Braver than you would have thought

Feb 5, 2008 19:06 GMT  ·  By

The ancient Egyptians portrayed Anubis, the god of the dead, as a jackal-headed man. Jackals are species from dog's family included in the genus Canis, the same to which the wolf (and its offshoots, the dog and dingo), red wolf and coyote belong. First dog-relatives appeared to the end of the Eocene, 35 million years ago.

There are three species of jackals: the golden jackal (Canis aureus), side-stripped jackal (Canis adustus) and black-backed jackal (Canis mesomelas), but only the first species is found also outside Africa, in southern Asia and southeastern Europe.

The golden jackal is found from northern and eastern Africa to Thailand and Romania. It looks like a smaller wolf, only that its muzzle is relatively finer and more pointed, while the forehead is higher. The golden jackal is up to 1 m (3.3 ft) long (plus the 24 cm (0.8 ft) long tail), 50 cm (1.6 ft) tall and weighs no more than 20 kg (44 pounds).

The built is rather slight and agile. It prefers steppes, scrubland, open areas, marshes up to 1,000 m (3,300 ft) in altitude. After a gestation of 65 days, the golden jackal can have 5-8 cubs, protected in dens until they are 4 weeks old. The offspring's den is changed often, both for hygiene and because the accumulating smell can attract predators, usually at a distance of 50-100 m (166-333 ft).

The breeding couple also can have helping "nurses", in fact the older brothers from the previous litter. They hunt independently but remain on the territory of their parent, helping raising the younger jackals. A "nurse" always guards the den while parents and other "nurses" are gone foraging. These guardians do not hesitate to chase away even larger predators, like hyenas. Its calls alert the parents (which usually are not found further than 500 m (1,666 ft)) and rush to chase away the enemy. Jackals are swift and manage to inflict rapid bites to a slower hyena.

In the African savanna, offspring are born during the rainy season. If rains come too early, the cubs risk drowning or dying of pneumonia.

Golden jackals hunt in couples. For example, one individual can distract the attention of a Thompson gazelle female, which will attack it, while the other steals her kid. Larger prey is shared. During the dry season, jackals feed mainly on mice, voles, rats, snakes, insects (like locusts and dung beetles) and even plant matters. The kin hearing of a jackal enables it to hear the noise made by a dung beetle larva inside its dung ball!

But jackals are mainly nocturnal creatures, and, at dawn and evening, humans can hear their prolonger howl followed by three short barks.

Jackals also have good eyesight, and are amongst the first scavengers to linger around, together with the vultures, when a big predator has made a large kill. Usually, the jackals wait patiently until the lion or cheetah finishes its feast, but in many cases, these swift animals manage to steal the best parts right from under the nose of the large cats. Yet, this is a dangerous game.

Sometimes, jackals can cooperate with cheetahs: the golden jackal attracts the attention of the prey, while the cheetah approaches enough to launch its attack.

Lions kill jackals occasionally, but jackals won't hesitate to harass a lion passing through their territory, making circles around the big cat and emitting specific calls.

Jackals are monogamous (so rare amongst mammals!) and the jackal couples are extremely territorial, defending aggressively their territory of about 2.5 square km (1 square mi) (or more, depending on the area), against other jackals. The female chases away female intruders; the male chases away male intruders. Aggressive jackals ruffle their fur and Arch their backs, just like angry cats.

Jackals are an example of how monogamy serves the individual. One day, some researchers were observing a herd of lions devouring a zebra corpse in the African savanna, when suddenly, in the middle of the feast, a female jackal appeared, right under the nose of one lion.

The pissed off lion charged roaring towards her, but the little thief avoided it. At the same moment, another jackal appeared, stole a piece of meat and ran with it. A few hundred meters away, the male jackal shared its prey with its partner, which helped it in this diversion. On the way to their den, an eagle attacked the male jackal, thrusting its claws into its back. Then the female rushed, jumped and hit the eagle with such a power, that the eagle released its claws from the jackal's fur and rolled over the ground.

Few days later, the male was turning back from a hunt while he found a hyena, three times his size, trying to dig up the den and eat the female.

Only the back of the hyena was visible and the male inflicted to powerful bite to the hyena's bottom. The hyena jumped like it would have been burnt and turned around preparing to attack. The next moment, the female leaped out of the den and together with its partner managed to chase away the hyena. It's clear: a pair achieves more food and survives better than the bachelors. That's why the jackals spend every morning about 30 minutes grooming each other (photo above), an activity that strengthens the bond between the two.

The "married" jackals were found to live on average 3-4 years longer than the solitary ones.