Golden jackals push the boundaries of their European range
Golden jackals (Canis aureus) are travelling thousands of kilometres to establish new territories in the far north and far west of Europe, a study published in Mammalian Biology suggests.
Golden jackals are resourceful, adaptable beasts. With climate change predicted to shrink the ranges of nine in ten mammal species, the golden jackal is doing well. In the past two decades, they have expanded from southeastern Europe across the Pyrenees into Spain, and across the Arctic Circle into the far north.
Recently, animals presumed to be jackals have been observed right at the edge of their known range, but because jackals are not easy to tell apart from some other canids, such as red foxes and grey wolves, no one was sure.
This included one animal from Lapland in Finland, who was killed in a fox trap, one animal from Álava in the Iberian Peninsula, who was killed on the road, and one animal from Troms in northern Norway, who was spotted on a camera trap and helpfully, left a faecal sample.
Biological samples were collected from all three animals, and their DNA was analysed. Jouni Aspi from the University of Oulu and colleagues confirmed that they were all three animals were first generation migrant, pure golden jackals, and that they had come a long way.
Crosschecking their genetics against a large reference dataset, they found that the Finnish jackal had travelled around 2,500 km from a population based in Austria, Hungary and Croatia. The Spanish animal also probably came from this area, covering a distance of 1,650 km. Meanwhile, the Norwegian individual either travelled 1,400 km from the Baltic population or 3,400 km from the Caucasus.
“Previously, it was assumed that golden jackals arriving in Finland came from the established Baltic population, but this study shows that they can migrate from much further away, even thousands of kilometres,” says Aspi.
When new populations are being established, numbers start small. With a further seven confirmed sightings of golden jackals in Finland (most recently in Ivalo in August), it’s thought these three individuals were at the vanguard of the expansion front.
Golden jackals are omnivores that eat plants, birds, small mammals and carrion, but will supplement their diets with leftovers and livestock when they live closer to humans. The study shows that golden jackals are capable of travelling astonishing distances in very different environments and establishing new packs and populations in extreme climates.