Cool Potential Domestications

[DG Valdron]

I thought he'd never leave.

Oh well, back to business...

It's why cows are domesticated but the smaller and less dangerous deer is not.

I've enjoyed your posts on this thread. And for the record, let me say that I'm a big fan of your timelines. I think I like some of them even more than you do.

Anyway, I thought this comment of yours was interesting enough to return to.

There is at least one acknowledged deer domestication - the Reindeer of Europe and Asia. And I believe that there's a good case for an abandoned domestication of Moose in Northern and Baltic Europe and perhaps some areas of Siberia to at least the modern era.

I've also read at least some arguments that deer may have been domesticated by at least some meso-Americans and that this domestication was lost or abandoned during the period of Spanish Conquest. I think that this might be your area, so if you have comments on this, I'd like to hear them.

But as per comments elsewhere, I just wanted to note that generally deer are grazers. They're bush and forest animals. Almost all the big domesticates are grazers - grassland eaters and foragers. It strikes me that human agricultural choices - grains and cereals, may have driven the sorts of animals that would be available for domestication. ie, selection for grasslanders or grazers, rather than browsers. Hello horse, goodbye deer.

Of course goats are browsers, which undercuts my thesis. But they seem the odd man out. In any event, Goats don't really qualify as big domesticates. Although used for draft labour occasionally, it doesn't seem to be a principal purpose (There's a minor history of goats pulling carts, but not plows). There might be some interesting wrinkles on the Goat Domestication Event.

Another factor, was likely that open country probably results in greater overall endurance and load bearing capacity than forest animals. A creature whose annual territory encompasses movement across thousands of miles is probably more suitable to the heavy labour demands of domestication than an equivalent sized animal which forages within a relatively small territory.

The hippo is extremely dangerous, but once again so is the aurochs. The difference between the two is that hippos are not a social species (aside from resting close to each-other in rivers) while the aurochs lived in mixed-sex herds led by dominant males. In captivity, this dominance could be transferred to humans, which made the dangerous aurochs domesticable. It's social structure, not danger, that makes an animal not domesticable. Dangerous animals could be realistically domesticated if they have the correct behavior.

Domestication opportunities are strongly influenced or dictated by an animal's behavioural range. This doesn't just include their amenability to or willingness to tolerate humans, but the extent that their natural tendencies allow them to do things useful to us. So I think its twofold.

Looking at Hippo sociability, I've checked Wikipedia:

Studying the interaction of male and female hippopotamuses has long been complicated by the fact that hippos are not sexually dimorphic and thus females and young males are almost indistinguishable in the field.[50] Although hippos like to lie close to each other, they do not seem to form social bonds except between mothers and daughters, and are not social animals. The reason they huddle close together is unknown.[11]:49
Hippopotamuses are territorial only in water, where a bull presides over a small stretch of river, on average 250 meters in length, and containing ten females. The largest pods can contain over 100 hippos.[11]:50 Other bachelors are allowed in a bull's stretch, as long as they behave submissively toward the bull. The territories of hippos exist to establish mating rights. Within the pods, the hippos tend to segregate by gender. Bachelors will lounge near other bachelors, females with other females, and the bull on his own. When hippos emerge from the water to graze, they do so individually

Seems to me that there's relatively complex social behaviour there that might offer some levers for hippo domestication.

This is if we're going by the 'top o the pyramid' model of domestication in which humans simply place themselves at the top of the animal's natural social hierarchy. Conceivably, humans could establish as the dominant 'bull' enforcing submissive or subordinate behaviour from cows and bachelors. There seems to be a natural same sex segregation, and some parental linkage. But there's no social pyramid with a beta plotting to take top spot.
I think we could do worse.

And there's this:

The diet of hippos consists mostly of terrestrial grasses, even though they spend most of their time in the water. Most of their defecation occurs in the water, creating allochthonous deposits of organic matter along the river beds. These deposits have an unclear ecological function.[46] Because of their size and their habit of taking the same paths to feed, hippos can have a significant impact on the land they walk across, both by keeping the land clear of vegetation and depressing the ground. Over prolonged periods hippos can divert the paths of swamps and channels

Territorial, and highly stable behaviour. They wouldn't necessarily need pens per se. They're not wanderers.

Overall, they're on average twice the size of water buffalo, with whom they share some similarities.

Their reproduction rate, maturation and gestation period is poor compared to other domesticates.

But I don't know that I'd rule them out from all possibility.

