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RE: [RC] Hunted to extinction? - heidiIf I remember my world anthropology correctly, there were more humans in Asia 10,000 years ago than there were here--and the horse thrived there. Your points about the horses's disposition are well-taken--but given the outcome on another continent, it still does not stand to reason that they would have been hunted to extinction here. I agree that we will probably never know what killed them off here--but since many other species were also killed off at around the same time, it does not make sense to suggest that any of them were hunted to death by the low numbers of humans who had to hunt on foot and by stealth and cunning. Heidi Heidi said:Given the very low population of humans at the time, and the fact that many other much-hunted species thrived (eg the buffalo), the idea that man was responsible for the demise of the horse on this continent 10,000 years ago doesn't wash.This is not necessarily the case. Wild horses have been hunted to extinction everywhere on the planet, and, I contend that the reason for this is the same as the reason that man was able to domesticate horses. Horses do not have the dispositions or natures to protect themselves adequately against skillful hunters. Neither their flight instinct nor their fight instinct is very well developed by comparison to many other large mammal species, which makes them easy prey. The nice thing about this, is it also makes them fairly easily domesticated. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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