Photo StoryPublished : Jun 22, 2021Updated : Sep 24, 2023
Adaptability is the key to this resilient wild canid. It adjusts quickly to changes, and survives in forests, mangroves and even airports
Text by: Sustain Team
Adaptability is the key to this resilient wild canid. It adjusts quickly to changes, and survives in forests, mangroves and even airports
Golden jackals (Canis aureus) are what biologists call “generalist species”. They have a varied diet and can survive in habitats ranging from dense tropical forests and wetland regions to arid scrubland and urban areas. For instance, they are found in the forests of Kanha Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh, the mangroves of Coringa Sanctuary in Andhra Pradesh and palm-lined villages in Goa. In fact, in 2020, at airports in Kolkata and Guwahati, populations of jackals have taken to living on the grounds used for the take-off and landing of planes.
“The golden jackal is found in most protected areas, semi-urban and rural landscapes of the country [India], except in the high elevation regions of the Himalaya,” write Dr Y Jhala and others in a research paper on the Phylogeography of the Golden Jackal in India, published by PLOS One in 2015. “Certain pastoral areas in western and northern India, which have abundant livestock also support high jackal densities. This is mainly because many cattle carcasses are available for jackals and other carnivores to scavenge upon, as prevailing socio-religious beliefs among the people in this region taboo the consumption of beef.”
Golden jackals are one of three species of jackal. These small, wild canids are somewhere between wolves, foxes, and dogs, and inhabit parts of Europe, northern and eastern Africa, Asia, and the Middle East.
Golden jackals are largely scavengers, though they do hunt when needed. In wild habitats, they live off the prey-remains of larger predators such as tigers, leopards, and wolves. In towns, villages, and cities, they subsist on garbage and carcasses from livestock dumps. As more and more wild habitats are appropriated by humans, the food resources available to the species has increased, leading to more interactions between people and these wild canids.
Golden jackals have a very versatile diet, which allows them to adapt to numerous situations. “They subsist primarily on meat obtained through scavenging on livestock carcasses, and from kills of other predators,” explains Dr YV Jhala, a conservation scientist from the Wildlife Institute of India who has been studying jackals and other carnivores for many years now. “But it is also an effective predator, primarily targeting young ungulates, ground birds, reptiles, and insects.” Photo: Shivang Mehta Cover photo: Phillip Ross
Jackals are most active in the hours around dusk and dawn but have adopted nocturnal behaviour in semi-rural habitats and places with high human activity. In addition to meat, “the jackal’s diet also includes a variety of plant matter including fruits, berries, and vegetables,” writes Dr Jhala in a booklet on the ecology of the golden jackal, published after the International Jackal Symposium in November 2018. “It is often considered a pest to certain crops like melons, grapes, and small livestock as well as poultry.” Photo: Phillip Ross
Golden jackals are not pack animals like wolves and wild dogs. They live in pairs, and are “mostly monogamous”, says Dr Jhala, explaining that pairs generally remain together for life, but there are cases where they may change partners. “Breeding begins February-end to March, and whelping [birth] is usually observed between May-June with the average litter size ranging between 2 and 5.” Photo: Shivang Mehta
During the breeding season, golden jackals occupy dens made by excavating sandbanks or repurposing porcupine holes or abandoned manmade structures. Females birth the litter in the den, where the pups remain until they are 2-3 months old. As they grow older, they begin to explore their surroundings, accompany the adults on excursions, and eventually, leave the parental unit to find their own mates. Sometimes, the pups remain with the mating pair, leading to the formation of a group of 5-6 individuals. “They are called helpers, and aid the parents in raising the younger offspring,” says Dr Jhala, adding that, “these are exceptional cases.” Photo: Shivang Mehta
Jackals also gather in groups if there is a large carcass available. “Jackals are territorial, but they do not defend their territory like wolves or dhole, that actively disallow other members from entering their territory,” explains Dr Jhala. “Jackals hunt within their territory, but if there is a carcass of a large animal, the pair will allow other jackals to consume the kill, after they have had their share.” In such cases, groups of about 15 jackals might aggregate. Photo: Sarang Naik
Photographer Sarang Naik stumbled upon a half-eaten deer carcass near a walking trail in Bharatpur, Rajasthan. “Knowing that jackals were close by and will return to it, we tied our cameras to the branches of a fallen tree next to the carcass,” he said. “Thick bushes were blocking us from the carcass site so the jackals couldn't see us. A few minutes after I got this sequence a group of tourists passed by and the jackals ran away.” Photos: Sarang Naik
Jackals use a range of methods to communicate with each other, from auditory signals such as growls, yelps, grunts, and howls, to wagging tails, mock-fighting, and smelling urine and genitals. In a paper called The Flexible Social System of the Golden Jackal, written by David W MacDonald, and published in Behavioural Ecology & Sociobiology in 1979, the author describes his observations: “If two jackals met as they emerged from the scrub, their greeting normally involved a slow approach, lowered heads twisted slightly sideways, mild grins and sidesteps and tail wagging, all at low intensity and typical of cordial canid greeting.” Photo: Shivang Mehta
The relationship between golden jackals and predators such as big cats, is also fascinating. “Because they are primarily scavengers, golden jackals are often in the company of predators such as leopards, tigers, and wolf packs — all animals capable of killing jackals — and yet, these animals tolerate their presence,” says Dr Jhala. “I’ve seen jackals around a carcass of a big cat, but with minimal aggression. It’s quite fascinating.” Photo: Phillip Ross
Sometimes, groups of related golden jackals may hunt cooperatively and bring down prey 3-5 times their size. “What these jackals do, is that they casually walk around a herd of deer, chital for example, without displaying any typical hunting behaviour,” explains Dr Jhala. “No calls or attempts at stealth.” Since they are quite small, their presence is tolerated by many ungulates, “but suddenly, one of the jackals will attack a deer, and then the others will also attack the same animal, and in this way, they can hunt a relatively large kill,” says Dr Jhala. In other cases, they might corner their prey, or surround them before attacking. “They are creatures of high intellect.” Photo: Shivang Mehta
Still, golden jackals are not without threat. The animals are preyed upon by leopards and wolves, but the majority of jackal deaths are caused by road crossings. “Many roads being built today have no wildlife mitigation measures, such as subways that allow the movement of animals from one side of a highway to another,” explains Dr Jhala. “Jackals also come to the road at night, to eat other roadkill, such as hare, and land up getting blinded by the full-beam headlights of cars.” Photo: Phillip Ross
Conservation-wise, golden jackals are interesting subjects, because most animals are outside of protected areas, and increasingly, in areas of high human population. (This image for instance, was taken at Tollygunge Club in Kolkata, where jackal sightings are familiar.) This means, that conservation measures are likely to involve changes in the way that human beings in urban areas live: Will we adopt aggressive measures to keep the golden jackals out of our space, or will we approach this overlap of habitat from a place of compassion and co-existence? This remains to be seen. Photo: Dhritiman Mukherjee
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![Golden jackals are not pack animals like wolves and wild dogs. They live in pairs, and are “mostly monogamous”, says Dr Jhala, explaining that pairs generally remain together for life, but there are cases where they may change partners. “Breeding begins February-end to March, and whelping [birth] is usually observed between May-June with the average litter size ranging between 2 and 5.” Photo: Shivang Mehta](https://res.cloudinary.com/roundglass/image/upload/f_auto/q_auto/f_auto/c_limit,w_auto:breakpoints_200_2560_100_5:1265/v1624360481/roundglass/golden-jackal-with-pup-in-mouth-shivang-mehta-scaled_ereff6.jpg)
