AN EXPERIMENT ON RIVER OTTER (Lutra lutra Linnaeus 1758) DOMESTICATION

Abstract

Acage population of river otters (Lutra lutra) has been obtainedin an experiment of domestication of the species conductedat the Institute of Cytology andGenetics, Novosibirsk. It is shown that the crucial factor in introduction of the species to captive breedingis selection for stress resistance in an anthropogenic environment. River otter domestication is accompaniedby balancingselection for increase in the number of individuals lackingfear-inducedresponse towardhumans.

Keywords

• river otter
• lutra lutra
• domestication
• stress resistance
• d.k. belyaev