Nearly Half of Italy’s Wolves Are Part Dog Now, Thanks to Hybridization. Is That a Threat to the Species? (Gennaro Tomma, May 6, 2026, bioGraphic)
Lorenzini’s research looked at genetic material collected from 748 wolves that had been found dead between 2020 and 2024, and 26 more that had been collected between 1993 and 2003. The team found that 47 percent were wolf-dog hybrids. And while some of these animals are the descendants of hybridization events that took place generations ago, others are more recent crosses, showing that hybridization is still occurring.
They are dogs.