Jackals

Jackals - United We Stand

Close relatives of the well-known red fox of Europe and the coyote of North America, three species of jackal occur in Africa. Like their northern cousins, jackals are adaptable and highly successful animals, able to survive in a variety of habitats and having a very broad diet. They can flourish in the face of human encroachment into wild habitats, thriving on farmlands and on the outskirts of cities.

Wily opportunists

Three species of jackal occur in the grasslands, woodlands and deserts of Africa, but none in the wet forests. All are capable hunters but will scavenge sooner than kill for themselves - always taking the easiest, risk-free option in life. The black-backed jackal occurs in two distinct populations, in Southern and Eastern Africa, separated (inexplicably for such an adaptable animal) by the Miombo woodlands of South-central Africa. The side-striped jackal occurs in the moister woodlands of the eastern part of the sub-continent, extending across the full width of Africa north of the equatorial rain forests. The golden jackal is able to survive in true desert, ranging throughout the Sahara but extending southwards to the Serengeti-Mara where it outnumbers its relatives on the short-grass plains (it also occurs across Arabia into India). In the Serengeti-Ngorongoro, all three species can be found within the same area although competition is reduced through the occupation of different niches. Although considered primarily nocturnal, all three are often active during daylight hours.

Paired for life

Jackals are a great advertisement for monogamy. Pairs stay together for life, raise litters of puppies in underground dens, and put themselves at risk to defend one another. They readily work as a team - whether the mated adults or the whole family - to run down and kill prey such as gazelle fawns, or to keep hungry vultures at bay from carrion. Pairs groom one another and both play an active role in rearing the pups - teaching them to hunt and playing with them at the den. Pairs will also defend their territory rigorously against rivals of their own species. Both sexes are vociferous, maintaining contact and warding off rivals with howling cries and echoing calls. Among black-backed and golden jackals, offspring may stay with their parents into the next breeding cycle, serving as extra helpers - in terms of defence and food-provision - for the next litter.

Catholic diet

When available, carrion is probably the most desirable food, but rodents, reptiles including snakes, frogs, ground birds, beetles and other insects are all preyed upon and eaten by jackals. Golden jackals are one of the few mammalian predators of flamingoes - readily rushing into shallow water to seize a bird before it can take off.

Jackals have been seen to follow hunting lion and cheetah, to shadow hyena clans and rush to the place where vultures are seen descending from the sky. They are quick and agile and often brave enough to dash in between larger carnivores to grab a choice morsel. They have even been seen to repeatedly nip the hindquarters of hyenas to get them to abandon a meal. One larger predator they will avoid at all costs, however, is the leopard for this spotted cat readily preys upon smaller carnivores and frequently includes jackals in its diet! In situations of great food abundance, such as at the huge seal colonies on the west coast of Namibia, jackals occur at higher densities, picking off the helpless seal pups or scavenging from dead adults.

Farmer's foe?

Sheep farmers throughout the continent have long regarded the jackal as vermin and, with the support of various government agricultural departments, thousands of jackals have been killed in eradication programmes. There can be no doubt that jackals will indeed kill lambs, and sometimes even grown sheep, but an understanding of the ecology of these animals suggests that random elimination can backfire on the farmer. It is well known that jackals are monogamous and that a pair lives in and defends a fixed territory; their offspring disperse after a while.

In the event of these dominant adults being shot or poisoned, a territorial vacuum is created which any number of sub-adult non-territorial jackals can occupy without resistance. So, where they may once have been an adult pair and family of say five individuals, there may now be 20 or 30 wide-ranging nomads. It is possible then that a farmer can actually lose more livestock if he removes the resident jackals. Another risk is that of poisons, for numerous non-target species (some of which can be useful in pest control) are invariably killed by taking baits, and this can impact on the farmer's livelihood. Anyway, jackals are important predators of rodents. Despite decades of persecution (and perhaps because of it!), black-backed jackals survive in substantial numbers on farmlands throughout South Africa.

Where to see jackals at CCAfrica properties

All three species of jackal occur in the tall grasslands and woodland mosaic of the Ngorongoro Crater in Tanzania, and this is undoubtedly the best place to view and photograph them. Excellent viewing can also be enjoyed at Grumeti River Camp in Tanzania. The black-backed jackal is common at Sandibe Safari Camp and Nxabega Okavango Safari Camp in Botswana, as well as at Ngala Private Game Reserve. Small numbers of side-striped and black-backed jackals have been reintroduced to Phinda Private Game Reserve and the former are quite often seen in the late afternoon and on night drives.

Further Reading
Estes, R.D. 1991. The Behaviour Guide to African Mammals. Russel Friedman Books,
South Africa

Posted: Mammals by CC Africa, Date: 21 November 2006