page_title: Black-backed jackal
section_title: Diet
hierarchical_section_title: Black-backed jackal / Ecology / Diet
caption_attribution_description: English: Black-backed jackal (Canis mesomelas) feeding on a springbok carcass, Etosha National Park Français&#160;: Chacal à chabraque (Canis mesomelas) en train de dévorer une carcasse de springbok, dans le Parc national d'Etosha, en Namibie.
context_page_description: The black-backed jackal is a canine native to eastern and southern Africa. These regions are separated by roughly 900 kilometers.
  One region includes the southernmost tip of the continent, including South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, and Zimbabwe. The other area is along the eastern coastline, including Kenya, Somalia, Djibouti, Eritrea, and Ethiopia. It is listed by the IUCN as least concern, due to its widespread range and adaptability, although it is still persecuted as a livestock predator and rabies vector.
  Compared to other members of the genus Canis, the black-backed jackal is a very ancient species, and has changed little since the Pleistocene, being the most basal wolf-like canine, alongside the closely related side-striped jackal. It is a fox-like animal with a reddish brown to tan coat and a black saddle that extends from the shoulders to the base of the tail. It is a monogamous animal, whose young may remain with the family to help raise new generations of pups. The black-backed jackal is not a fussy eater, and feeds on small to medium-sized animals, as well as plant matter.
context_section_description: Black-backed jackals are omnivores, which feed on invertebrates, such as beetles, grasshoppers, crickets, termites, millipedes, spiders, and scorpions. They also feed on mammals, such as rodents, hares, and young antelopes up to the size of topi calves. They also feed on carrion, lizards, and snakes. A pair of black-backed jackals in the Kalahari desert was observed to kill a kori bustard, and on a separate occasion, a black mamba by prolonged harassment of the snake and crushing of the snake's head. Black-backed jackals occasionally feed on fruits and berries. It also feeds on eggs of birds. In coastal areas, they feed on beached marine mammals, seals, fish, and mussels. A single jackal is capable of killing a healthy adult impala. Adult dik-diks and Thomson's gazelles seem to be the upper limit of their killing capacity, though they target larger species if those are sick, with one pair having been observed to harass a crippled bull rhinoceros. They typically kill tall prey by biting at the legs and loins, and frequently go for the throat. In Serengeti woodlands, they feed heavily on African grass rats. In East Africa, during the dry season, they hunt the young of gazelles, impalas, topi, tsessebe, and warthogs. In South Africa, black-backed jackals frequently prey on antelopes (primarily impala and springbok and occasionally duiker, reedbuck, and steenbok), carrion, hares, hoofed livestock, insects, and rodents. They also prey on small carnivores, such as mongooses, polecats, and wildcats. On the coastline of the Namib Desert, jackals feed primarily on marine birds (mainly Cape and white-breasted cormorants and jackass penguins), marine mammals (including Cape fur seals), fish, and insects. Like most canids, the black-backed jackal caches surplus food.
caption: Cape black-backed jackal (C. m. mesomelas) feeding on a springbok carcass in Etosha National Park, Namibia
exif: {"Image Make": "Canon", "Image Model": "Canon EOS-1D Mark IV", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "240", "Image YResolution": "240", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop CS4 Macintosh", "Image DateTime": "2013:04:26 17:35:36", "Image Artist": "Yathin Krishnappa", "Image Copyright": "yathin.com", "Image ExifOffset": "268", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "826", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "6293", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/500", "EXIF FNumber": "28/5", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "100", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2012:03:21 10:51:33", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2012:03:21 10:51:33", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "1120723/125000", "EXIF ApertureValue": "2485427/500000", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "4", "EXIF SubjectDistance": "35/2", "EXIF MeteringMode": "CenterWeightedAverage", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "500", "EXIF SubSecTime": "87", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "87", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "87", "EXIF ColorSpace": "Uncalibrated", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "4000", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "2666", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "163200/43", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "816000/209", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "2", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard"}