Allan Henderson, age 13, of Pittsfield, Mass., for his question:

WHEN WERE ANIMALS FIRST DOMESTICATED?

A domestic animal is one that is kept in captivity. The first were most likely young wild animals that had been injured or lost in the forests back in prehistoric times and were then tamed by humans.

Long before man worked out a system for raising crops, he was using animals for food and clothing.

At first, man only hunted wild animals. But then as time went by, he discovered that he could tame and raise many very useful kinds of animals, such as cows, sheep, goats, horses, pigs and fowls. Earlier he had tamed dogs and cats and had used them for work assignments and as pets.

The chicken, turkey, duck and goose are modern man's most generally used domesticated animals. Chickens, which descended from jungle fowls back in ancient India, provide eggs, meat and feathers. Just as useful are the turkeys that originally were found in North America and the ducks and geese of Europe.

The most numerous mammals raised by man today are cattle. Both beef and dairy cattle are raised in many parts of the world. Among civilization's first records are reports of the domesticated cattle that ancient man rated as one of his most valuable possessions.

Cattle were used to pull carts and farming equipment as well as to give milk, meat and hides. Then as time passed, careful breeding produced two different kinds: beef cattle and dairy cattle.

Among the widely domesticated animals of today, the pig is one of the few that can also be found living in the wilds in some parts of the world. An interesting fact is that pigs could survive in natural forests if they were freed from their pens, where other domestic animals would most likely starve.

Elephants and camels can only be found in zoos in the United States and Canada, but these are among the many important domesticated animals found today in Africa and Asia where they handle many jobs.

Man's first domesticated dog most likely came from a wild wolf's captured puppy. The dog was domesticated because it was useful to man, although it didn't take the animal long to also become a loyal pet. The ancient dog was used as a hunter, tracker and defender of his master.

There is absolutely no other animal that can live so easily in so many different climates and conditions as today's dog. Also, no other animal can be found in as many different shapes and sizes.

Many thousands of years after the dog was first domesticated, the cat came along to join man's household. The cat, however, has always remained much more independent than the dog.

First to tame the cat were the ancient Egyptians. About 3000 B.C. they tamed small, short haired wild cats to kill rata in their granaries.