The jackal is a medium sized member of the dog family, originally found in Africa, Asia and southeast Europe. There are four main species of jackal with these jackal species being the golden jackal, the side-striped jackal, the black-backed jackal and the Ethiopian wolf jackal.
The golden jackal is the most northernly species of jackal and can be
found as far east as Burma in Southeast Asia. Jackals are generally
found in packs of roughly between 10 and 30 jackal individuals.
Jackals are small canines that have adapted to hunting small mammals, birds and reptiles. Some species of jackal have even been known to eat poisonous snakes.
Jackals are carnivorous mammals and jackals will often scavenge the
remains of kills made by other larger predators. The jackal is a nocturnal mammal that
can easily maintain speeds of 16km an hour for long periods of time.
Although the jackal belongs to a jackal pack, jackals often prefer to
hunt alone or with only one other jackal.
Although the majority of the diet of the jackal is
made up of meat, many jackal individuals (particularly those jackals
living in the tropics of Southeast Asia) will often eat plant matter if
no meat can be found. Jackals are very territorial animals and
jackals have no hesitation in defending their marked territory. Jackals
have a wide range of vocal sounds that are specific to each jackal
family meaning that is rare for families of competing jackals to come
into accidental contact with one another.
Jackals inhabit crevices in
rocks and dens made by other animals in order to keep the jackals cool
while they sleep. Although many jackal individuals live a nocturnal existence, particularly those jackals that inhabit areas close to humans, some jackals in more remote areas are slightly more diurnal and will be out hunting during the cooler times of the day. Source
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