 

[DG Valdron]

Aye about that latter bit. I've read guinea pigs are actually less neotenous than their wild relatives. Very interesting stuff.

Interesting point. I believe that domesticated chicken and turkey are larger than their wild forms as well.

In the case of microlivestock, clearly there's selection for different things.

Neotenous selection may be a short cut. Basically, most animals are docile and dependent on their mothers, infants and juveniles are naturally subordinate. So, selecting directly or inadvertently for emotionally retarding maturity is an effective route to domestication. I don't think its the only route.

I've been wondering how many more species in the Mustela genus could be domesticated. There's already the ferret, which is a domesticated European Polecat; that leaves open the related Steppe Polecat of Central Asia. Does anyone know anything about attempts to domesticate stoats?

What about the Mongoose?

 

[metastasis_d]

Wolverines and Tasmanian Devils

 

[DG Valdron]

Wolverines and Tasmanian Devils

Tasmanian devils might suffer the Cheetah problem. So little genetic diversity that there's insufficient selection.

In any case, what would be the role of Tasmanian Devils? They strike me as perhaps bad tempered raccoon types.

 

[metastasis_d]

Tasmanian devils might suffer the Cheetah problem. So little genetic diversity that there's insufficient selection.

In any case, what would be the role of Tasmanian Devils? They strike me as perhaps bad tempered raccoon types.

I'd want to raise an army of them.

In seriousness, I don't know. Terrible pets?

 

[The Sandman]

On the subject of goats, the niche they might have filled was a way to make use of land that was marginal for any other purpose. Which does seem to be a major thing with many of our animal domesticates: they let you make use of land that is either unsuitable for cultivation or that you don't have the manpower to keep under cultivation, and we can feed them things that we can't feed to people (and thus can keep the plants we are able to digest for our own use).

The sort of environment where elephants might make a useful candidate for domestication, as opposed to taming wild-born elephants, would probably be heavily forested areas inhabited by people who need to clear trees on a frequent basis and who don't have adequate metal tools to do it with.

Elephants have two other problems, though, which don't seem to have come up yet: they're very intelligent, and they eat enormous quantities of food. Preventing a herd of elephants from helping themselves to your crops is going to be very difficult to do if you're trying not to kill or drive off said elephants, and much of what they like to eat happens to be things that we can also eat or that we would otherwise use. Furthermore, thanks to the amount of time you'd have to spend raising an elephant before it could be useful, you're almost certainly going to use them as work animals rather than killing them and breaking them down for meat and useful bits. The amount of useful work you could get out of them, though, would probably be limited by the amount of time they need to spend eating, unless you're growing high-calorie food for the elephants instead of growing similar amounts of high-calorie food for humans.

They're one of the candidates where, while not completely impossible to domesticate, you would absolutely have to have a very specific set to make them worth the effort of doing so.

 

[Theodoric]

What about the Mongoose?

Some species of dwarf mongoose have been kept as pets, especially smaller ones. I've heard about them being used as full-time guardians against snakes, that would be an interesting idea. Of course, they need to be bred in captivity and made more docile towards humans for them to be considered domesticated.

 

[Simreeve]

But if Titus_Pullo's claim that a lack of human predation=domesticability, then there should have been more easily domesticable animals among the species that did survive the end of the Pleistocene.

Not if all of the candidates that would have been suitable were eaten into extinction before anybody tried to domesticate them...
No horses or asses or (in North America) camelids left, no cattle present apart from the migratory bison, no 'true' goats present: Maybe the native species of sheep could be domesticated, but that's about it for mammals with closely related relatives that were domesticated elsewhere and that could have been useful... apart from the native canids of South America, stocks from one or more species of which might have been domesticated (according to sources that I only vaguely remember now) by tribes that for some reason had arrived there without dogs. Perhaps they could have used a cat or a weasel relative as a 'verminator' in the cultures where agriculture was best-established, too, but what other possibilities -- if any -- do you see there?

I've been wondering how many more species in the Mustela genus could be domesticated. There's already the ferret, which is a domesticated European Polecat; that leaves open the related Steppe Polecat of Central Asia. Does anyone know anything about attempts to domesticate stoats?

Actually, its's suspected that the Steppe Polecat was also an ancestor -- maybe even the main one -- of the ferret.
I suspect that stoats' shorter lifespan might make them poorer candidates for domestication... but, then again, there was the fairly recent Russian work with mink which I think (NB: need to check this....) don't tend to live for more than a couple of years either... Maybe the work hasn't been done simply because there wasn't an economic niche left vacant for them?

