Jackal facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Jackal
Golden jackal (Canis aureus)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Carnivora
Suborder:	Caniformia
Family:	Canidae
Subfamily:	Caninae
Tribe:	Canini
Subtribe:	Canina
Species referred to as jackals
Lupulella adusta Lupulella mesomelas Canis aureus

A golden jackal, also called an Indian jackal, in India.

Jackals are medium-sized mammals that eat both plants and meat. They are part of a group called Canina, which also includes wolves and domestic dogs. The word "jackal" has been used for many small dog-like animals. Today, it usually means three main types: the black-backed jackal (Lupulella mesomelas), the side-striped jackal (Lupulella adusta), and the golden jackal (Canis aureus). The first two live in Africa, while the golden jackal is found in parts of Europe and Asia.

Jackals are good at finding food. They hunt small to medium-sized animals and are also skilled scavengers, meaning they eat animals that are already dead. Their long legs and curved teeth help them hunt small mammals, birds, and reptiles. They can run for a long time, keeping a speed of about 16 km/h (10 mph). Jackals are most active during dawn and dusk.

Jackals often live in pairs. A male and female jackal will stay together and defend their home area from other jackals. They mark their territory with their urine and feces. Sometimes, young jackals stay with their parents until they find their own territories. While jackals usually hunt alone or in pairs, they might gather in small packs to eat a large animal carcass.

What's in a Name?

The English word "jackal" came from the French word chacal around the year 1600. This French word came from the Persian word shoghāl, which means "the howler" in Sanskrit.

Jackal Family Tree

The skeleton of a black-backed jackal on display at a museum.

Jackals belong to a group of large meat-eating animals called wolf-like canids. This group includes dogs, wolves, coyotes, dholes, and African wild dogs. All these animals are closely related and have 78 chromosomes in their cells. This means they are very similar genetically.

Scientists once thought the African golden wolf was a type of golden jackal. But now we know it's a separate species. The two African jackals (black-backed and side-striped) are thought to be the oldest members of this family group, suggesting that the group first appeared in Africa.

The Ethiopian wolf is sometimes called the "red jackal" or "Simien jackal" because it looks a bit like a jackal in size and shape.

Types of Jackals

There are three main types of jackals:

Species	Scientific Name	About This Jackal	Where They Live
Black-backed jackal	Lupulella mesomelas	This jackal is the lightest and most aggressive. It can attack prey much larger than itself. It was once thought to be the oldest living member of the Canis family.	Southern Africa and the eastern coast of Kenya, Somalia, and Ethiopia
Side-striped jackal	Lupulella adustus	This jackal mostly lives in wooded areas. It is the least aggressive of the jackals and rarely hunts large mammals.	Central and southern Africa
Golden jackal	Canis aureus	This is the largest and most common jackal. It is more closely related to wolves than to the African jackal species.	Southeastern Europe, the Middle East, western Asia, and South Asia

Jackals in Stories

Like foxes and coyotes, jackals are often seen as clever or magical creatures in old stories. They are mentioned about 14 times in the Bible. In these stories, they often show how lonely or abandoned a place is, because they like to live in old ruins or places people have left. Some Bible translations call them "wild dogs."

In the Indian Panchatantra stories, the jackal is shown as smart and wise. In some traditions in Bengal, jackals are linked to the goddess Kali. People believe she appears as jackals when meat is offered to her.

The Serer religion in Africa believes that jackals were among the first animals created by their supreme god, Roog.

See also

In Spanish: Chacal para niños