Both parents provide food and protection. The basic social unit of the golden jackal is a mated pair or a mated pair and its young. Golden jackal pairs forage and rest together. All of their behavior is highly synchronized. Cooperative hunting is important to the jackals.
Pairs are three times more likely to be successful than individuals in hunting.
Members of the same family also cooperate in sharing larger food items and transport food in their stomachs for later regurgitation to pups or to a lactating mother. Hunting families hold territories of two to three square kilometers throughout the year, portions of which are marked with urine, either by the male or the female jackal, to ward off intruders. Though the golden jackal is a capable hunter, it normally does not attack larger animals. When the gazelles in the Serengeti give birth, every day several newborns are grabbed by the jackals and are taken to the dens to be eaten. Jackals also take part in the kills of larger animals, such as those of the lion.