Norwegian wolves are extinct, with no genetic traces left
The Norwegian wolf, which is believed to have roamed Norway and Sweden for about 12,000 years, is now extinct.
According to researchers who have spent several years studying the genetics of the wolves that now live in the region.
After examining the genetic composition of approximately 1,300 wolves, the team has come to the conclusion that the wolves that now live in Norway and Sweden originally come from Finland. And this population has no genetic remains from the wolves that came before.
Wolves are found throughout North America and Eurasia, with over 30 known subspecies. While their global population is now stable, many populations in the 20th century – especially those in the United States – were driven to the brink of extinction.
Wolves arrived in Norway and Sweden at the end of the last ice age, when glaciers retreated and exposed the landscapes below. However, this population disappeared around 1970 as a result of hunting and agricultural conflicts with humans.
But about a decade later, wolves reappeared and there are now about 400 roaming the borders of these two countries.
Where this population came from and how it was established was unclear, although some suggested that they were wolves from zoos released into the wild.
Hans Stenøien, director of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) University Museum, and colleagues set about solving the mystery. “We have conducted the largest genetic study of wolves in the world,” he said in a statement.
Their results form part of a large report on the wolf population commissioned by the Norwegian government in 2016. Their results, based on genetic analysis of 1,300 wolves, show that the wolves in Norway and Sweden migrated from somewhere in Finland.
The team also found that the new wolf population in Norway and Sweden has problems. They found that the new population is genetically different from those living in Finland today, but that these differences are the result of the population being small, which leads to inbreeding.
“This lack of variety makes wolves vulnerable to various diseases and hereditary conditions,” said Stenøien. Eventually, this can lead to wolves disappearing from Norway and Sweden again.
The team also discovered that the new population of wolves in Norway and Sweden is the least dog-like of all wolf species on earth. Wolves and dogs are so genetically similar that they can have offspring together. However, this population had virtually no traces of dogs in their genes.
There are still a handful of wolves from the original Norway / Sweden population that live in zoos. It is suggested that these animals could be introduced to the current population to increase genetic variation.
Stenøien said that even if this is technically possible, it would be “expensive, difficult and a lot of work.”