Gallery: Why Some Wild Animals Are Becoming Nicer
01bonobos
02a-kindler-gentler-fox
A Kindler, Gentler Fox ---------------------- In just 50 years, Russian biologists turned wild, wary silver foxes into sweet-tempered models of domestication. *Image: [Anna Kukekova](http://cbsu.tc.cornell.edu/ccgr/behaviour/Index.htm)/Cornell University*
03original-dogs
Original Dogs ------------- Basenjis are believed to be direct-line descendants of some of the earliest dogs. Breeding them likely accelerated a domestication process that started when wolves learned to live outside human settlements. *Image: [Brandon Keim/Wired](https://secure.flickr.com/photos/31805863@N00/5448866543/ )*
04domesticated-deer
Domesticated Deer? ------------------ Are adult deer with spots typically seen in juveniles becoming more common in urban areas? If so, it could signal a modern process of domestication. *Image: [Sam Greenhalgh](https://secure.flickr.com/photos/zapthedingbat/3676990334/ )/Flickr*
05rats-unite
Rats, Unite! ------------ Island life may make aggression undesirable, and Central American spiny rats are indeed more social on islands than on the mainland. *Image: [Smithsonian Wild](https://secure.flickr.com/photos/smithsonianwild/5178948032/sizes/l/in/photostream/ )/Flickr*
06the-smiling-macaque
The Smiling Macaque ------------------- Tonkean macaques are the least aggressive of all macaque species. They even seem to smile. *Image: [ElPadawan](https://secure.flickr.com/photos/elpadawan/6203904198/in/photostream/ )/Flickr*
07domesticating-ourselves
Domesticating Ourselves ----------------------- Before humans started domesticating other animals, we might have domesticated ourselves. *Image: [Loren Javier](https://secure.flickr.com/photos/lorenjavier/5925178412/ )/Flickr*
