Golden jackal

황금자칼

The golden jackal is a small wolf-like canid found from southeastern Europe to South Asia. It eats fruit, small animals and carrion, and usually hunts with its mate. Pairs and families call to each other with wailing howls at dusk.

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At a glance

Class: Mammals
Lives in: Romania and southeastern Europe
Diet: Eats both plants and meat (omnivore)
Weight: about 10 kg
Conservation status: Least Concern (IUCN LC)
Habitat: grasslands, forests, wetlands

Quick answers

Where does the Golden jackal live?

It lives in grasslands, forests, wetlands. On the globe you can find it near Romania and southeastern Europe.

How big is the Golden jackal?

It grows to about 10 kg.

What does the Golden jackal eat?

Its diet: eats both plants and meat (omnivore).

Is the Golden jackal endangered?

It is listed as Least Concern (IUCN LC).

The golden jackal is a wolf-like member of the dog family that lives across Eurasia. Its coat ranges from pale creamy yellow in summer to dark tawny beige in winter. It is smaller than the Arabian wolf, with shorter legs, a shorter tail, a longer body and a narrower, more pointed muzzle. The IUCN lists it as Least Concern because it is widespread and common where food and shelter are plentiful.

Despite the name, it is not a close relative of the African black-backed or side-striped jackals. It is closer to wolves and coyotes. The basic social unit is a breeding pair with their young. It is expanding from southeastern Europe into central Europe, as far as France, and into the northeast where few wolves live.

What does it eat?

The golden jackal is very adaptable and can use many kinds of food, from fruit and insects to small hoofed animals. It also attacks poultry and domestic animals up to the size of water buffalo calves. It is common in valleys and beside rivers, canals, lakes and seashores, and rarer in foothills and low mountains. Competitors include the red fox, the steppe wolf and several wild cats.

Where did it come from?

Genetic studies suggest that the golden jackal spread from India around 20,000 years ago. The oldest fossil, found at a rock shelter near Beirut in Lebanon, is 7,600 years old, and the oldest in Europe, found in Greece, is 7,000 years old. There are six subspecies. Jackals can have fertile offspring with the grey wolf. In Russia, jackal-dog hybrids called Sulimov dogs work at Sheremetyevo Airport near Moscow as scent-detection animals. The English word 'jackal' appeared about 1600 and comes from the Turkish çakal.

Fun facts

In 2015 DNA showed that the "golden jackals" of Africa are a separate species, the African golden wolf.
The English word 'jackal' comes through Turkish from the Persian word šagāl.
Jackal-dog hybrids work as sniffer dogs at a Moscow airport.
It is spreading across Europe as far as France.