Black-backed Jackal

Black-backed jackals are common across the Serengeti, the Ngorongoro Crater floor and Tarangire. They are often seen trotting along tracks at dawn and dusk or hanging around larger predator kills waiting for scraps. The Ngorongoro Crater is particularly good because the open terrain makes them easy to spot.

Both. Black-backed jackals are active hunters of rodents, hares, insects, birds and small antelope fawns. They also scavenge efficiently at larger predator kills. During the wildebeest calving season they hunt Thomson's gazelle fawns on the short grass plains with coordinated pair tactics.

Jackals belong to the family Canidae, making them distant relatives of domestic dogs, wolves and foxes. The black-backed jackal is one of the oldest canid species, with a lineage that has changed little in roughly six million years. They cannot interbreed with domestic dogs.

Yes. Black-backed jackals are monogamous and typically pair for life. Both parents raise the pups together, often assisted by older offspring from previous litters who act as helpers at the den. This cooperative system is one of the reasons their pup survival rates are relatively high.

The most distinctive call is a drawn out wailing howl, usually given in duet by a mated pair at dusk. They also yip, bark and growl. The duet howl carries across several kilometres and is used to declare territory. It is one of the most evocative sounds of the African bush after dark.

An adult black-backed jackal weighs around 7 to 13 kilograms and stands roughly 40 centimetres at the shoulder. They are lean and fast, built for endurance rather than strength. Despite their small size they are bold and resourceful predators that punch well above their weight in the ecosystem.