Preprint traces wolf range expansion and dynamic admixture zones across Central Europe

A preprint posted to bioRxiv on 4 September 2026 presents a population genomics analysis of grey wolves across Central Europe, based on sampling conducted through large-scale monitoring programmes over five wolf years spanning 2020/21 to 2024/25, with comparative material from wider European populations.

The study documents considerable range shifts of historically differentiated wolf populations and the formation of novel sympatric zones — areas where previously geographically separated populations now overlap — in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Using population genetic methods, the authors characterise a dynamic mosaic admixture zone and describe asymmetric gene flow between populations, meaning that genetic material moves more readily in one direction than the other between the interacting groups.

The work frames Central Europe as a natural laboratory for testing alternative scenarios of population interaction, from continued isolation through restricted gene flow to progressive population fusion. The findings are relevant to conservation genetics, as wolf population management in Europe increasingly requires an understanding of connectivity and hybridisation dynamics.

The research is a preprint and has not been peer-reviewed. Findings should be treated as preliminary. The authors used sampling from national wildlife monitoring programmes, providing unusually dense temporal and geographic coverage for a large carnivore study.