Nagpur: A citizens science initiative by nature enthusiasts from Pune has facilitated researchers from National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS), Bengaluru, to detect the first-ever wolf-dog hybridization.
A suspected wolf-dog hybrid individual with an unusual tawny coat was first sighted and photographed by a group of nature lovers led by

Siddhesh Bramhankar

near Pune in May 2021.

The observers documented two such instances where an individual in the wolf pack looked different from the others.

Trailing these suspected hybrid individuals, citizen scientists identified two phenotypically different-looking individuals and subsequently collected non-invasive samples that were used by geneticists to test wolf-dog hybridization. Genomic data from shed hair samples of suspected hybrid individuals were acquired for DNA sequencing.

“We investigated the genetic origin of these two individuals analyzed with genetically known dogs, wolves, and other canid species, including jackals and dholes. Our results provide the first genetic evidence of one F2 hybrid (offspring from an F1 hybrid) and the other individual could be a complex hybrid between dogs and wolves. Our results reiterate the power of next-generation sequencing (NGS) for non-invasive samples as an efficient tool for detecting hybrids,” says

Uma Ramakrishnan

, the lead researcher and professor with NCBS.
The research study by Uma Ramakrishnan,

Abhinav Tyagi

,

Mihir Godbole

, and

Abi Tamim Vanak

was published in the latest edition of the journal ‘Ecology and Evolution’.
“We used both photographic and genetic evidence together to identify hybrids. This is the first evidence-based documentation of wolf–dog hybridization in the country and also the first instance where citizens and scientists have collaborated for such a discovery,” said Ramakrishnan.
Lead author and researcher Tyagi said the results suggest the need for more robust monitoring of wolf populations and “highlight the tremendous potential for collaborative approaches between citizens and conservation scientists to detect and monitor threats to biodiversity”.
The study states that human demographic expansion has confined wildlife to fragmented habitats, often in proximity to human-modified landscapes. Such interfaces facilitate increased interactions between feral or domesticated animals and wildlife, posing a high risk to wild species. This is especially relevant for free-ranging dogs and wild canids like gray wolves and golden jackals.
In India, wolves and domestic dogs coexist throughout the wolf’s distribution range and share a complex relationship that involves competition and potential hybridization.
“Wolf–dog hybridization may lead to a significant reduction of specific adaptations in wolves that could result in the decline their populations. Detection and genetic discrimination of hybrids between dogs and wolves are challenging because of their complex demographic history and close ancestry. The study is just a beginning and more studies need to be done,” the researchers said.