Graduate School

JACKAL
Canis aureus

A golden jackal (Canis aureus) from Israel.

Canis aureus, the golden jackal, is a medium-sized, wide spread terrestrial carnivore. It is 1
of 7 species found in the genus Canis. It ranges from Africa to Europe, the Middle East, Central
Asia, and Southeast Asia. Due to its tolerance of dry habitats and its omnivorous diet, C. aureus
can live in a wide variety of habitats. It normally lives in open grassland habitat but also occurs
in deserts, woodlands, mangroves, and agricultural and rural habitats in India and Bangladesh. It
ranges from sea level in Eritrea to 3,500 m in the Bale Mountains of Ethiopia and 2,000 m in
India. C. aureus is listed as “Least Concern” by the International Union for Conservation of
Nature and Natural Resources Red List of Threatened Species version 2016.1.

Genetics (Chromosome Number and Genome)

 The diploid chromosome number (2N) of Canis aureus is 78. A. total of 12–24 microsatellite
loci from Israeli C. aureus generated expected levels of heterozygosity. I
 n Serbian C. aureus, mitochondrial DNA has no variation and nuclear variability is low. The
mitochondrial DNA control regions are variable across C. aureus from Bulgaria, Serbia,
Croatia, and Italy and most genetically distinct in the population from Dalmatia.
 A melanistic individual occurred in Turkey. Other melanistic and piebald forms are known.
Hybridization with domestic dogs may occur in Croatia but not in India.
 Genetic data suggest that C. a. lupaster represents an ancient wolf lineage that most likely
colonized Africa prior to the northern hemisphere radiation.
 A combined analysis of nuclear and mitochondrial DNA indicates that C. aureus is in a
wolf-like clade that includes Canis adustus, C. mesomelas, C. familiaris, C. lupus, C. latrans.
JACKAL HYBRIDS

Three golden jackal-dog hybrids from Croatia. The discovery of these specimens confirmed that
hybridization between the two species occurs in the wild, and that the two have unlimited
fertility with each other.

 Although hybridization between wolves and golden jackals has never been observed,
evidence of such occurrences was discovered through mtDNA analysis.
 The discovery of these specimens confirmed that hybridization between the two species
occurs in the wild, and that the two have unlimited fertility with each other on jackals in
Bulgaria.
 Although there is no genetic evidence of gray wolf-jackal hybridization in the Caucasus
Mountains, there have been cases where otherwise genetically pure golden jackals have
displayed remarkably gray wolf-like phenotypes, to the point of being mistaken for wolves
by trained biologists.

Ecology (Niche, Habitat, food, trophic level)

Habitat:
 The golden, or common, jackal lives in open savannas, deserts, and arid grasslands.
 Side-striped jackals are found in moist savannas, marshes, bush lands, and mountains.
 The black-backed — also called silver-backed — jackal lives primarily in savannas and
woodlands.
 The golden jackal occurs in North and East Africa, Southeastern Europe and South Asia to
Burma.

Food:

 Jackals are nocturnal, omnivorous scavengers. With their long legs and curved canine teeth,
they are well adapted for hunting.
 Some Jackals may gather to scavenge a carcass or to hunt larger prey such as antelope,
gazelles and livestock but normally hunt alone or in pairs.
 Their diet consists of small mammals, birds, amphibians and reptiles.
 Jackals kill small prey with a bite to the back of the neck. They may also shake the animal.
 Jackals will also supplement their diet with insects, vegetation and fruit.
 Jackals have a habit of burying their food if an intruder enters the area where it is feeding.
 Golden jackals consumes 54% animal food and 46% plant food

Trophic Level:

 They can best be described as opportunistic omnivores.

