The Golden Jackal (Canis aureus)
The Golden Jackal is a small animal with a body length of about 60 to 85 cms, a tail length of about 25 cm and a standing height of approximately 40 cm.
The ancestry has been traced to the ancient Arno River dog (Canis arnensis) that lived in Southern Europe 1.9 million years ago. Oldest fossils, about 7600 years old have been reported from Lebanon and Greece. It is supposed to have established itself in India in the post-Pleistocene period and commenced their demographic expansion in the Indian subcontinent about 37000 years ago and expanded from India almost 20000 years ago. It has six subspecies.
The Golden Jackal, the Black necked Jackal and the side striped jackal are part of the Canid family and though different genera, the similar morphology and chromosome numbers allows them to interbreed. It is also capable of producing fertile hybrids with both the Gray Wolf and the African wolf. Jackal Dog hybrids called Sulimov dogs are in service near Moscow, with Aeroflot the Russian Airlines, for scent detection.
The Golden Jackals are strictly monogamous and live in mated pairs. They may be associated with ‘helpers’ who are jackals staying with their parents for a year after reaching sexual maturity, without breeding, to help take care of the next litter. Pups may be produced for at least eight years. The gestation period is 63 days with the litter containing up to 9 pups (usually 2 to 4) weighing about 200 to 250 gram each. Weaning starts almost after 08 weeks of nursing. The young are fed by regurgitation and take solid food after about 03 months. Sexual maturity is achieved at about eleven months. The average life span is about 14 to 16 years.
Both parents help in territorial security and raising of the young. The death of one member results in the likelihood of the entire family not being able to survive. Males are predominantly monogamous but female intruders are met by aggression from the female in order to avoid the sharing of the male and his parental contribution. Males and females mark their territories by spraying urine specially during the mating season.
Golden jackals are omnivorous. and may consume almost 54% animal food and 46% plant food. Their diet could contain birds, mammals, amphibians, reptiles, fish, eggs, carrion, insects and fruits. They are great scavengers and help clean the environment. They are also notorious crop and pasture raiders. It is a very widely distributed animal of diverse habitats. It has been reported from as high as 3120 mts. at Ladakh with scat being genetically confirmed as that of the Golden Jackal from almost 5300 mts. at Ladakh. This is the highest elevation reported for the Golden Jackal worldwide. It is a species of least concern as classified by the IUCN.
Credits- Dr. Yashpal Singh, Mrs. Neena Singh, Mr. Manoj Kumar Yadav