No Bears in Africa. Bears very common in Eurasia and North Am. Some very predatory ones too. Alligators and Crocodiles found throughout tropic regions - India, Southeast Asia, South China, Australia, South America, southern North America. Also, wolves very effective. Tigers endemic to Asia. I'm not sure that your argument is correct, comparing say predator/prey population ratios or comparative biomasses. I think its pretty consistent.

And also -- until Humans killed them off -- Lions right across south-western Asia from northern India (where a population survives in one small reserve today) to the Mediterranean, and in parts of south-western Europe as well... They were apparently still present in Greece during the Heroic Age, and Herodotus mentions them attacking the Persians' baggage-train in Thrace when Xerxes invaded.



_____________________________________________________________________________________


To consider some other candidates that have already been mentioned in this thread _

Moose (or, more properly, 'Elk'... ): definite potential, for exploiting food resources available in its habitat and as a draught animal or even riding animal there, and IIRC there has been some fairly recent work done that supports the possibility.

Hippo: No. Not only because of their size (which only rivals Elephants, after all), and aggressive nature, and for economic reasons, but also because (a) they have to spend so much time in the water where humans would be at an even worse disadvantage if trying to control them, and (b) recent studies show that at least some of them aren't quite as 100% pure herbivores as older books state. Individuals have been observed helping themselves to carrion when they stumbled across it, and there have even been cases where antelopes chose the wrong places to try crossing rivers and *(Chomp!)*... Still want to try it?

Cape Buffalo: Maybe. Although they're big, and can certainly do a lot of damage while defending themselves, recent scientific studies suggest that their general level of aggressiveness towards humans has been overstated: A lot of the earlier stories came from hunters, to whom a hostile reaction could reasonably be expected after all, but apparently when these researchers treated the animals with a reasonable degree of respect there weren't any such problems. Not necesarily an economical propsect, given the existence of alternatives that are already domesticated, but possibly no harder to domesticate -- in the long term -- than the Aurochs was.

Rhinos: The 'Black Rhino', no, because of its temperament. The three Asiatic species, I don't know enough about. The 'White Rhino', if there was economic justifiication, yes: It's notoriously docile, probably because as an adult it's immune to just about all potential attackers apart from humans with the relatively recent innovation of powerful firearms, and I've seen photos (and I think even a short piece of film footage) of people riding quite happily on the backs of ones that had been raised in the wild and only 'habituated' to human presence...

Onager: according to many archaeologists/historians was domesticated -- or, at any rate, tamed -- in the ancient Middle East, but was then rejected in favour of the domesticated Horse when that was introduced there from the steppes because the Horse was both a more efficient worker and more tractable.

 

[DG Valdron]

Is it "draft" or "draught"? Now I'm insecure.

On goats - thinking it over, they might have been similar to dogs in being attracted to foraging on human garbage and habituating to humans in this way.

Hippos - horses also have a hidden history or carnivory. But for both animals, it seems atypical. Their teeth and digestive systems are not adapted. Water Buffalo seem similar to Hippo in the time they spend in water
submerged or partially submerged (though Water Buffalo don't sleep and give birth submerged). But I find myself wondering about the size/fodder/horsepower equations. I suspect that the Hippo is on the lower level.

On Elephants, there is an excellent reference work from December 1980 called "Animal Traction Guidelines for Utilization" by Michael E. Goe and Robert E. McDowell. It's on the web, feel free to google for it.

The suggestion is that Elephants are "able to exert a draft capacity equal to 72% of that of a mature horse relative to body weight." Their pack capacity seems about 15 to 20% of their body weight, which is actually comparable to many draft animals.

Interestingly, the paper suggests that Elephants can be trained for work and light duties as early as three to five years, which implies in Southeast Asia at least that Indian Elephants are sitting right on the cusp of domestication.

I suspect that in the case of both hippos and elephants any society which ended up domesticating them, or engaging in habituated specimens, would probably find itself selecting for more rapid maturity and reproduction and reduced size (itself a regular corollary of selection for rapid maturity and reproduction) which would give you better draft efficiencies.

Assuming that we go with the autodomestication theory, where the animal voluntarily habituates to human presence because the rewards of hanging out around human areas make the risks worthwhile, increased regular mortality is going to select for more rapid reproduction and earlier maturation, which will get you smaller animals.