 They cooperatively hunt small antelopes and also eat reptiles, insects, ground-dwelling
birds, fruits, berries, and grass.
 They will pick over kills made by large carnivores and even frequent rubbish dumps in
pursuit of food.
 Embryology (development, gestation)
 Jackals are monogamous, meaning they mate for life.
 The female Jackal has a gestation period of 8 – 9 weeks (2 months) after which a litter of 3 –
6 pups is born. Each pup weighs 200 – 250 grams at birth.
 For the first 10 days, the pups are blind and cannot open their eyes. The pups are fed
regurgitated food.
 They are weaned at 4 months and they reach sexual maturity between 1 and 2 years of age.
 Pups remain in thickets for the first few weeks of their lives and then venture outside to play
with their litter mates.
 They eventually begin to learn hunting and territorial behavior from their parents. Their first
game play is quite clumsy with attempts at wrestling, pawing and biting.
 As the pups develop more coordination, they learn to ambush and pounce and will begin to
chase and play tug of war among themselves.
 Den sites are changed as often as every 2 weeks to help protect the pups from predators.
 At 8 months, the pups are old enough to leave their parents and establish territories of their
own.
 Often, young jackals return to help the parents raise another litter. With these little helpers,
the next litter has more chance of surviving.
 Jackals have a life span of between 10 and 12 years.

GESTATION:

 Week Zero to One: On day 1-7, breeding takes place. Within a few days, the sperm reaches
the eggs and fertilization occurs.
 Week Two: On days 8 to 14, the fertilized eggs make their way to the uterus for
implantation.
 Week Three: At this point, implantation has taken place and the embryos begin to develop.
 Week Four: On days 22 to 28, the fetuses can be felt in the uterine horns around day 28.
The spinal cords are developing, and the fetuses are beginning to grow facial features.
 Week Five: On days 29 - 35, the fetuses develop their sex organs and begin to look like
actual puppies. The leg buds lengthen and develop toes.
 Week Six: On the days 36-42, pups continue to grow and pigmentation develops. The eye
lids now have lids and remain sealed until approximately 10 days after birth
 Week Seven: On days 43 - 49, puppies are well-developed and now begin attaining size in
preparation for birth.
 Week Eight: On days 50-56, the pups have fur are now crowded in the uterus.
 Week Nine: On days 56 - 63, the pups are ready for birth and may be quite still as they rest
in preparation for the marathon to come.

Anatomy and Physiology (organ systems)

 The raw meat and grain-free diet is a big hype! There’s no denying that a lot of people today
firmly believe that canines must be fed on raw meat, low grain diet because they are
carnivores. This is not true, scientists firmly believe that canines are actually omnivores as
they are biologically capable of utilizing plant-based protein for energy.
 A dog’s third eyelid is also known as the nictitating membrane and its remains retracted all
the time. Sometimes, the third eyelid may prolapse completely and this condition is called a
cherry eye.
 Although they have very few taste buds, they compensate with their incredible sense of
smell. Canines have more than 300 million olfactory receptors. A scientist once said that a
dog can smell and locate a rotting fruit from miles away.
 Every canine has anal sacs, and each anal sac produces stinky oily fluid. The scent produced
by the anal sacs allows a dog to mark its territory.
 The skull of a canine can be broken down into two parts—facial and cranial. The facial
region of a canine skull is made up of several bones, and these are the: Lacrimal bone,
Zygomatic bone, Nasal bone, Maxilla, Palatine bone, Incisive bone, and Vomer bone.
 As we further back towards the dog skull, we come to the cranium. Now the cranium is too
made up of multiple bones, however, let us keep things simple by focusing on the
neuro(cranium). The cranium is a term used to describe the bones that surround the brain. It
is composed of a: Occipital bone, Temporal bone, Parietal bone, Frontal bone, Ethmoid
bone, Sphenoid bone
 Just like in human beings, canines heart will have four chambers—two atria and two
ventricles. Within the heart are also four major blood vessels and these are a cranial and
caudal vena cava, a pulmonary trunk, and a pulmonary vein.
 The canine digestive system is a complex pathway that not only involves the mechanical
breakdown of food, but it also consists of the absorption of nutrients.
 It is estimated that canines have about 1,700 taste buds, of these they can determine
sweetness, sour, salty, and bitter foods. In addition to this, canines also have a unique taste
bud for water.
 Canines don’t have any sweat glands under their body, on their back, etc. However, canines
do have sweat glands in areas where there is no fur
 The process of panting is a form of thermoregulation. Panting is an evaporative mechanism
which allows a canines to cool down by increasing their breath per minute and taking
shallow breaths.
 The muscular-skeletal system is composed of bone (the skeleton), cartilage, tendons,
ligaments, and muscles. When working together in complete synchrony theses apparatus
produce the ability to walk, run, and jump.
 In canine anatomy, there are three types of muscle groups. Smooth muscles line the internal
organs, such as the bladder, the esophagus, and stomach. Cardiac muscles are nonstriated muscle
fibers specific to the heart. And, finally, skeletal muscles are those that are attached to the
extremities of a canine.
 The urogenital system of a canids comprises of the urinary tract and the sex organs. Starting
at the urinary tract, the kidney is the first organ of the urogenital system. The kidney is a
bean-shaped organ whose main function is to regulate electrolyte balance, produce
hormones, and eliminate waste.

