it
Answer overallbits not cost effective
Zimbabwe said would be to expensive and be very harsh since zebra evolved very strong genetic aggressions
I'd only modify by saying hundreds of generations rather than years. But basically, you're absolutely right.
@@palebluedot7435 Since when have we ever cared about morals on animals ?
@@JcoleMc
It’s very commons for natives before modern capitalism to treat animals morally when possible
Most cultures give thanks to dying animals we eat
Not sure who wrote this, but I laughed more than I have during SciShow in a long time. Kudos.
Zebras < War horses
first reply to justin y comment
Is this like you job or something?
This no joke wasnt funny
I found you on a video about birds...
@@archenema6792 lies! steps in front of 💰don't know what you're talking about.
It's an interesting topic I've never thought about it. Thanks Scishow!
A SciShow episode on just *how bad* the training of a zebra goes would be very educational. Video clips of people getting told off by prey animals are great.
Michael is looking so good!! Someone’s been bulking out 💪🏼🔥🔥🔥
As CGP Grey once said:
"Because Zebra, are bastards."
I love Zebra. They are easily one of my all time favorite bands! :D
All kidding aside (but seriously, I do love the band), the topic of humans being unable to tame and ride zebras is really fascinating. Thanks for a great presentation of the subject, and kudos for *finally* giving me a compelling reason to check out Skillshare. I'll have more success taming my email than I would a zebra.
What about raising them from babies tame to ride or pull? I wouldn't went to try it with a full grown adult!
Michael is so so so so cute, and I love his voice ❤️
We don't ride Zebras because we ride horses. We don't eat horses because we eat cows. We didn't domesticate Hyenas because we domesticated wolves. Rewind the clock and shuffle the deck, the reverse could be true for any.
Not quite. Historically horses have been eaten, as have dogs, but because they're considered companion animals and not just for food/utility it fell out of favor.
Time and place have little to do with it either, we domesticated them because their natural traits proved useful. Wolves' circling behavior for example, which is used by shepards to herd livestock. Their particular social behavior made them easier to work with.
Man, your delivery is way up!
CGP Gray already did this.
For some reason, I found this episode incredibly amusing.
"Humans and zebras have spent millions of years together..." Humans... millions of years...? Ummm, no.
Depends on your definition of human. Modern Homo sapiens? No. Other hominids? Yes.
@@OtakuUnitedStudio Successfully hunting large animals is still pretty new for hominids, evolutionary speaking. Our closest relatives, chimps, and bonobos only rarely hunt, and when they do, it's always animals much smaller than themselves.
I saw a documentary once about a young woman who had been abandoned in the jungle as a kid, she was named Sheena and looked just like Tanya Roberts, I'm quite sure she rode a zebra. I remember other documentaries with a guy called Tarzan who was also raised by wild beasts. Netflix currently have another documentaries about a boy called Mowgli to which the same thing happened. Maybe parents shouldn't bring their kids in the jungle.
In Sheena (1984, starring Tanya Roberts and, ha-ha, probably not a documentary) they used a horse with stripes painted on it. They couldn't risk Ms Roberts getting her million-dollar ass kicked half way across Africa.
Why can’t we wake up those sleeping horses
Fooled me there for a second! It seemed like you got a new sponsor, but nope still Skillshare.
Asking the real questions.
damn, I havent seen SciShow in a year... You've gained some weight man! :D
Something something grey
something something bastards
I wonder if anyone has tried raising them with horses to see if there are any significant behavioral changes. I would imagine they would be at least a little tamer compared to the wild ones. Cool historical pictures in this episode as well! They might not be made for riding, but they definitely look cool when it works.
Because you can’t ride them because people will walk over you
The first horse domestication about 4000-5000 years ago involved having horses pull carts to transport goods. Later, chariots would be used for cavalry in warfare. Horses were about the size of ponies then. Horseback riding didn't become popular until about 1000 BC (around 2000 years after horses had become a staple in armies and farms across Eurasia).
so much based on post-knowledge and modernising. the horses of the past - were they as calm and big, "built for riding"? kinda like the domestic banana is "built for eating", as some claim)) the truth is, those horses we domesticated were also damn wild and aggressive, and they had also been hunted by predators a lot. not African predators, yeah, but how do we prove those predators caused less aggression in tarpans and przewalskiis?
Because they didnt evolve to avoid us and becuase every african predator is more sucessful the n its non african counterpart
Prz horses even wild ones dont seem to have a genetic fear of humans and dont know we can throw things
Zebras do they evolved some traits to avoid spears
Zebra is the one annoying animal in that one game that you try to tame but it keeps running away
_because zebras are bastards_
Grey, CGP 20XX
I saw one at the zoo and it was super chill.
Request: Since you have '6 Boss Invertebrates' how about '6 Boss Unicellular organisms'? You've got deep sea foraminifera that tear apart baby starfish, ciliates that eat rotifers, amoeba that eat nematodes, dinoflagelates that hunt copepods in packs, pelagic foraminefera that are delicate 3-D murderwebs, and I'm sure you guys can find even more!
The streak is back 😍😍
This was wonderful
If you go to the museum in Tring you can actually see some of those domesticated zebras (although they are stuffed now...)
*reads title*
*reads title again*
Well, I know what I'm watching
Really hoped he was gonna say
Started off on the wrong hoof
I mean we could. Zebras are more like donkeys and should be treated as such. They could easily be trained and domesticated if given the time.
I love this guy!! Aside from being pretty gorgeous, he’s also super smooth...story teller.. wait ugh I’ve said too much looool
Most tempting skillshare plug ever.. no really..
Zebras are like horses but constantly enraged as a result of the generational trauma of living on the African savanna