Taming requirements in the domestication process of donkeys: The methods and concepts of the training among the Afar pastoralists in Ethiopia

To clarify the system involved in the initial domestication of asses, this study explores breaking and the consequent establishment of tameness through focusing on a human ecological approach based on reports of the epigenetic inheritance of human-induced stress in animals. The research subjects are Afar pastoralists who use donkeys for packing loads in two areas (A and B) in the Afar Regional State of Ethiopia; both areas are home to an endangered species of wild ass. Interviews were conducted on the methods of wild ass capture that caused initial human-induced stress. Next, the method currently adopted for breaking donkeys for packing which the Afar pastoralists considered to promote tameness was investigated. The number of informants from Community (A) who answered in the negative to the possibility of capturing wild asses for domestication was significantly greater than those who replied in the positive. However, four suggestions were made for capturing wild asses for domestication. In both areas, the target age for breaking the donkeys for packing was 1 to 3 years inclusively. Differences, however, were seen between Afar communities with regard to whether training for packing should happen in a series of processes and with regard to the number of days needed for the process. The training methods characteristically used in both areas includes forelimbs tying, jaw tying, and ears tying. A combination of these methods was observed to be a neuro-physiologically effective approach, promoting obedience while controlling stress; stress caused by jaw and forelimbs tying was nullified by ears tying, which produced an analgesic effect. Therefore, for domestication during the ancient period and maintaining the tame status of donkeys, the age for training for packing and controlling stress by tying the forelimbs, jaws, and ears might have been the effective techniques in taming the animal through epigenetic mutations. © 2018, The Author(s).