Grey wolf in the context of "Dzhendema"

The domestication of the dog was the process which led to the domestic dog. This included the dog's genetic divergence from the wolf, its domestication, and the emergence of the first dogs. Genetic studies suggest that all ancient and modern dogs share a common ancestry, descending from an ancient, now-extinct wolf population – or closely related wolf populations – which was distinct from the modern wolf lineage. The dog's similarity to the grey wolf is the result of substantial dog-into-wolf gene flow, with the modern grey wolf being the dog's nearest living relative. An extinct Late Pleistocene wolf may have been the ancestor of the dog.

The dog is a wolf-like canid. The genetic divergence between the dog's ancestor and modern wolves occurred between 20,000 and 40,000 years ago, just before or during the Last Glacial Maximum (20,000–27,000 years ago). This timespan represents the upper time-limit for the commencement of domestication because it is the time of divergence but not the time of domestication, which occurred later.

Pelister National Park is a national park in the Municipality of Bitola, North Macedonia. The park is located in the Baba Mountain massif and covers an area of 171.5 square kilometres (66.2 sq mi). Established in 1948 as Yugoslavia's first national park and North Macedonia's oldest protected area, Pelister was expanded in 2007 from its original size to 14,300 hectares to enhance protection across a larger portion of the massif. The park spans elevations from 891 to 2,601 metres above sea level and features distinctive geological formations, including Pleistocene-era granite "stone rivers" or moraines, glacial cirques, and two glacial lakes situated at around 2,200 metres.

Known for its rich biodiversity with more than 1,050 plant species, Pelister has extensive forests of the endemic Macedonian pine (Pinus peuce), alongside diverse ecosystems supporting protected wildlife including the grey wolf, European otter, and bearded vulture.

It is widely agreed that the evolutionary lineage of the grey wolf can be traced back 2 million years to the Early Pleistocene species Canis etruscus, and its successor the Middle Pleistocene Canis mosbachensis. The grey wolf Canis lupus is a highly adaptable species that is able to exist in a range of environments and which possesses a wide distribution across the Holarctic. Studies of modern grey wolves have identified distinct sub-populations that live in close proximity to each other. This variation in sub-populations is closely linked to differences in habitat – precipitation, temperature, vegetation, and prey specialization – which affect cranio-dental plasticity.

The earliest specimens of the modern grey wolf date to around 400,000 years ago, or possibly earlier to 1 million years ago. Most modern wolves share most of their common ancestry within the last 25-23,000 years from earlier Siberian wolf populations. While some sources have suggested that this is the result of a population bottleneck, others suggest that this is a normal consequence of gene flow homogenising wolf genomes across their range.