This article was originally published by bioGraphic and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. A Eurasian wolf. Bildagentur Zoonar GmbH / Shutterstock The number of wolf-dog hybrids has grown in Italy, raising concerns about the future of the country’s wolves. Between 15,000 and 30,000 years ago, a now extinct population of wolves — with a little help from human friends — evolved into dogs. Now, at least in Italy, home to one of Europe’s largest wolf populations, genes are flowing in the opposite direction. Recent genetic testing suggests that, particularly in the country’s central and southern regions, nearly half of the wild wolves ( Canis lupus ) are actually wolf-dog hybrids. That’s a massive shift from the 1970s, when Luigi Boitani, now the chair of the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Large Carnivore Initiative for Europe, discovered the country’s first known wolf-dog hybrid. The 1970s was a period of transition for Italy’s wolves.…