If we go with the directed domestication theory, where domestication happens because humans actively control the behaviour and reproduction of wild specimens to produce domesticated creatures, I think that there'd be a deliberate selection for the fast growers and against the slow growers, because you get more work sooner out of the fast growers, and have to waste more feed and work on the slow growers without seeing a return. You'd also select for the animals that worked the hardest, which would be the comparatively smaller ones.

Of course, this would hardly be systematic selection in most societies. The selection process would be economic and somewhat sloppy. But the biases would move in that direction.

I would suggest that in the case of Elephants and Hippos, domesticated varieties would probably be two thirds to one half the weight of the fully wild species. Thinking out loud, is the smaller size of Indian Elephants driven at least partially by human selection? If correct, then we'd probably see Indian Elephants being measurably smaller in places where they're heavily recruited by humans, as opposed to places where they're mostly left wild.

And they would mature roughly 20 to 30% earlier that seems to be the limits of biological possibility for mammals. In the wild, reproduction ages and maturation rates are affected by a variety of factors - the amount and quality fo food in the environment, the amount of stress, ongoing mortality rates, social factors, etc., and there is a degree of flexibility that can be selected for. It's not an unlimited flexibility though. You couldn't get an animal reaching sexual maturity 50% earlier in most cases. A Hippo that reached maturity 20 to 30% earlier would put it in the preferred range for most domestics. Elephants, not even close, but it would definitely make their economics more favourable.

 

[mowque]

I always like these threads, Full of new and original thoughts.

 

[twovultures]

There is at least one acknowledged deer domestication - the Reindeer of Europe and Asia. And I believe that there's a good case for an abandoned domestication of Moose in Northern and Baltic Europe and perhaps some areas of Siberia to at least the modern era.

General Finley actually opened me to the possibility of deer domestication. I think what's most significant about the reindeer is that most of its territory is not useful for other animals, making it the best choice for domestication. Even then, taking care of reindeer is very difficult, as they're liable to run off and join the wild herds they come across.

I think that this sort of behavior among other deer species is why goats won out as the domesticated browser of choice. They are hierarchical, despite their reputation as willful animals, and so can be herded much more easily than deer. Deer can be domesticated, but in most scenarios they won't be for the simple reason that there are more convenient animals that fill their niche.

I've also read at least some arguments that deer may have been domesticated by at least some meso-Americans and that this domestication was lost or abandoned during the period of Spanish Conquest. I think that this might be your area, so if you have comments on this, I'd like to hear them.

I actually don't know very much about that. For what it's worth, don't think there is proof of full domestication for deer. Mesoamerican civilizations may have kept tame deer to eat, but I don't think these deer were true domesticates. Accounts of these tame deer are, I think, played up by Mormon archaeologists looking to prove the book of Mormon (that apparently mentions 'goats' raised by pre-Columbian civilizations).

As for Hippos, even if the water-based agriculture you described develops in Africa, and if we can leverage their social structure, I still think domesticating hippos would be extremely difficult to the point where they would only be domesticated if all other options for an African 'water buffalo' are exhausted. People would try to use more hierarchical, less dangerous, and faster-reproducing animals before they move on to the less convenient hippo.

And, I am glad that you're a fan of my work. It's always nice to feel appreciated.

(b) recent studies show that at least some of them aren't quite as 100% pure herbivores as older books state. Individuals have been observed helping themselves to carrion when they stumbled across it, and there have even been cases where antelopes chose the wrong places to try crossing rivers and *(Chomp!)*... Still want to try it?

Eh, it's rare to get fully herbivorous or carnivorous animals. I've seen giraffes nibbling on warthog carcasses, and even picking them up to carry them around. Many 'plant-eaters' will give carrion a nibble when looking for minerals or vitamins they lack.

 

[DG Valdron]

Even then, taking care of reindeer is very difficult, as they're liable to run off and join the wild herds they come across.

Horses have a similar propensity, resulting in herds of feral 'wild' horses up and down North America.

I think that this sort of behavior among other deer species is why goats won out as the domesticated browser of choice. They are hierarchical, despite their reputation as willful animals, and so can be herded much more easily than deer. Deer can be domesticated, but in most scenarios they won't be for the simple reason that there are more convenient animals that fill their niche.

I think you've hit on a key point. There's a default to the more convenient animals. Essentially, the most convenient potential domesticate blocks other potential domesticates. And an already domesticated animal will tend to block other rival domestications.

We miss that, because in the west the old family farm is a menagerie of domesticates - horses and cows, pigs and goats and sheep, chicken and geese, cats and dogs.

