Golden jackal

© All rights reserved by www.mahmiyat.ps

The golden jackal belongs to the canidae family in the carnivora order. It is one of few canids can be found around the region, a medium sized brown-grey colored most common of them. The tail, usually used to distinguish from the grey wolf, is short, looks like cut at its end and black at the tip. The jackal has a white patch on its chest, looks like a small napkin. The sound of a pack of jackals communicating and crying in the night is very common in rural areas and can be distinguished from the sound of red foxes by its long howling sound as opposing to short cry screams of the fox. 
The golden jackal is mostly nocturnal but can be seen active all around the day, especially around human residence. It is a carnivore but can also be seen eating fruit right off the trees or digging in garbage bins. It is one of the most common predators around human settlements and it seems that its population has grown together with human population in this area. There are golden jackal's populations from Thailand and Bangladesh in the east all the way to the Sahel in the south west and Eastern Europe in the North West. Around the eastern coast of the Mediterranean it is found mostly in Mediterranean habits and close to water sources in the semi-arid deserts.

Conservation status- least concern.

Sites: Beitillu, Umm at-Tut, Wadi Al-Quff nature reserves