Broadening conceptions of domestication

Abstract

The word «domestication» is used today with different meanings. The author tries to synthetize the classical zoological signification, which considers as domesticated a limited list of species, because of very restrictive choice criteria. It keeps its logic, but is now often criticized and replaced by broader conceptions, where any breeding action of man on animals, even tenuous, is considered as a domestication one, and where the list of domesticated species is considerably increased. In French legislation, an intermediate position is to be found: the existence of domesticated breeds or varieties is recognized in some wild species which are bred by man. Some authors think that it would be suitable now to suppress the word domestication but it does not seem easy to find substitutes.