WELCOME TO THE WOLF CENTER & HYBRIDS

The creation of the "Wolves & hybrids Center", the only one of its kind in Italy, has the aim of informing and raising awareness of the problem of hybridization for the conservation of the Apennine wolf (Canis lupus italicus), while ensuring a life that is as dignified as possible and respectful of the well-being of the animals it hosts. In the wildlife area you can observe six hybrids between wolves and dogs

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WHERE THEY COME FROM?

The specimens, all brothers and sisters, had been captured in the Gran Sasso and Monti della Laga National Park as part of the LIFE M.I.R.CO-Lupo Project (Minimizing the Impact of Stray Dogs on the Conservation of the Wolf), co-financed by the European Union , whose aim is to conserve the wolf in Italy by minimizing the loss of the genetic identity of the species due to crossbreeding with the dog. Among the main actions envisaged by the project to limit the reproductive potential of wandering dogs and wolf-dog hybrids, in addition to the sterilization of dogs, include the capture and sterilization of wolf-dog hybrids, then released into the wild whenever possible.

 

WHY ARE THEY HERE? The individuals now housed in the Center had been captured and sterilized in June 2017 by the technicians of the M.I.R.CO-Lupo Project as they were members of a hybrid pack, as confirmed by subsequent genetic analyses. Given their young age, however, it was not possible to sterilize them and therefore not to proceed with their reintroduction into nature*. To make up for the lack of adequate structures for their maintenance in captivity at the Gran Sasso National Park, at the request of the Ministry of the Environment they were therefore entrusted to the WWF Oasis of Penne (PE), where they are now housed in an area fauna which allows them to live in conditions of adequate well-being, keeping members of the same family together.