Where do jackals live?
East Africa is the only region where black-backed, golden and side-striped jackals live together; however, jackals also live in Africa, India and the Middle East. Both black-backed jackals and golden jackals utilize savannahs, but in some regions, black-backed jackals live in closed forests, while golden jackals live in open grassy plains, or deserts. Side-striped jackals live in wet savannas, marshes, mountains and areas where there are many bushes(The African Wildlife Foundation).
Photo Courtesy of Christopher Jameson
Predators
Predators
of jackals include leopards, hyenas and eagles (The African Wildlife
Foundation).
Activity
All of three species forage the most at dawn and dusk and the black-backed and side-striped jackals are dinural while the golden jackal is only active during the day (Fuller and Biknevicius, et al.; 1989). Despite what many people think, jackals are intelligent because they can utilize a wide range of food resources (The African Wildlife Foundation).
Food Resources
Most food resources are clumped and available depending on the season. Jackals are scavengers because they eat plants during the wet season. Therefore, jackals are omnivores and "opportunistic feeders" (Rowe-Rowe; 1983). The diet varies seasonally, with increased hunting for small game like hares and gazelle fawns in the late summer when fruit is more scarce due to the dry season (Lamprecht; 1978).
Photo Courtesy of Christopher Jameson
Jackals prey on hares and antelope, larger mammals that are basically defenseless, the most from August through October because of the lack of fruits and insects in the late summer (Rowe-Rowe; 1983). Jackal mates shared the kill in almost half of the cooperative hunts observed (Waldman; 1988). They hunt together for antelopes, like the Dikdik, and Thomson's gazelles. When they make a kill or find a carcass, they call to kin with a "siren-like howl" or yapping. Stanford observed three jackals successfully kill a capped languar in Bangladesh. His data supports Lamprecht's idea that jackals could be very successful cooperative hunters of large prey if they did not lose it to more dominant competitors (Stanford; 1989).
Jackals
are primarily searchers. Searchers are animals that search for
small foods that are easy to catch once found. Jackals eat a fairly
consistent amount of insects and small mammals throughout the year.
Jackals are considered to be opportunistic pursuers and scavengers
because their diet changes depending on the season. Small mammals
are the most significant part of the jackals' diet because they
are the most resourceful prey (Rowe-Rowe; 1983). Jackals forage
singly for fruits, birds and reptiles. Occasionally, they will
eat domestic sheep (The African Wildlife Foundation). In the Serengeti
National Park in Tanzania, black-backed jackals prefer to eat rats,
while golden jackals prefer gerbils. Golden jackals ate fewer gerbils
in the wet season when gazelles were giving birth to calves. This
data indicates that golden jackals prefer gazelle calves to gerbils
(Senzota; 1990).
Photo Courtesy of Corbis
"At the Beach"
Black-backed jackals also inhabit the beaches at the Cape Cross Seal Reserve in Nambia. They sleep in the day, and forage at night on the beach. However, most of the activity takes place in the morning and evening. Paths connect the resting areas in the hills and the clumped feeding areas on the beach. Their unusual habitat is due to the large number of seals that are always available for feeding. Seals are 86% of the jackals' diet, birds are 12% of their diet and insects, plants and unknown vertebrates are 2% of the diet. Seals are a predictable source of food because sick or dead seals are constantly washed up on the shore, and are the preferred choice of prey because they are easy to catch. Jackals were never observed attacking healthy adult seals. Drinking water is provided by pools that are created by fog condensing on rocks. Coastal jackals are the same as other jackals in that they are all primarily scavengers (Hiscocks and Perrin; 1988).