First wolf-dog hybrid found in Greece

The Greek non-governmental organisation Callisto has announced the first confirmed case of a wolf-dog hybrid in Greece, near Thessaloniki.

“This is the first genetic case to be confirmed in Greece”, Aimilia Ioakimeidou, biologist in Callisto NGO, told a press conference in Athens.

The case was found during the genetic screening of 50 samples from wolves across Greece.

The analysis on one of the samples revealed a DNA composed of 45% wolf and 55% dog.

Similar cases have been recorded in the USA, Central Asia and Europe but most of those cases were based on the external appearance of the animals. 

Nevertheless, modern genetic testing shows that these cases are far rarer than previously thought.

Callisto is a Greek environmental organization that studies, protects and manages populations and habitats of large carnivores, such as bears and wolves.

Callisto is currently involved in efforts to trap a rogue wolf that attacked a 5-year-old Serbian girl on September 12 in the Halkidiki Peninsula, in northern Greece. 

This attack has renewed calls to control populations of these animals, as farmers and hunters claim the right to kill them.

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Wolf population increasing in Greece

A study conducted by Callisto over a six year period has revealed that the wolf population in Greece has been steadily increasing, reaching 2,075 individuals, including three packs of about 31 wolves living in Mount Parnitha, near Athens. 

This increase is believed to be due to a hunting ban imposed in 1983 under the Bern Convention but also as a result of habitat regeneration. 

Wolves have been seen in areas not seen in decades, like parts of Attica and even stretches of the Peloponnese.

Humans may have a role in dog domestication

While domesticated dogs came from a close relative to the wolf 15,000 to 40,000 years ago, the story of their origin has changed in recent years.

While a popular theory defends that wolves approached human settlements in search of food, recent research suggests that human hunter-gatherers may have taken wolf pups and raised them until, over generations, they evolved into today’s domesticated dogs.

According to conservationists, DNA testing is a crucial step in protecting pure wolf populations because interbreeding can introduce genes into wild wolf populations, weakening the species’ genetic integrity and survival ability. 

When these hybrids reproduce this problem can persist, making it more difficult to manage wild wolf populations.

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