National Geographic News, Reporting Your World Daily

Monday, November 23, 2009

Photo: Dogs First Tamed in China -- To Be Food?


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A boy and a dog pass each other on a village road in Bhutan.

Dogs were first domesticated from wild wolves in East Asia as far back as 16,300 years ago, around the time people there were adopting a more agrarian lifestyle, according to a genetic analysis published in September 2009.

Given the region's historical practice of eating dog, it's possible the animals were tamed to be food, not pets, the author said.

Photograph by Lynsey Addario, NGS