Eli5: Why can’t you make a pet out of a wolf, a bear or a lion?

Question

Eli5: Why can’t you make a pet out of a wolf, a bear or a lion?

In: Biology

Answer 1

Domestication takes many generations to get the “wildness” out of the animal.

And tbh size really makes a difference. If dogs were 300 kg they’d be a lot harder to domesticate, because a single instance of the dog playing a little too rough could end your life. If bears were 3 kg they’d be a lot easier to domesticate, because even when they got ornery they couldn’t hurt you. Dogs and bears don’t range in size from 3-300 kg, but cats do, and there’s a reason we domesticate the little ones and not the big ones.