Carnivores: Aardwolf African Wild Cat African Wild Dog Banded Mongoose Bat Eared Fox Black-backed Jackal Brown Hyena Cape Clawless Otter Cape Fox Caracal Cheetah Civet Dhole Large Spotted Genet Golden Jackal Honey badger Leopard African Lion Asiatic Lion Sand Cat Serval Side Striped Jackal Snow Leopard Spotted Hyena Striped Hyena Suricate (Meercat) Tiger White Tailed Mongoose Yellow Mongoose
Also known as Silver Backed Jackal
The Jackal is generally regarded as a small scavenger, but as well as scavenging, it does hunt and kill its own food. It is often regarded as vermin, especially by farmers who suffer losses and tend to persecute the Jackal as a result. Despite this, jackals are one of the few carnivore species to survive well in close contact with humans and can often be found in and around human settlements scavenging from dustbins. Tourists to Etosha national park who walk around the rest camps after dark stand a good chance of seeing black-backed jackals walking through the camp looking for food and raiding dustbins that haven't been secured properly.
The black-backed jackal is a much smaller predator than the Hyena, being up to around 100-115 cm in length and weighing around 6.6-7.9Kg. The black backed jackal takes its name from the prominent "saddle" on its back which is black with some white as well. The chest and underside are white with the rest of the body being a reddish-brown colour - from where its Afrikaans name (red jackal) originates. The ears are fairly large and prominent.
Black-backed Jackals are mainly Diurnal (active during the day), but are also active at night. Male and female jackal mate for life and hunt, scent mark and defend their territory together, except for when the female is raising new pups in the den, when the male is left to hunt and defend the territory alone. Home ranges vary widely but on average are 10.6 Km2. Jackals are good runners and are able to trot at 12-15km per hour for long periods when searching for food. When hunting in long grass the jackals good hearing allows them to locate prey before pouncing.
The black backed jackals dens are often disused aardvark burrows or crevices in rocks
The main predators of the black backed jackal are lion and leopard (and of course humans).
Black backed Jackals scavenge, but also hunts and kills its own food. jackals prey on smaller mammals such as hares, rodents and small antelope as well as the young of larger antelopes. On the skeleton coast, Black Backed Jackals prey mainly on seals - particularly seal pups but also adult seals when food is scarce. Black backed Jackals will also kill and eat sheep and goats - which had lead to farmers persecuting jackals to try and avoid livestock losses. Jackals will also eat snakes, beetles, crickets, spiders and fruit when food is scarce. A pair of male and female jackal will often hunt together which significantly increases the chance of the hunt being successful than if the hunt is undertaken by a single Jackal.
Black-backed Jackals living on the skeleton coast of Namibia prey almost totally on seals. The jackals pups are born at a time that means that by the time they are starting to eat meat, the seals are giving birth to their young, thus providing a large food source. Preying on the seal pups is not without risks - the adult seals will do their best to defend their young, but with thousands of seals in a small area then there are plenty of opportunities for a quick moving predator like the jackal or the brown hyena which also prey on the seals.
Black-backed Jackals start breeding at 1-2 years of age, and reproduce annually with pups being born in the dry season (in Namibia this is typically October). The black backed jackal has a gestation period of around 64 days. The vixens typically give birth to between 4 and 7 pups, with up to 10 being born in a litter on some occasions. The pups are helpless at birth and remain in the burrow being cared for by the mother while the father hunts for food, either alone or with help from the previous litter of cubs who are now sub-adults. After around 3 weeks the pups start eating meat regurgitated by the parents, but they are not fully weaned till they are around 10 weeks old. At age 3-4 months, the pups start exploring the area around the den and gradually expanding to explore wider areas, and start learning to hunt. By the time they are 6 months old they are able to hunt well but still remain with the parents who feed, groom and play with the pups. At 6-8 months old some of the pups will leave the family unit to find a territory of their own, while some of the other pups will remain till they are 18 months or 2 years old and will become sub-adult helpers who help their parents raise the next litter of pups. Sub Adult Jackals may when they leave the family unit, disperse to areas long distances away (over 135Km)
Jackals can carry rabies and their close family units plus their aggressive response to intruders means that rabies is easily spread through the Jackal population. Jackals are responsible for a significant percentage (20-30%) of recorded rabies cases in Africa. Jackals can also carry Canine Distemper Virus, and Canine parvovirus - diseases that also affect lions and African wild dogs, and which can be transmitted to domestic animals. This risk of disease transmission is another reason why Jackals are disliked and persecuted by many farmers.
Jackals are found in a wide range of habitats ranging from extremely arid desert areas to areas with high levels of rainfall. In Namibia black backed jackals can be found both inland areas such as Etosha national park, and coastal areas such as the Cape Cross seal colony on the skeleton coast.
Black-backed Jackals are found in two distinct areas - one in Southern Africa, which includes South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, and Southern Angola, and the other in East Africa including Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania and Rwanda.
© Predator Conservation Trust.
