Italian bears living near villages have evolved to be smaller and less agressive
21 comments
·December 15, 2025TechnicalVault
attila-lendvai
same with russian fox fur breeders. i don't remember the numbers, but after a surprisingly small number of generations the foxes turned into cat-like pets.
pfdietz
Yes, that's a quite famous experiment, and still ongoing. Similar effects of "domestication syndrome" have recently been reported in wild urban foxes and raccoons.
tokai
Remember reading something about humans themselves show the signs of domestication syndrome.
dyauspitr
Tails curled, ears drooped and they became mostly white.
naian
Looking forward to bears being domesticated.
kkylin
Not just bears it seems: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/raccoons-are-show...
morkalork
Coyotes are on their way too
Santosh83
When will humans evolve to be less aggressive before we devolve into catastrophic collapse?
nkrisc
For what it’s worth, I think even the worst outcomes wouldn’t necessarily force us to extinction. Would be a bit of a reset though.
bitwize
Next step, they start speaking in an Italian accent, like this husky: https://m.youtube.com/shorts/Roc5WV-gBAY
fsckboy
or worse, till we breed softer claws, speaking with their hands
toss1
Makes sense. The more aggressive bears would be more likely to get in fights with humans, which generally turns out badly for the bear, either immediately or from being subsequently hunted down. OTOH, more cooperative bears will more likely be tolerated and even fed, like this bear (different population) who started out as a nuisance to the beekeeper[0] and now is an 'official' taste tester.
anothernewdude
Oh right, the animal.
ourmandave
Yeah, this seems related to the "raccoons becoming domesticated" bullsh*t.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/qI-Dd4MqYEc
tldw; raccoon study was flawed.
The selective pressure of a .338 Winchester Magnum, is not to be underestimated.
Funny thing is something similar occurs in lab mice. Where a technician is selecting a mouse for cull the more aggressive mice are more likely to be the ones selected. Problem mice who kill their littermates can ruin experiments.