Domestication is a process through which a population of a specific animal species is coupled to man and a condition of captivity, through a series of genetic transformations that occur throughout generations and through various acclimatization processes generated by the environment and constant for generations.
With domestication, what is sought is to be able to modify the behavior of an animal that was originally in a wild and wild state so that it can be useful to man. It is estimated that the first domestications of animals arose during the Neolithic stage, when man began to adopt a sedentary life, leaving nomadic life aside, thus promoting the development of livestock and agriculture, which were taken as survival mechanisms, thus moving away from hunting, fishing and gathering.
Man, by developing livestock and farming activities, began a process of domestication of various species of animals and plants. At first it was a bit difficult for him to dominate the animals, since the completely wild life form was still very present. However, over time, it was possible to achieve that dominance over animal reproduction and in this way those species with the most beneficial characteristics for people could be chosen.
Within the domestication process, five basic stages are recognized:
First stage; at this stage, the man-animal connection is very weak and crosses are common between breeding in captivity and original wild breeding. During the initial stage the control exerted by man is very little.
Second stage: from this stage, man begins to dominate the reproduction of animals and choose them to reduce their dimensions and increase the traits of docility; and thus be able to master them better.
Third stage: during this stage , the smaller domestic rearing is crossed with the larger wild rearing, keeping in mind to maintain the traits of docility selected in advance.
Fourth stage: already in the fourth stage, the predilection for products of animal origin, coupled with the progressive capacity of man to exercise control of production animals, leads to the creation (after a long time) to the creation of breeds a lot more specialized, with different productive capacities, that ensure an increase in the production of meat, milk, etc.
Fifth stage: in this last stage there is no longer the need to adapt wild breeding with domestic breeding. It is enough to keep a numerical control of the animals that are still in the wild.
