New research has identified that wolf-dog crossbreeds 'swarms' could drive wolves of Europe out of existence. This kind of hybridization, driven by human activities that destroy habitats and mean wolves encounter more and more free-roaming dogs, threatens the genetic identity of wolves.
The research, published in the journal Frontiers in Ecology and Evaluation, reviewed the views of more than 40 scientists and warned that a lack of engagement and agreement could hamper efforts to tackle wolf-dog hybridization. The results of the study suggest most scientists agree on the nature of the problem but are divided on how to deal with it.
The lead author of the study from the Centre for Ecology and Conservation on the University of Exeter's Penryn Campus in Cornwall, Valerio Donfrancesco said that they need to address this issue before wolf-dog hybrids backcross with wolves to the extent that wolf populations will be lost to hybrid swarms, and the conservation of wild populations will become unfeasible. Donfrancesco added that in this paper, they argue that scientific agreement is crucial to encourage decision-makers to act, and to raise awareness about this conservation issue in society at large. The fact that scientists know so little about the ecology behavior and social acceptance of the wolf-dog hybrids adds a layer of concern to the issue.
Scientists were able to share their anonymous views in the study, and it revealed agreement that people should be educated about the impact of free-roaming dogs, and that governments should remove wolf-dog hybrids from small and recovering wild wolf populations. However, there was division among scientists on issues such as how to remove hybrids and free-roaming dogs, and whether they should be kept captive, sterilized, and released or killed.
As Donfrancesco explained, the disagreements emerged from diverging ethical values between scientists of different backgrounds including ecologists and geneticists, from the lack of data on the effectiveness of various interventions, and the worry of some scientists that on practical grounds allowing the removal of hybrids would open a legal loophole for the killing of wolves.
Paolo Ciucci of the Sapienza University of Rome, the co-author of the study said that the management of hybrids and wolf-dog hybridization should not be a taboo topic particularly, within the scientific community. There are margins to develop further consensus among scientists if new research addresses topical issues such as the effectiveness and the feasibility of control measures and their social acceptability. Scientists should not avoid the problem just because its management appears overly complicated.
Dr. Nibedita Mukherjee, the co-author from the University of Exeter, added that they hope that by highlighting areas of disagreement and why they occur, they will be able to build a more unified scientific opinion and aid effective management of this urgent issue. An estimated 17,000 wolves live in Europe, in populations of varying sizes in countries as far apart as Spain, Greece, and Finland.
