There are already more than a million of them: people have created a new predator that is taking over the northeast of the USA

It's not the first time people have changed nature. Humanity has not yet created the Frankenstein monster, but it is busy transforming the natural world. One of the latest examples is the creation of the coywolf, a hybrid of a coyote and a wolf, which is also known as the Eastern coyote. According to an article in The Economist, their population seems to have exceeded a million individuals.

These animals have a completely new set of genes: about a quarter — wolf DNA, two—thirds - coyote DNA and the rest — the DNA of domesticated dogs, mainly German Shepherds and Doberman Pinscher.

Human activity most likely played a role in the creation of the species. After people reduced the wolf population due to hunting, the lack of free partners forced these gray predators to look for companions among coyotes and dogs.

Scientists believe that in North America, this mixing began in the southern part of the province of Ontario about a century or two ago.

1. Charles Moreau photographed this coywolf puppy in Alberta, Canada.

2. Here is a coyote whose weight does not exceed 32 kilograms. He easily settles in cities.

3. And this is a wolf. Wolves tend to be larger, weighing about 45 kilograms, and they prefer wilder habitats.

Usually hybrids — even between two closely related species — do not survive, but coywolves seem to be an exception.

At the same time, they have several advantages over their parent species: coywolves are 40% larger than coyotes, they have powerful wolf mouths, they have inherited the social character of the wolf, which allows them to hunt in a pack. One coywolf can get a small deer, and a pack can get an adult moose.

4. Two coywolves in Alberta, Canada.

5. Randy Dronyuk photographed this coywolf in Ontario, Canada.

6. Here is the result.

7. This is what a wild coywolf looks like. The picture was taken in West Virginia.