Human uses of animals include both practical uses, such as the production of food and clothing, and symbolic uses, such as in art, literature, mythology, and religion. All of these are elements of culture, broadly understood. Animals used in these ways include fish, crustaceans, insects, molluscs, mammals and birds.
Economically, animals provide meat, whether farmed or hunted, and until the arrival of mechanised transport, terrestrial mammals provided a large part of the power used for work and transport. Animals serve as modelsinbiological research, such as in genetics, and in drug testing.
Non-human mammals form a large part of the livestock raised for meat across the world. They include (2011) around 1.4 billion cattle, 1.2 billion sheep, 1 billion domestic pigs,[7][11] and (1985) over 700 million rabbits.[12]
Textiles from the most utilitarian to the most luxurious are often made from non-human animal fibres such as wool, camel hair, angora, cashmere, and mohair. Hunter-gatherers have used non-human animal sinews as lashings and bindings. Leather from cattle, pigs and other species is widely used to make shoes, handbags, belts and many other items. Other animals have been hunted and farmed for their fur, to make items such as coats and hats, again ranging from simply warm and practical to the most elegant and expensive.[13][14] Snakes and other reptiles are traded in the tens of thousands each year to meet the demand for exotic leather; some of this trade is legal and sustainable, some of it is illegal and unsustainable, but for many species insufficient data is available to make a determination either way.[15]
Working domestic animals including cattle, horses, yaks, camels, and elephants have been used for work and transport from the origins of agriculture, their numbers declining with the arrival of mechanized transport and agricultural machinery. In 2004 they still provided some 80% of the power for the mainly small farms in the third world, and some 20% of the world's transport, again mainly in rural areas. In mountainous regions unsuitable for wheeled vehicles, pack animals continue to transport goods.[25]
Police, military and immigration/customs personnel exploit dogs and horses to perform a variety of tasks, which cannot be done by humans. In some cases, smart rats have been used.[26]
Vaccines have been made using other animals since their discovery by Edward Jenner in the 18th century. He noted that inoculation with live cowpox afforded protection against the more dangerous smallpox. In the 19th century, Louis Pasteur developed an attenuated (weakened) vaccine for rabies. In the 20th century, vaccines for the viral diseases mumps and polio were developed using animal cells grown in vitro.[34]
Different non-human animals unwillingly help humans with creating medicine that can treat certain human diseases. For example, the anticoagulant properties of snake venom are key to potential medical use. These toxins can be used to treat heart disease, pulmonary embolism, and many other diseases, all of which may originate from blood clots.[1]
Non-human animals, and products made from them, are used to assist in hunting. Humans have used hunting dogs to help chase down animals such as deer, wolves, and foxes;[36]birds of prey from eagles to small falcons are used in falconry, hunting birds or mammals;[37] and tethered cormorants have been used to catch fish.[38]
A wide variety of animals are used as pets, from invertebrates such as tarantulas and octopuses, insects including praying mantises,[41]reptiles such as snakes and chameleons,[42] and birds including canaries, parakeets and parrots.[43] However, non-human mammals are the most popular pets in the Western world, with the most utilized species being dogs, cats, and rabbits. For example, in America in 2012 there were some 78 million dogs, 86 million cats, and 3.5 million rabbits.[44][45][46]Anthropomorphism, the attribution of human traits to non-human animals, is an important aspect of the way that humans relate to other animals such as pets.[47][48][49] There is a tension between the role of other animals as companions to humans, and their existence as individuals with rights of their own; ignoring those rights is a form of speciesism.[50]
A wide variety of both terrestrial and aquatic non-human animals are hunted for sport.[51]
The aquatic animals most often hunted for sport are fish, including many species from large marine predators such as sharks and tuna, to freshwater fish such as trout and carp.[52][53]
Animals feature in many different roles in video games, ranging from background NPCs and basic enemies to the protagonist of a game, as in the 2022 game Stray. Animals are considered crucial[by whom?]tocreating a believable video game setting.[66]Virtual pet video games, such as the Nintendogs series and the mobile game Neko Atsume, are a popular type of game where you care for a fictional pet, usually a dog or cat.[67] In 2019, a Twitter account named Can You Pet the Dog? was created to document whether the dog and cat NPCs in a game can be petted.[68]
Animals including many insects[69] and non-human mammals[70] feature in mythology and religion.
