BLACK-BACKED JACKALS Super survivors
“Black-backed jackals are classified as ‘Least Concern’ in the IUCN’s Red Data listings. This attests to its remarkable wiliness, survival skills and adaptability over a wide range of ecotypes.”
Black-backed jackals (BBJs) are one of many species that are classified under the genus ‘Canis’ including the wolves, coyotes and dogs. It is scientifically referred to as Canis mesomelas, the latter word derived from the ancient Greek mésos (‘middle’), and mélas (‘black’). The English name is derived from the French ‘chacal’, which in turn can be traced back through Persian to a Sanskrit word that meant ‘the howler’.
Unlike the other members of the genus, this jackal is a very ancient species, having shown little evolutionary change since the Pleistocene and has occupied eastern and southern Africa for at least two to three million years.
There are two) occurring in southern Africa, and the other () in Tanzania, Kenya and Somalia. These two areas are separated by about 900km, and the in-between area forms part of the range of its closely related cousin, the side-striped jackal (). However, in the Kruger National Park, these two species do co-exist.
