One of the most controversial hybrids between two species is that of the dog-wolf hybrid. These animals have become popular as pets in the US and around the world. The arguments have focused on the hybrids nature - are they pets or fierce animals?
In the US, the Department of Agriculture has issued a statement clarifying the legal position (Feb 21st 1985). All hybrid crosses between domestic and wild animals are classified as domestic and any cross between wild animals will result in a wild hybrid.
Domestic x Wild |
Wild x Wild |
|
wolf x domestic dog cat x jungle cat buffalo x domestic cattle |
red deer x sika deer wolf x coyote tiger x lion |
The list above shows just a few of the hybrids possible between different species. Not only are the hybrids viable but they can be fertile. Indeed the hybridisation can be such that two species merge with the "extinction" of the original species. This has happened in County Wicklow, Ireland where red deer and sika deer are now indistinguishable (Scottish Deer Commission Report 1999-2000).
What few people ponder is the validity of the distinction as separate species. If they can really interbreed are they not the same kind of animal but just different in some outward characteristics? Some biologists, myself included, would argue that what we are really seeing is fragments of an original gene pool (separated by natural selection or other mechanisms) rejoining. In effect two puddles become a small pond!
A Beefalo (cow x buffalo)
click here to visit the BBC and
learn about a camel x llama
click here to visit the BBC and learn about a goat x sheep