black-backed jackal
canis mesomelas latin

Black-backed jackals are the most significant sheep predators of southern and eastern Africa.

Its carnassials are smaller than those of the more carnivorous black-backed jackal.

Black-backed jackals will occasionally feed on fruits and berries.

The Tswana people often made hats and cloaks out of black-backed jackal skins.

The side-striped jackal and black-backed jackal both have 74 chromosomes.

Black-backed jackals are taller and longer than golden jackals, but have smaller heads.

Black-backed jackals in southern Africa are known to howl much like golden jackals.

One story explains that the black-backed jackal gained its dark saddle when it offered to carry the sun on its back.

Black-backed jackals were not a popular quarry in the 19th century, and are rarely mentioned in hunter's literature.

In Africa, golden jackals have been observed to kill the pups of black-backed jackals.

Black-backed jackals are major rabies vectors, and have been associated with epidemics, which appear to cycle every four to eight years.

Black-backed jackals lick humidity from stones.

In sheep farming areas, black-backed jackals will time their pup births to coincide with the lambing season.

Black-backed jackals have never been successfully eradicated in hunting areas, despite strenuous attempts to do so with dogs, poison and gas.

Black-backed jackals (Canis mesomelas) have a single long term mate, and usually hunt singly or in pairs.

Black-backed jackals are small, fox-like canids and are the smallest of the three species called jackal.

Sounds made by black-backed jackals include yelling, yelping, woofing, whining, growling and cackling.

Black-backed jackals are monogamous and territorial animals, whose social organisation greatly resembles that of golden jackals.

Although smaller than side-striped jackals, the more aggressive black-backed jackals have been observed to dominate them in direct encounters.

When a young female black-backed jackal first comes into heat she is followed by several young males, one of which she selects as her long-term partner.

The side-striped jackal is a medium-sized canid, which tends to be slightly larger on average than the black-backed jackal.

Land-based predators include black-backed jackals and brown hyenas on the Skeleton Coast in Namibia.

Dogs are the main vector (especially in the east of the country)for the disease but also wildlife including the bat-eared fox, yellow mongoose and black-backed jackal.

The black-backed jackal's skull is similar to that of the side-striped jackal, but is less flat, and has a shorter, broader rostrum.

Black-backed jackal (Canis mesomelas)

Black-backed jackal (Canis mesomelas)