European Jackal
| European jackal | |
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_Golden_jackal_2_(cropped).png) |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Carnivora |
| Family: | Canidae |
| Genus: | Canis |
| Species: | C. aureus |
| Subspecies: | C. a. moreoticus |
| Trinomial name | |
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Canis aureus moreoticus I. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1835 |
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| Range map | |
| Synonyms | |
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C. a. graecus (Wagner, 1841) |
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C. a. graecus (Wagner, 1841)
The European jackal (Canis aureus moreoticus), also known as the Caucasian jackal or reed wolf is a subspecies of golden jackal native to Southeast Europe, Asia Minor and the Caucasus. It was first described in 1833 by French naturalist Isidore Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire during the Morea expedition. In Europe, there are an estimated 70,000 jackals. Though mostly found in scattered populations within Eastern Europe, its range has grown to encompass parts of its former Eastern European range, as well as in Western Europe, which is thought to be attributable to a decline in grey wolf populations.
The European jackal is the largest of the golden jackals, with animals of both sexes measuring 120–125 cm (47–49 in) in total length and 10–13 kg (20–29 lb) in body weight. One adult male in North-Eastern Italy is recorded to have reached 14.9 kg (33 lb). The fur is coarse, and is generally brightly coloured with blackish tones on the back. The thighs, upper legs, ears and forehead are bright reddish chestnut. Jackals in Northern Dalmatia have broader than average skulls, which is thought to result from human induced isolation from other populations, thus resulting in a new morphotype.
In the Caucasus, jackals mainly hunt hares, small rodents, pheasants, partridges, ducks, coots, moorhens and passerines. They readily eat lizards, snakes, frogs, fish, molluscs and insects. During the winter period, they will kill many nutrias and waterfowl. During such times, jackals will surplus kill and cache what they do not eat. Jackals will feed on fruits such as pears, hawthorn, dogwood and the cones of Common Medlars. European jackals tend not to be as damaging to livestock as wolves and red foxes are, though they can become a serious nuisance to small sized stock when in high numbers. The highest number of livestock damages occurred in southern Bulgaria: 1,053 attacks on small stock, mainly sheep and lambs, were recorded between 1982–87, along with some damages to newborn deer in game farms.
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Wikipedia