Among the insects, in both Japan and Europe, as far back as ancient Greece and Rome, a butterfly was seen as the personification of a human's soul, both while they were alive and after their death.[69][71][72] The scarab beetle was sacred in ancient Egypt,[73] while the praying mantis was considered a god in southern African Khoi and San tradition for their praying posture.[74]
^"The Purpose of Humanimalia". De Pauw University. Archived from the original on 12 September 2018. Retrieved 12 September 2018. animal/human interfaces have been a neglected area of research, given the ubiquity of animals in human culture and history, and the dramatic change in our material relationships since the rise of agribusiness farming and pharmacological research, genetic experimentation, and the erosion of animal habitats.
^Churchman, David (1987). The Educational Role of Zoos: A Synthesis of the Literature (1928-1987) with Annotated Bibliography. California State University. p. 8. addressing the broad question of the relationship between animals and human culture. The committee argues that zoos should foster awareness of the involvement of animals in literature, music, history, art, medicine, religion, folklore, language, commerce, food, and adornment of the world's culture's, present and past
^Helfman, Gene S. (2007). Fish Conservation: A Guide to Understanding and Restoring Global Aquatic Biodiversity and Fishery Resources. Island Press. p. 11. ISBN978-1-59726-760-1.
^"Cochineal and Carmine". Major colourants and dyestuffs, mainly produced in horticultural systems. FAO. Archived from the original on March 6, 2018. Retrieved June 16, 2015.
^Pearnchob, N.; Siepmann, J.; Bodmeier, R. (2003). "Pharmaceutical applications of shellac: moisture-protective and taste-masking coatings and extended-release matrix tablets". Drug Development and Industrial Pharmacy. 29 (8): 925–938. doi:10.1081/ddc-120024188. PMID14570313. S2CID13150932.
^Barber, E. J. W. (1991). Prehistoric Textiles. Princeton University Press. pp. 230–231. ISBN978-0-691-00224-8.
^Munro, John H. (2007). Netherton, Robin; Owen-Crocker, Gale R. (eds.). The Anti-Red Shift – To the Dark Side: Colour Changes in Flemish Luxury Woollens, 1300–1500. Vol. 3. Boydell Press. pp. 56–57. ISBN978-1-84383-291-1. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
^Munro, John H. (2003). Jenkins, David (ed.). Medieval Woollens: Textiles, Technology, and Organisation. Cambridge University Press. pp. 214–215. ISBN978-0-521-34107-3.
^Oxford English Dictionary, 1st ed. "anthropomorphism, n." Oxford University Press (Oxford), 1885.
^Hutson, Matthew (2012). The 7 Laws of Magical Thinking: How Irrational Beliefs Keep Us Happy, Healthy, and Sane. Hudson Street Press. pp. 165–181. ISBN978-1-101-55832-4.
^ abTsutsui, William M. (April 2007). "Looking Straight at "Them!" Understanding the Big Bug Movies of the 1950s". Environmental History. 12 (2): 237–253. doi:10.1093/envhis/12.2.237. JSTOR25473065.
^"Butterfly". Encyclopedia of Diderot and D'Alembert. January 2011. Archived from the original on 11 August 2016. Retrieved 10 July 2016.
^Hutchins, M., Arthur V. Evans, Rosser W. Garrison and Neil Schlager (Eds) (2003) Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia, 2nd edition. Volume 3, Insects. Gale, 2003.
^Ben-Tor, Daphna (1989). Scarabs, A Reflection of Ancient Egypt. Jerusalem. p. 8. ISBN978-965-278-083-6.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^McCone, Kim R. (1987). Meid, W. (ed.). Hund, Wolf, und Krieger bei den Indogermanen. Innsbruck. pp. 101–154. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^Lau, Theodora, The Handbook of Chinese Horoscopes, pp. 2–8, 30–5, 60–4, 88–94, 118–24, 148–53, 178–84, 208–13, 238–44, 270–78, 306–12, 338–44, Souvenir Press, New York, 2005
^"The Zodiac". Western Washington University. Archived from the original on 23 February 2019. Retrieved 12 December 2018.