Golden Jackal Totally Explained

Everything about The Golden Jackal totally explained

The Golden Jackal (Canis aureus), also called the Asiatic, Oriental or Common Jackal is a mammal of the order Carnivora native to north and east Africa, southeastern Europe and South Asia to Burma. It is the largest of the jackals, and the only species to occur outside Africa, with 13 different subspecies being recognised. Jackals living in mountainous regions may have a greyer shade of fur.
The Golden Jackal is generally 70–105 centimetres (28–42 inches) in length, with a tail length of about 25 centimetres (10 in). Its standing height is approximately 38–50 cm (16–20 in) at the shoulder. Average weight is 7–15 kilograms (15–33 pounds) with males tending to be 15% heavier than the females. Scent glands are present on the face and the anus and genital regions. Females have 4-8 mammae. Moroccan Golden Jackals are paler and have more pointed snouts than Egyptian Golden Jackals.

Relatedness to wolves

Although often grouped with the other jackals (the Black-backed Jackal, and the Side-striped Jackal), genetic research indicates that the Golden Jackal isn't closely related to them, but is within a "wolf" group which also includes the Gray Wolf (and the Domestic Dog) and the Coyote. The genetic evidence is consistent with the form of the skull, which also bears more similarities to those of the Coyote and the Gray Wolf than to those of the other jackal species. In India, Golden Jackals have been known to appropriate the dens of Bengal Foxes. There are however occasions when jackals scavenged on wolf kills without evoking any aggressive responses from the larger canids. though hyenas have been shown to have a distaste to Golden Jackal flesh, consuming them only when starving.

Relationships with humans

In 1954, the Israeli government enacted the Wild Animal's Protection law, which extended protection to 17 native carnivores save for the Golden Jackal, which was considered vermin. The jackal was only added to the list after a disastrous eradication programme which resulted in the unintentional poisoning of other carnivores as well. In 1979 two young children were attacked and killed by jackals. Preventative measures to avoid depredation were also lacking in both cases. However, even without preventing measures, the highest damages by jackals from Bulgaria are minimal when compared to the domestic animal losses by wolves.

Cultural perceptions

The Egyptian god of the dead; Anubis was portrayed as a jackal-headed man, or as a jackal wearing ribbons and holding a flagellum, a symbol of protection, in the crook of its arm. Anubis was always shown as a black jackal or dog, even though real jackals are typically tan or a light brown. To the Egyptians, black was the color of regeneration, death, and the night. It was also the color that the body turned during mummification. The reason for Anubis' animal model being canine is based on what the ancient Egyptians themselves observed of the creature - dogs and jackals often haunted the edges of the desert, especially near the cemeteries where the dead were buried. In fact, it's thought that the Egyptians began the practice of making elaborate graves and tombs to protect the dead from desecration by jackals.
The Greeks god Hermes and the monster Cerberus are thought to derive their origins from the golden jackal. Some tribes in India believe in the existence of a horn-like growth called shiyal shingi which appears on the heads of some jackals. The possession of this growth is considered a sign of good fortune. The jackal is mentioned frequently in the Bible, where it's portrayed as a sinister creature, most notably in Psalm 63:9-11 where it's stated that non-believers would become food for the jackals. In his book Running with the Fox, David W. Macdonald theorizes that due to the general scarcity and elusiveness of foxes in Israel, the author of the Book of Judges may have actually been describing the much more common golden jackals when narrating how Samson tied torches to the tails of 300 foxes to make them destroy the vineyards of the Philistines.

Conservation status

As a species of Least Concern, the Golden Jackal is considered common throughout its range and isn't currently threatened.

Subspecies

There are 13 subspecies of the Golden Jackal:

Subspecies	Binomial authority	Description	Range
Canis a. algirensis	Wagner, 1841	Sports large, fox-like ears and a lupine face, golden fur with a slight reddish tint, white stain on the throat.	Algeria, Marocco and Tunisia
Canis a. anthus	F. Cuvier, 1820	Known as the small black jackal, it's darker than other subspecies.	Senegal
Canis a. aureus	Linnaeus, 1758	Generic subspecies	Live among central range of golden jackal.
Canis a. bea	Heller, 1914	This Golden Jackal lives in Serengeti National Park, included to bea subspecies.	Kenya, Northern Tanzania
Canis a. cruesemanni	Matschie, 1900		Thailand, Myanmar to east India
Canis a. ecsedensis	Kretzoi, 1947
Canis a. indicus	Hodgson, 1833		India, Nepal
Egyptian Jackal; Canis a. lupaster	Hemprich and Ehrenberg, 1833	Sometimes mistaken for the Gray Wolf subspecies, with long legs and ears, dirty-yellow fur.	Egypt, locally
Canis a. moreotica	I. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1835	It is among the largest of the golden jackal subspecies, in Hungary and Austria it's known as the Hungarian reed wolf.	Southern and Southern-central Europe, especially Greece
Canis a. naria	Wroughton, 1916		Southern India
Canis a. riparius	Hemprich and Ehrenberg, 1832		Coast of Etiopia and Eritrea
Canis a. soudanicus	Thomas, 1903		Sudan and Marocco
Canis a. syriacus	Hemprich and Ehrenberg, 1833	Closely related to Canis aureus lupaster, but is smaller and more richly colored.	Israel, western Jordan

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