this post was submitted on 15 Feb 2026
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Science Memes

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[–] stenAanden@feddit.dk 10 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

I honestly wonder if we actually COULD domesticate zebras but it would taking centuries or millennia. Just like other domesticated species.

[–] Chais@sh.itjust.works 16 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (2 children)

No. Zebras don't have a herd hierarchy we can exploit. With horses you pick out the lead horse, tame it and boom, the whole herd follows you.
With zebras you get one zebra, if you're very lucky. More likely you'll get kicked and bitten.

[–] DragonTypeWyvern@midwest.social 13 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

Like African wild cats! You'd just get some hell monster that doesn't do what it's told and attacks you at random.

[–] LongDickJonsson@lemmy.world 12 points 2 weeks ago

Isn't that basically all cats

[–] GoofSchmoofer@lemmy.world 8 points 2 weeks ago

Nature is just going to nature sometimes.

[–] oatscoop@midwest.social 5 points 2 weeks ago

Selective breeding is no different than natural evolution in how drastically it can change an organism given enough time and the right selections for β€œfitness”.

So you could produce a domesticated, tame zebra – but waiting on and favoring the right mutations would take a very long time and be prohibitively expensive. It’s possible, but not realistically feasible.