Final answer:
Managed hunting was a precursor to domestication and selective breeding because it established human-animal symbiosis. It led to the development of agriculture and promoted the concept of owning livestock, paving the way for controlled breeding and pastoral societies.
Step-by-step explanation:
The most significant way in which managed hunting was good preparation for the later domestication and selective breeding of animals is that it established human-animal symbiosis. This precursor to domestication involved understanding animal behavior and ecology, which eventually allowed humans to breed animals, leading to the development of agriculture. By encouraging animals with desirable traits to mate, early humans practiced an early form of selective breeding which highlighted traits such as docility and the ability to thrive under care.
Managed hunting prepared humans for the challenges of agriculture and the domestication of animals by promoting the need for controlled mating to increase favorable traits within animal populations. With a deeper understanding of selective breeding, human societies were able to improve and maintain animal stocks, which was crucial for starting pastoral societies and agricultural developments.
Finally, the development of human-animal relationships through domestication encouraged the concept of personal ownership of resources, which is a marked change from the communal sharing of resources found in hunter-gatherer societies. Enhancing these relationships through breeding practices helped to increase the carrying capacity of the environment by providing a more reliable source of resources for human societies.