Wolves, Dogs and Wolf-Dog Hybrids: What's the difference?
Jess Edberg, Information and Program Specialist

Wolf and wolf-dog hybrid ownership by private citizens has long been a contentious issue in the United States.

Recently this issue gained more fuel as media coverage of an abandoned pack of privately owned wolf-dog hybrids that was confiscated in western Wisconsin helped ignite renewed discussion on whether wolf or wolf-dog hybrid ownership is good or bad.

Wolf-dog hybrid (hybrid for short) is a term used to describe an animal that is part wolf and part domestic dog. Though now considered to be separate species, dogs (Canis familiaris) and wolves (Canis lupus) share an evolutionary past and thus share many physical and behavioral traits.

Dogs evolved from wolves through a centuries-long process of domestication. Domestication is the process by which a wild animal adapts to living with humans by being selectively bred by humans over thousands of years. Through this process, a dog's behavior, life cycle and physiology have become permanently altered from that of a wolf. Full Story.