Historically, conservation managers and policymakers disregarded the hybridization of endangered species within their species (intraspecific) or between different species (interspecific) as a viable conservation strategy. Many believed that both processes produced non-viable offspring and decreased the fitness or ability of local populations of the target species to survive, a process called outbreeding depression. However, in an era of rapid climate change, hybridization confers vital genetic diversity and subsequent adaptive potential to populations who are struggling from inbreeding depression (or the loss of genetic diversity and fixation of deleterious mutations due to interrelated mating). This paper centers around the debate of whether hybridization should be prevented to preserve the adaptations in local populations or encouraged to preserve the ecological niche of the target species using scientific journal articles published between the years 2007 and 2023. This paper presents the debate over whether hybridization should be prevented to preserve local adaptations or encouraged to maintain the ecological niche of the target species, drawing on literature from the past two decades. Recent genetic studies from various species on intraspecific and interspecific hybridization events have shown that the effects of outbreeding may be significantly less detrimental than previously thought. Therefore, hybridization, if monitored correctly with recent advances in genetic and genomic technologies, could be used to maximize the survival of threatened species as their ranges continue to shift due to the onset of global climate change.