Yes, you can have a pet fox
Thanks to the hard work of a Soviet geneticist and a few fox enthusiasts, says Dan Nosowitz at Popular Science, domesticated foxes exist
In the age of the internet, a simple YouTube search calls up tons of videos featuring "tame" versions of just about any relatively small animal, says Dan Nosowitz at Popular Science. "When the internet sees a video of a red panda, the internet wants a red panda. Even though a red panda is endangered and a wild animal," says Nosowitz. Humans have long sought to domesticate animals — it's one of the three traits (along with tool use and symbolic behavior such as art and rituals) most associated with our species. And lucky for those hell-bent on bringing an adorably fluffy fox into their living rooms, acquiring a domesticated fox is actually quite possible, as long as you're dedicated to caring for a rather unconventional pet. Nosowitz outlines the history of fox domestication, gives a thorough overview of its legality, and speaks to some colorful personalities in his Popular Science piece:
Read the entire story at Popular Science.
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Samantha Rollins is TheWeek.com's news editor. She has previously worked for The New York Times and TIME and is a graduate of Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism.
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