We share so much with our ape relatives and other animals but almost all animals do not keep pets - isnt that odd ?

The subject came up about animals in adverts and I thought about the way we humans love pets and have developed strong relationships with other animals not just for food but for protection entertainment and other benefits. And then I realised that even our closest relative bonobos do not do this. There is not even any evidence Neanderthals kept pets. Earliest evidence for a per appears to be 32000 years ago with tracks of a wolf walking alongside a child. Early records are from Europe and the Middle East. This made me immediately think of Romulus and Remus, but Romulus founded Rome in about 732BC (says chatgpt). Chatsgpt doesnt know an answer for the oldest folklore of humans and pets but the evidence is that dogs weren't buried with humans until about 14000BC. So 18000 years of casual association and 14000 years of true domestication ?? I think this is an interesting subject worthy of more research. Any opinions or contributions anyone ?

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Captain · 61-69, M

Jack - because it has evolved uniquely in man, and we have taken it alongside farming and transformed the world with it and used it to grow our population distortedly high, but pets as companions seems to have changed our society and that of the animals radically. I wonder what fulfilled our emotional need before we had pets ?? Grandchildren maybe ?

Jackaloftheazuresand · 26-30, M

@Captain well the baboons do something very similar

Captain · 61-69, M

@Jackaloftheazuresand Thats interesting. I know bear, dog monkeys, apes and hominids are the most closes related - with those solitary cat things split off - and baboons do look a bit half dog half ape, but stealing and keeping dog pups and bringin gthem up as guard dogs - wich I’ve just been able to check out because of your post - is really interesting. I thjink it shows these behaviours are not instinctive but learned. Ties in with the fact that different humans are dog cat snake spider etc etc fans. Maybe we are the only animals that can afford to keep pets instead of eating them as soon as we catch one ??