Jackal: The Street Cleaner

By

Mrs. Caffrey

Food Chain

The jackal is a carnivore. It catches small animals for its food. It is a scavenger, so it eats dead animals, too. It will sometimes go into towns and cities and eat dead animals off the street. That’s why it is called the ‘street cleaner’. Jackals are eaten by leopards, hyenas, and eagles which eat small pups.

Habitat

The jackal can be found in Africa, the middle east and India. The common jackal lives on the open plains, deserts and grasslands. The side-striped jackal lives in moist savannas, marshes, bushlands and mountains. Silver- backed jackals live in savannas and woodlands.

Family

The jackal family, a pack, is made up of the mother, father, and pups. Sometimes older pups stay to help take care of the new pups. Pups stay in the den for 3 weeks before they can go out to play. They are very noisy neighbors. They communicate with each other by a screaming yell and yapping, or a siren-like howl when food is found.

Physical Description

The jackal is a medium-sized meat-eater with dog-like features and a bushy tail. There are three species. The golden or common jackal, the side-striped, and the black-backed or silver-backed jackal. They are 15 to 20 inches tall and 15 to 35 pounds. They live 10 to 12 years. Can you guess what kind of jackal this is?

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Interesting Facts

The Ancient Egyptians believed a jackal-headed god, Anubis, guided the dead to life after death. They probably believed this because the jackal is a clever, nocturnal, scavenger with a scary howl.

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