Document type : podcast of La Terre au carré broadcast
Authors: Mathieu Vidard, Valérie Chansigaud
Preview: Second programme (recorded) with Valérie Chansigaudi, historian of science and the environment, on her latest book "Histoire de la domestication animale" (Delachaux and Niestlé, eds.) which traces the long and complex relationships that unite us with animals who share our lives.
Dogs, cows, pigs, birds, fish, pets, circus and zoo animals, there have never been as many domestic animals tehre are are today. A slice of biodiversity has been domesticated and the total weight of farm animals far exceeds that of wild species.
We know that more than 28 billion vertebrates are raised on farms with 5 species predominating (pigs, goats, sheep, cows and chickens). Breathtaking statistics also describe global aquaculture, laboratory animals, invertebrates, pets (there were 9.76 million cats in 2000 and 13.48 million in 2016!) without forgetting animals in captivity in zoos and aquariums. This deluge of figures serves to underline the fact that the life of each human being depends on dozens of animals for food, clothing, health and leisure. And that our cultures would not be what they are without these animals, without animal domestication.