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The Jackal
A) Appearance
The body length of the golden jackal is 70 to 85 cm., with a tail length of about
25 cm. Its standing height is approximately 40 cm. The fur is generally coarse
and not very long. Its coat is usually yellow to pale gold and brown-tipped, but
the color can vary with season and region. On the Serengeti Plain in Northern
Tanzania, golden jackals are brown-tipped yellow in the rainy season
(December-January), changing to pale gold in the dry season (SeptemberOctober).
B) Habitat
Golden jackals prefer dry open country, arid short grasslands, open savannas and steppe landscapes. Its habitat can also be quite variable
ranging from small cities and the suburbs of large cities to the Namibia desert. They do tend to be more common in dry areas that receive
an annual rainfall of between 100 and 200 cm. These jackals are associated with open terrain and not forest or heavy brush. This species
can scavenge in an area where bigger game is hunted and killed or it can feed off the remnants of human food. Furthermore, in the open
grasslands of today, human development in the form of agriculture provides an additional source of food for this species.
C) Competitors and Predators
Leopards, hyenas, pythons and eagles are jackals' most feared predators. For the pups the eagle is their greatest fear. The Jackal’s
competitors are the hyena, Wild Pigs, Wolfs, Foxes, Jaguar, Cougar and Wild Dogs.
D) Non-Living Factors
Since the Golden Jackals lives mostly in the open savanna the non-living factors would be:Temperature, because although they can endure hot temperatures, if it gets too hot they will tend to become less active and therefore
catch less prey.
The availability of water, is important as it is important to all living organisms
The availability of food, is important because they need to eat a lot to stay healthy and energetic
E) Adaptations
Structural Adaptations: The structural adaptations would be its small, light weight and stream lined body making it very fast when
running away from predators.
Behavioural Adaptations: The jackal adjusts quickly to environmental changes and is nocturnal, but does appear during the daylight
hours, especially when the climate is harsh or the weather bad. Another behavioural adaptation is it feeds on anything that is edible, but
prefers rodents, insects, and lizards. A scavenger of larger carcasses as well, the jackal has learned to wait until its larger competitors hyena, lion and the African hunting dog - have eaten their fill. But if food is scarce it can eat plants and fruits. If food is scarcer still
although they usually live alone or in pairs, they can occasionally form groups.
Functional Adaptations: The Functional Adaptations of the jackal would be how the babies grow up in the mum’s stomach and then
looked after by the mum and sometimes by its older brothers and sisters, therefore giving the cubs a bigger chance to live.
F) Body Temperature
The Jackal being a mammal is warm blooded. This is necessary for the survival of the animal because warm blooded animals are more
active, which suits the Jackal properly because the jackal needs to be fast to run away from predators and maybe at times to catch prey.
G) Food
The Jackal is an omnivore eating both plants and meat.
The Jackal
Its food sources are:
The Plants:- fruit.
Meat Foods:-birds, mammals, amphibians, grasshoppers, snakes, reptiles, fish, eggs, carrion, insects., and most of all carrion which is the
meat of dead animals or meat of animals that were killed by the big carnivores e.g. lions etc.
Jackals are omnivores. They eat 54% meat and 46% plants and have a very varied diet. The foods they consume are young gazelles,
rodents, hares, ground birds and their eggs, reptiles, frogs, fish, insects, and fruits.
The Jackal is a predator and it helps the environment by keeping the rodent, gazelle, bird, and frog population down.
H) Scientific Names
The scientific name for the Golden (Common) Jackal is (Canis aureus).
I) Jackal’s Habitat
The Jackal is found Mostly in Africa in these countries: Swaziland, Botswana, Namibia, Angola, Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique, Uganda,
Tanzania, Central African Republic and Niger and a couple of others. It can also be found in India and some countries in Asia.
J) Food Chain
K) Reproduction
i) The Jackal has internal fertilization.
ii) Also the young jackals called pups develop internally
.L) Raising the young
Golden Jackals find a mate for life. The two Jackals have pups
together for about 8 years. The Female Jackal stays pregnant for
about 9 months. The young Jackals are born in a den which is in
the parent’s territory. Each litter can contain up to nine pups but
most times the litter will contain 2 to 4. The pups are nursed for
up to 8 weeks, and then they are weaned, and start eating food
that has been already eaten and vomited from the mum (regurgitated) food. They eat solid food at three months and are sexually mature at
eleven months. Male and female mates live together for their entire lives and raise the young together. In most jackal families, there are
one or two adult members called "helpers." These helpers are actually pups that have grown up from the last litter. Helpers are jackals who
stay with the parents for a year after reaching sexual maturity, without breeding, to help take care of the next litter. So really these helpers
are raising their brothers and sisters.