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Among Moscow's large population of homeless canines, a small minority who frequent or inhabit its subway have attracted international attention for learning how to use the trains to commute between various locations. == Background == The issue of Moscow's feral dogs was first mentioned by Russian writers such as journalist Vladimir Gilyarovsky in the late 19th century. As of March 2010, there were an estimated 35,000 homeless dogs living within Moscow's city limits, or approximately one dog for every 300 people, and about 32 per square km (84 per square mile). According to Andrei Poyarkov of the A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution, a biologist and wolf expert who has studied Moscow's feral dogs for over 30 years, the quantity of food available to them keeps the total population of homeless dogs steady at about 35,000. Most pups don’t reach adulthood, and those that do essentially replace adults who have died. A life of more than 10 years is considered rare. Many, if not most, of them share certain physical similarities: medium-sized with thick fur, wedge-shaped heads and almond eyes, with long tails and erect ears.〔 Most dogs are born homeless, others arrive on the streets as rejected or abandoned house pets. Poyarkov estimates that fewer than 3 percent of abandoned pet dogs live long enough to breed.〔 Over the years that Poyarkov had observed the dogs, he noticed that the population has lost such features, as spotted coats, wagging tails, and friendliness, characteristics known to separate dogs from wolves. He classified their evolving social structures into four groups: * Wild dogs (feral and nocturnal, avoiding humans and viewing them as a threat) * Foragers (semi-feral) * Beggars (the most intelligent, socialized to people, but not affectionate or personally attached).〔 * Guard dogs (who view certain humans as their leaders, commonly met at mills or construction yards) The urbanized beggars in particular are unfazed by high levels of activity going on around them,〔 even managing to sleep in the midst of busy areas. They also have the most specialized behaviors,〔 which differentiate them from both domesticated dogs and wolves. Beggars may live in packs, but a pack's leader will interact with other packs. The leaders are not necessarily the strongest or most dominant dog, but rather the most intelligent, and are acknowledged as such by the other dogs in the pack who depend on them for survival. One technique a pack uses involves deploying its smaller, cuter members, having realized that these dogs have more success in begging food from people.〔 Another technique some dogs have for getting food is to sneak up behind a person who is holding some. The dog will then bark, which sometimes startles the human enough to drop the food. The dogs have learned to cross the street with pedestrians and have been observed obeying traffic lights.〔 Since dogs have dichromatic vision, researchers theorize that the dogs recognize other cues, such as the shapes or positions of the changing signals. The dogs have become adept at intuiting the psychology of individual humans in order to determine which techniques will work best on whom. Dogs who locate themselves in high traffic areas realize that, in such places, they often won't need to make any effort to procure food, as pedestrians will simply toss it as they pass by. Malnourished-looking dogs are uncommon. Food is often easy to come by, allowing dogs the luxury of being selective. The reduced need to compete for food has contributed to stable social behavior, although incidents in which humans were harmed by packs of dogs have been known to occur, particularly in less urban areas. According to Alexei Vereshchagin, a graduate student of Poyarkov's who has studied them, the dogs generally go out of their way to avoid conflict with humans, and defecation in busy areas is rare. Among the general human population, the dogs are simultaneously viewed affectionately and as a problem,〔 and at worst are generally tolerated. Many people choose to feed them and some people will even build basic shelters for them in the winter. They have come to be considered by many a component of the city's character.〔 Sterilization efforts have had little effect on curtailing the population.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Street dogs in Moscow」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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