According to a study by Conservation Carpathia in the Southern Carpathians, the wolf population density in Romania is 2.35 wolves/100 square kilometers lower than in the Apennine Mountains in Italy or Yellowstone National Park in the United States of America.

The representatives of this foundation draw attention to the fact that for the first time in Romania, the existence of hybridization between wolves and dogs has been confirmed, a danger that could lead to the decline of the species, which is already observed in other European countries.

“Our estimated density of 2.35 wolves/100 km2 is lower than that in Yellowstone National Park in the USA (5–9.8 wolves/100 km2; Mech & Barber-Meyer, 2015), lower than that in northern Apennines Mountains from Italy, where habitats are more fragmented (4.7 wolves/100 km2; Apollonio et al., 2004). On the Scandinavian Peninsula, an area with different climatic conditions, where the wolf population is trying to recover after a significant genetic decline, the density of wolves is much lower than in our case (0.18 wolves/100 km2; Milleret et al., 2021) ” ; – these are the conclusions research conducted over the past three years by the Conservation Carpathia organization.

“The study began in 2017. For three winters in a row, we went out into the field and collected non-invasive DNA samples. We managed to identify 47 wolves and a wolf-dog hybrid. These individuals were grouped into six packs, six different families. The important thing is that we managed to reconstruct the genealogical tree of these families, put them on the map.

The size (packs – no) ranges from three to seven wolves. It is interesting that from year to year we record quite large dynamics at the level of reproductive individuals, at the level of alpha male and female, this is a question mark and a possible threat for these wolf packs, and we are trying to continue this research, and in the following years we will see what is there will happen,” said project coordinator Ruben Yosif.

As for the wolf-dog hybrid specimen, its existence has been confirmed, and researchers are eager to understand how large the amplitude of the phenomenon is, he said. This is the first time that genetic tests have confirmed the existence of such samples.

According to the study, hybridization between wolves and dogs is “a real threat to European wolf populations, especially in countries with highly anthropogenically modified landscapes and isolated wolf populations.”

“Hybridization can worsen the genetic variability of wolves to the point of local extinction of the affected populations. Such a decrease has occurred, for example, in southern Spain, where the wolf population was so isolated and suffered from hybridization in recent decades that it disappeared. There is little concrete data on the extent of wolf-dog hybridization in Romania, although field workers have reported direct observations of animals with both wolf and dog morphological characteristics.

It is necessary to study this problem in Romania, because we know that there are many areas where stray dogs appear in the habitat of the wolf, especially where the mountain space of the wolf meets the space of local communities where the stray dogs come from,” he states. teaching.

Zholt Mikholcha, a faunal ranger of the Carpathian Conservation Fund, explained that biological samples of animals are collected non-invasively, with the help of a set, excrement samples are collected in the forest. Urine on snow and fur samples have also been used to track wolf packs.

“We have unique codes that are scanned in our app, so we have traceability of these samples,” Miholcha noted.

“The laboratory tests were carried out at the University of Ljubljana in Slovenia and were based on 16 dog-specific genetic markers in a comprehensive PCR analysis. We used an additional genetic marker to determine sex. Regarding the procedure for the extraction and analysis of the genetic material, we implemented a strict protocol, thanks to which we avoided the risks of contamination.

Official estimates put the wolf population in Romania at around 3,000 individuals, but scientific monitoring methods were not used when counting the number of this species, Conservation Carpathia also states, noting that “although at the European level, Romania appears to have a viable wolf population, the Carpathians still remain one of the least studied mountain ecosystems in Europe.”