.. To be successful from a human viewpoint, herding animals need a number of characteristics like a social structure with a dominance hierarchy, a tendency to stay physically close when moving, a tendency to move as a group, a relatively placid temperament allowing for close confinement etc. That's why zebras, gazelles, kangaroos, caribou and big horn sheep (to name a few) are not typically herded by humans while horses, cattle, sheep, goats and reindeer are herded.
While aspects of herding instinct may be amplified by selective breeding it is based on naturally acquired behaviour.
Hmm .. Surely there would be other reasons for humans to 'herd' particular species (in the context of discussing hunter/gatherers transitioning to herding/farming)? I'd agree that the animals which have already acquired the penchant for clustering together under certain situations, would obviously make the aim of creating ample human foodstocks much simpler by exploiting those behaviours, but I can't see why that would necessarily be the only reason .. and the reason for excluding other types of animals?
Where the primary goal is to create an ample food supply, a clever-minded human herder has surely demonstrated the ability to devise strategies in order to achieve that goal, and overcome potential obstacles?
I think sustained, successful herding is a mix of both evolutionarily acquired animal instincts, an evidenced
ecological pyramid and the initial human mindset for achieving an envisaged outcome. It just doesn't seem adequate to say that certain animals naturally facilitate herding, (in the sense of human civilisation development), or don't, and that's the sole reason why certain cultures, (like the Aus indigenous culture), never adopted that particular strategy(?) - I mean Australian history is rife with
failures of farmers trying farm herding species and all they eventually ended up demonstrating was the inappropriateness of adopting that particular strategy in certain unfamiliar Aus environments, even though those animals already had that so-called 'herding instinct'.
Occams Barber said:
I have no idea what your point is here.
My point was that kangaroo herding has never been a part of indigenous culture because kangaroos don't have the necessary herding instinct.
I get that's your point - acknowledged.
My point however, is that the notion of herding can be also be imposed by any intelligent predator in an evidenced, hierarchically structured
ecological pyramid,
provided the correct strategy is also adopted. Wherever this evidence-based hierarchical model of nature has been envisaged by humans, (for eg), from the outset, some miminal measure of herding success has also been achieved .. (even including when the resource happens to have been its own species).
Its not just as simple as choosing a herding-instinctive species .. there's a lot more human recognition of the objective reality of the environment and subsequent strategising required.
Occams Barber said:
If you haven't already read it I recommend something like Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond to get a broad idea of how environment influences culture, history and technological development and some interesting comparisons between Europe, the Americas, Africa etc.
Acknowledged .. and thanks for the reference.