But you look at the big domesticates - Llama, Reindeer, Water Buffalo, Yaks, Camels, Cattle and Horse and they're all domesticated far from each other. In some cases - particularly reindeer, cattle and water buffalo, they're domesticated for environments to harsh for any of their rivals. The Llama was domesticated a continent away from anything else.

Horse and cattle overlap, but their original domestications seem remote from each other, and they occupied overlapping but strongly distinct roles in society - cattle were meat, milk, and plows. Horses were riding and hauling. The roles were so distinct, at least for English speakers that overlaps were regarded with puzzlement and dismay - horsemeat is vulgar, horse milk is just strange, and cattle that pull wagons is a sign of lower classes and poverty. Between the two of them, cattle and horses really pushed out any other possible domestic in territory - their only local rivals - reindeer, water buffalo and camels all stuck to areas that would kill cattle and horses.

So, if you wanted to domesticate Hippos or Zebras, at least two of the big criteria would be (a) That there isn't already a big domesticate available to the neighborhood that can do the job; (b) That there isn't a more convenient potential domesticate in the neighborhood; There will be many more criteria, but these would basically determine whether you even get to the starting gate.

As for Hippos, even if the water-based agriculture you described develops in Africa, and if we can leverage their social structure, I still think domesticating hippos would be extremely difficult to the point where they would only be domesticated if all other options for an African 'water buffalo' are exhausted. People would try to use more hierarchical, less dangerous, and faster-reproducing animals before they move on to the less convenient hippo.

I agree that the African Water Buffalo are in the way. They're much closer to needs and purposes. Even things like the maturation rate and reproduction rate are more favourable. You'd have to do a hell of a lot more selective breeding - a lot more generations of a lot more animals, to get a domesticated hippo that is competitive with a domesticated water buffalo. The question is, why bother to make that investment.

For a domesticated hippo, you would need a Water Buffalo free environment.

Madagascar?

 

[Prism]

This is interesting as earlier I was looking up potential domestications. And just about everything I have is either now a pet, was domesticated for a period of time,is being domesticated or is friendly enough to be considered a potential domesticate. So here goes..

Oceania including Australia and New Zealand: For animals there is quoll, sugarglider,quokka,emu,Bush Turkey,Wood /duck, Shelduck, Oyster, Moa, Moa-nalo and boramundi. For plants there is Winged Yam, megaherbs, wattle, macadamia,muntries,nomi, Bush Potato, Water Chestnut, purslane, corkwood, quandong,Lemon Myrtle,Kutjera,riberry,Sea Spinach and Finger Lime.

Americas: reindeer, Musk Ox, salmon, hutia,peccary, Largeheaded Llama,catfish, cochineal,megatylopus, rhea, paca,capybara, vicuna, Tuco Tuco, copyu, mara, chinchilla, Crab-eating Fox, Steamer Duck, cormorant bison and warrah for animals. Bottle Gourd, Winged Yam, pecan, blueberry,cranberry, Fox Grape, fireweed, Giant Kelp, salmonberry, cottongrass, Sweet Vetch, Sea Lettuce, Irish Moss and gulfweed for plants.

Madagascar and Canary Islands had the Elephant Bird. Plus Madagascar had fossa, Giant Fossa, bushpig, dodo,ostrich and Rodrigues Solitaire while Canary Islands had Giant Rat, Giant Lizard and canary. Europe for a long time domesticated Edible Dormice.

 

[metastasis_d]

Madagascar and Canary Islands had the Elephant Bird. Plus Madagascar had fossa, Giant Fossa, bushpig, dodo,ostrich and Rodrigues Solitaire while Canary Islands had Giant Rat, Giant Lizard and canary. Europe for a long time domesticated Edible Dormice.

For one, the Dodo was on Mauritius. For another, pet Dodos would be awesome!

Speaking of birds as pets: Kakapos!

 

[DG Valdron]

I think its worth breaking down domestics into categories.

General Requirements

Relatively cheap to feed. Fast growing, rapid reproduction, short gestation, multiple births preferred but not a deal breaker. Tolerant of human proximity. Relatively good immune systems, robust.


Mega-Domesticates

Large animals used for or potentially able to use for draft labour. Draft labour includes carrying packs, pulling travois, pulling carts, pulling plows, or riding. Also used as principal meat producers. Secondary uses for many include leather, fur, milk. Are generally larger than humans by a factor of 2 to 10.