Respiratory System:

 This system has the main function to absorb oxygen and to eliminate much of the residual
gases of the cells of the organism, like for example the carbon dioxide. As canines have few
sweat glands on their skin, this would explain the fact that they do not sweat, so the
respiratory system also plays an important role in body thermoregulation.
 Canines are mammals with two large lungs and lobes, with a spongy appearance due to the
presence of a system of delicate branches of the bronchioles in each lung, ending in closed,
thin-walled chambers (the points of gas exchange) called alveoli.
 The presence of a muscular structure, the diaphragm, exclusive of the mammals, divides the
peritoneal cavity of the pleural cavity, besides assisting the ribs in the Inhale.
Distinguishing features

 A Jackal is a small to medium sized canid found in Africa, Asia and southeastern Europe. It
is Known as a ‘Bweha’ in Swahili.
 There are three species of Jackal, the Common Jackal (Canis aureus), the Side-striped Jackal
(Canis adustus) and the Black-backed Jackal (Canis mesomelas). Common Jackals are also
known as Golden Jackals, Asiatic Jackals and Oriental Jackals.
 The Common Jackal has a shorter and heavier appearance and has a sandy colored coat.
 Black-backed Jackal is the most slender and upstanding species with larger eyes and a
distinctive black mantle streaked with silver on its back contrasting with a rusty colored
body.
 The Side-striped Jackal is duller in color and has black and white stripes down the sides of
its body and a white tipped tail.
 The Common and the Black-backed Jackals have black tipped tails.
 Generally measure 15 – 20 inches high at the shoulder, have a body length of 70 – 86
centimeters and weigh between 15 – 35 pounds.
 Jackals are well adapted as long distance runners with their large feet and fused leg bones.
 Jackals are able to run for long periods of time maintaining speeds of 10 miles per hour.
 Jackals have similar features to dogs.
 Jackals live 8-9 years in the wild and up to 16 years in captivity

a. Economic/Environmental Value
 Jackals are not a threatened species and are classed as ‘Least Concern’ by the IUCN.
 Increased habitat loss due to human population growth and resulting expansion of roads,
settlements, and agriculture threatens the jackal. The livestock rearing and farming
conducive to jackal and wildlife survival, are now being replaced by industrialization and
unsustainable agricultural practices.
 As habitats are lost, jackals are increasingly infringing on human settlements, where can be
viewed as a danger to livestock and poultry and be killed as pests. They are also often
persecuted as rabies transmitters.

Economic Importance for Humans: Positive

 Jackals play an important scavenging role by eating garbage and animal carrion around
towns and villages.
 They benefit agriculture by preventing increases in the number of rodents and lagomorphs.
 They are sometimes hunted for their fur.
 Golden jackals that are hand-raised can be tamed and kept in houses like domesticated dogs.
 Humans have sold the pelts of the black-backed jackal. In South Africa, the jackal may be
hunted throughout the year for its meat (Ginsberg 1990).

Economic Importance for Humans: Negative

 Golden jackal raids crops such as corn, sugarcane and watermelon.
 Individuals have also attacked Caracul sheep with such frequency that sheep-herders have to
make their pastures jackal-proof by enclosing them.
 Golden jackals may be involved in the spread of rabies; in 1979 two young children were
attacked and killed by jackals.