But the facts about jackals are rather more edifying than the popular image of a cowardly scavenger. Jackals are small slender dog-like omnivores with long sharp canines and well developed carnassial teeth used for shearing tough skin. Like most other canids, jackals are lithe muscular runners with long legs and bushy tails. They have large erect ears and an elaborate repertoire of ear, muzzle and tail postures. Coat color and markings also distinguish the species, the coat of the Simien jackal being the most colorful.
Jackals are opportunistic foragers for their very varied diet.
They eat fruits, invertebrates, reptiles, amphibia, birds, small mammals from rodents to Thomson's gazelles and carrion. In the Serengeti, scavenging usually contributes less than 6 percent of a jackal's diet. Cooperative hunting is important for Golden and Silverbacked jackals. In both species, pairs have been observed to be three times more successful than individuals in hunting Thomson's gazelle fawns. Members of the same family will also cooperate in sharing larger food items, ranging in size from hares to perhaps a wildebeest carcass, and will transport food in their stomachs for later regurgitation to pups or a lactating mother.