The first hybrid animal combining a wolf and a dog was discovered in Greece.

The Greek wildlife NGO Callisto announced Friday that genetic testing has revealed the first confirmed case of a wolf-dog hybrid in Greece.

"This is the first confirmed genetic case in Greece ," Callisto biologist Emilia Ioakimidou said at a press conference in Athens .

Genetic analysis revealed that the animal, whose DNA samples were discovered near Thessaloniki, is 45 percent wolf and 55 percent dog.

Ioakimidou explained that this case was discovered during the analysis of 50 wolf samples collected from mainland Greece.

A recent six-year study conducted by Callisto found that the number of wolves, a species protected under the Bern Convention, has steadily increased in Greece, reaching 2,075.

This number includes at least three packs of at least 31 wolves living on Mount Parnitha, near Athens.

The Thessaloniki-based organization Callisto studies and protects the populations and habitats of large carnivores, such as wolves and bears .

The organization is currently conducting a search to locate a wolf that attacked a five-year-old Serbian girl on September 12 near the coastal resort of Neos Marmaras on the Halkidiki peninsula in northern Greece.

The attack has reignited calls to curb the numbers of these animals in Greece, with hunters and farmers demanding the right to kill them.