Requirements - (1) must produce heavy labour over sustained periods. (2) Must produce a significant quantity of food or food products (milk, eggs).

Definitely Includes:
Cattle, Horses, Yak, Bactrian Camels, Dromedary Camels, Water Buffalo, Reindeer, Ostrich. Possibly included but no longer includes Moose, Musk Ox. Borderline case - Elephants.

Hypothetical Potentials, including extinct Pliocene and Pleistocene Forms
Chalicotheres, Giant Sloths, Moa, Elephant Birds, Hippo, Rhino, Bison, Elk, Mammoths, Mastodons, Gomphothere......


Medium Domesticates

Smaller animals, averaging from 1/3 to 2 of humans. Used for a diversity of purposes - meat, hide, leather, wool, milk and specific tasks. Pigs for instance are used for rooting truffles and potentially for other tasks. Dogs are used for a multitude of purposes from guarding to herding. All have some usage as draft animals, notably carrying a pack, pulling a travois, sled or cart, but are generally not robust enough to pull a plow.

Requirements: Various, multiple uses are good, should be be able to provide at least one valuable service or product.

Definitely includes:
Dogs, Goats, Sheep, Pigs. Straddling the border between mega and medium are Ostriches and Llama.

Hypothetical Potentials
???


Micro Domesticates

Small animals, less than 1/3 human size, used primarily for food, with secondary usage as fur bearers. Secondary uses include eggs and feathers.

Requirements: Fast breeding, good eating.

Definitely includes:
Chicken, Turkey, Waterfowl, Pigeon, Guineau Pig, Rabbit

Potential candidates:
Lots.....


Verminators

Small animals, worth their own category, whose function is not to provide meat or labour, but to control vermin and pests.

Requirements: Natural born killers, good thing they're small.

Definitely includes: Cats, Ferrets, specialized Dogs

Potential candidates: Quolls, Raccoons (yeah right), Tasmanian Devils, Foxes, Fossa.....


Non-Vertebrates

Requirement: A useful product or function as a byproduct of operations.

Definitely includes: Honeybees, Silkworms, Maggots.

Potential candidates: Be creative.



Pets

Requirement:

Definitely includes Dogs, Cats, Ferrets, Parrots and Songbirds, Rabbits, Pigs.


Exotics





ALTERNATIVELY - USEFUL PURPOSE

Labour - Pack/Cart Animals: Cattle, Horse, Yak, Water Buffalo, Llama, Reindeer, Camel, Dogs, Goats, Pigs, Ostrich,

Labour - Riding animals: Horse

Labour - Plow Animals: Cattle, Horse, Yak, Water Buffalo

Milk - Cattle, Horse, Yak Goats, Reindeer

Eggs - Chicken, Waterfowl

Wool - Sheep, Goat, Dogs (formerly)

Fur

Hide/Leather

Meat

By-Products

Hunting

Guarding

Other

 

[metastasis_d]

Non-Vertebrates

Definitely includes: Honeybees, Silkworms.

Potential candidates: Be creative.

Wasps as drug and bomb sniffers.

 

[DG Valdron]

Interesting.

How about squirrels as gatherers

 

[metastasis_d]

Interesting.

How about squirrels as gatherers

NO! We must exterminate the tree rats at all costs!

 

[BlondieBC]

Looking at Hippo sociability, I've checked Wikipedia:



Seems to me that there's relatively complex social behaviour there that might offer some levers for hippo domestication.

This is if we're going by the 'top o the pyramid' model of domestication in which humans simply place themselves at the top of the animal's natural social hierarchy. Conceivably, humans could establish as the dominant 'bull' enforcing submissive or subordinate behaviour from cows and bachelors. There seems to be a natural same sex segregation, and some parental linkage. But there's no social pyramid with a beta plotting to take top spot.
I think we could do worse.

And there's this:



Territorial, and highly stable behaviour. They wouldn't necessarily need pens per se. They're not wanderers.

Overall, they're on average twice the size of water buffalo, with whom they share some similarities.

Their reproduction rate, maturation and gestation period is poor compared to other domesticates.

But I don't know that I'd rule them out from all possibility.

Hippo kill more people in Africa than any other animal. The reason for non-domestication is probably the high death rate among anyone who actually tried to domesticate them.

 

[Jackiepoollama]

Idk if this has already been said but think of African tribesman conquering the known world riding domesticated charging rhinos elephants and ostriches. Screw horses i have a giant rhino