Types of work

Some animals are used due to sheer physical strength in tasks such as ploughing or logging. Such animals are grouped as a draught or draft animal. Others may be used as pack animals, for animalpowered transport, the movement of people and goods. People ride some animals directly as mounts, use them as harness one or a team to pull vehicles.

Riding animals or mounts[edit]

They include equines such as horses, ponies, donkeys, and mules; elephants; yaks; and camels. Dromedary camels in arid areas of Australia, North Africa and the Middle East; the less common Bactrian camel inhabits central and East Asia; both are used as working animals. On occasion,reindeer, though usually driven, may be ridden. Certain wild animals have been tamed and used for riding, usually for novelty purposes, including the zebra and the ostrich. Some mythical creaturesare believed to act as divine mounts, such as garuda in Hinduism and the winged horse Pegasus in Greek mythology.

Pack animals[edit]

A pack llama

Main article: Pack animal Pack animals may be of the same species as mounts or harness animals, though animals such as horses, mules, donkeys, reindeer and both types of camel may have individual bloodlines or breeds that have been selectively bred for packing. Additional species are only used to carry loads, includingllamas in the Andes. Domesticated oxen, bullocks, and yaks are also used as pack animals. Other species used to carry cargo include dogs and pack goats.

Homing pigeons transport material, usually messages on small pieces of paper, by air.

Harness animals[edit]

Mule used to pull a wheeled vehicle in Morocco

An intermediate use is to harness animals, singly or in teams, to pull (or haul) sleds, wheeled vehicles or plough. Oxen are slow but strong, and have been used in a yoke since ancient times: the earliest surviving vehicle, Puabi's Sumerian sledge, was ox-drawn; an acre was originally defined as the area a span of oxen could plow in a day. The Water buffalo and Carabao, domesticated water buffalo, pull wagons and ploughs in Southeast Asia and the Philippines. Draught or Draft horses are commonly used in harness for heavy work. Several breeds of mediumweight horses are used to pull lighter wheeled carts, carriages and buggies when a certain amount of speed or style is desirable. Mules are considered to be very tough and strong, with harness capacity dependent on the type of horse mare used to produce the mule foal. Because they are a hybrid animal and usually are infertile, separate breeding programs must also be maintained. Ponies and donkeys are often used to pull carts and small wagons, historically, ponies were commonly used in mining to pull ore carts. Dogs are used for pulling light carts or, particularly, sleds. (e.g. sled dogs such as Huskies) for both recreation and working purposes. Goats also can perform light harness work in front of carts Reindeer are used in the Arctic and sub-Arctic Nordic countries and Siberia. Elephants are still used for logging in South-east Asia. Less often, camels and llamas have been trained to harness. According to Juan Ignacio Molina the Dutch captain Joris van Spilbergen observed the use of chiliquenes (a llama type) by [2] native Mapuches of Mocha Island as plough animals in 1614.

Assorted wild animals have, on occasion, been tamed and trained to harness, including zebras and even moose. See also: Driving (horse)

Animals used for their senses or instincts[edit]

Hunting[edit]

A dog working as a retriever

As predatory species are naturally equipped to catch prey, this is a further use for animals and birds. This can be done either for sustenance or sport, to reduce the population of undesired animals (pests) that are considered harmful to crops, livestock or the environment. Hounds and other dogs are used to kill and fetch prey. Certain breeds have been bred for this task such as pointers and setters. Mousers (Domestic cats used for hunting small rodents and birds) are one of the oldest working animals having protected food supplies from pests since the foundation of human agriculture. Caracals are sometimes used as hunting animals in some parts of the Middle East, although they are normally kept as pets. Ferrets prey on creatures living in burrows, such as rabbits. In falconry, birds of prey are used as hunters in the air. Aquatic birds, such as cormorants in China, can be used to catch fish.

Searching for people[edit]

Dogs, with their highly developed sense of smell, are used to catch human 'prey', such as escaped prisoners or people lost in remote areas. They are used also to find people who are trapped, such as in avalanches or collapsed buildings. Horses are used in remote areas to help human searchers cover large areas of rugged terrain. Their natural awareness of their surroundings will often alert human handlers to the presence of anything unusual, including lost hikers, hunters or other. Like some dogs, some horses are trained to follow scent. See Search and rescue horse.

Assistance animals[edit]
Main article: Service animal The best-known example is the guide dog or seeing eye dog for blind people. See also service dog. Miniature horses are also occasionally used for this purpose as well. Trained African monkeys or golden retrievers have been taught to provide other functions for impaired people, such as opening mail and minor household tasks of the same like.

Herding[edit]

A very close working relationship exists between a stockman or shepherd, a herding dog, and the herd (or mob) of sheep or cattle. Cattle and sheep herders in other parts of the world also use various dog breeds. See Mountain dogs. Certain breeds of horses also have an innate "cow sense" that allows them to effectively carry a rider to the right place at the right time to muster(gather or round up) livestock.

Gathering plants[edit]
Dogs and pigs, with better smell sense than humans, can find valuable products, such as truffles (a very expensive subterranean mushroom). In France mainly pigs are used, in Italy mainly dogs. See Truffle hog.

Other uses[edit]
The defensive and offensive capabilities of animals (such as fangs and claws) can be used to protect or to attack humans. The guard dog barks or attacks, to warn of an intruder War elephants were trained for battle in ancient times and are still used for military transport today. Military uses of horses have changed over the millennia but still continue, including for police work. Dolphins carry markers to attach to mines On land, dogs can be trained to find landmines. Rats, which are lighter and less of a risk to set the [3] mines off, have recently been used more frequently. Detection rats such as those trained [4] by APOPO can also be taught to identify diseases, especially pulmonary tuberculosis.