Close to our house in Apopka Florida, there is a field where a cow has lived for well over 10 years.
We assume it is basically a pet, we sometimes used to see a family there feeding hay etc.
Hyrax. They are great and in theory could become domesticated in a similar fashion to rabbits. Apparently they aren’t domesticated because a night they scream and it sounds like a mass murder is taking place. So, no not really a candidate for full domestication. But they are cute and personable and can become accustomed to humans.
Quote: In general, owners did not seem to have extensive or intimate knowledge of hyrax reproductive patterns or gestation period. Although the owner observed in 1987 could not sex her animals, she was expecting her pair to reproduce.
Same with tinier and tinier toy dogs. The have all kinds of issues.
And weirdness. One of Mid-dau Chihuahuas has a freakishly long toe with a giant toenail. It’s so odd looking and causes trouble on clip day.
Elephants take too long between conception and being mature enough to breed. That’s an expensive project!
But the small dogs (if not the tiny ones) have longer lifespans than “wolf-sized” dogs. You may not be able to breed elephants down to cat sized and have a healthy animal, but maybe pony-sized.
You’d still want to keep them outdoors. I bet their digestion is like that of cows.
Something I learned at the zoo from a keeper. If an elephant is thought to be ill, they take its temperature by inserting a thermometer into a recently dropped fecal ball.
(source: repeated experiences a couple decades ago cycling along roads in Indian cities that were occasionally traversed by elephants. Do not kick the “misshapen coconut”.)
Shetland Ponies are naturally dwarfed through adaptation to a very harsh environment (the Shetland Islands). There are also tiny collies (Shetland Sheepdogs or Shelties), small geese, wee little sheep, and, I believe, small cows all native to the island and small because of the same reason of lack of much available food. Miniature Horses, despite the attempt to brand them as another thing entirely by calling them “horses”, are simply bred-down Shetland Ponies. The main reason minis have so many bone and hoof problems is that they are seen as pets, not useful livestock, so they are bred willy nilly, there is no requirement that they must be sound (as there is in almost every other breed) and the results are a crime. People who breed minis for show, where they must have good conformation to win, do not reproduce these issues.
As for Shetland temperaments, well known for sly churlishness, much of that has to do with being too small for adults to ride, so they learn from children, and nothing good comes from that, with equines.
When I was a kid I rode a Shetland on occasion; he taught me to never let my guard down and be prepared for anything, including bailing if need be. A hitching post was an opportunity to walk under it and wipe me off, a creek crossing was an occasion to have a bit of a roll … one time he nearly bucked me off in the middle of a parade. He was a shitball. But many horses would be the same, only a lot more dangerous being so much larger, if someone let them get away with that kind of behavior.
There were at one time a number of species of pygmy elephants, some of them pony sized. All developed in isolation on islands. I believe Borneo, islands in the Mediterranean, the Channel Islands off California, are places where fossils have been found.
