Ecology of black-backed jackal (Canis mesomelas) in a small urban estate
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Date
2021
Authors
Wilkins, Carina
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Abstract
Most studies of black-backed jackals (Canis mesomelas) have taken place in areas of
two extremes, where they are 1) not persecuted by people, such as in national parks, or 2)
heavily persecuted, such as rural areas surrounding livestock farms. In both areas, the black backed jackals are typically wary of people. My study was conducted in the winter of 2019
and summer of 2019/2020, involving black-backed jackals at a small urban estate, the Jackal
Creek Golf Estate in the north of Johannesburg, South Africa. This area presents a unique
situation where black-backed jackals are thriving and have a reduced wariness of people,
which provided an opportunity to assess whether and how the black-backed jackals have
adapted to living in human-altered (urban) habitats, the fastest growing land use globally. I
studied the biology of the black-backed jackals in urban areas by first considering the extent
to which they occur in the urban areas of Greater Johannesburg. I then conducted a specific
study on the black-backed jackals occurring at the Jackal Creek Golf Estate to ascertain their
activity patterns, their behaviour temporally and spatially, and their diet. I studied the species
distribution through surveys of the public using online platforms and found that black-backed
jackals occurred mostly in the northern parts of Johannesburg. However, the number of
respondents was not large enough to draw meaningful conclusions. My study at the Jackal
Creek Golf Estate was conducted mostly using camera traps to capture footage of the
seasonal and daily activity profiles of the jackals and their behaviour during their active
periods. I also studied the diet of the black-backed jackals through analyses of scat,
opportunistically collected at the Estate in winter and summer. Activity patterns were
determined using the ‘densityPlot’ function and ‘overlap’ package in R. In winter, the black backed jackals showed a crepuscular (after 18h00) and nocturnal peak (03h00) in activity,
and an extended crepuscular peak (from 19h00) and nocturnal activity (from 22h00 to 04h00)
in summer in some areas of the Estate. To analyse seasonal differences in behaviour, the
‘glmer’ function in R was used, while temporal and spatial variation in behaviour were
analysed using Pearson’s chi-squared contingency table analyses. The most prominent
behaviours displayed in both winter and summer were travel (p<0.001) and rest (p<0.001). In
the temporal analysis of the behaviours, black-backed jackals displayed both travel and rest
behaviours predominantly between 00h00 and 06h00 and again between 18h00 and 24h00,
with both behaviours occurring more often in these time brackets in winter compared to
summer. Spatially, all behaviours occurred in the western parts of the Estate and travel and
rest were the predominant behaviours recorded in all areas of the Estate. Simpson’s diversity
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and Levin’s standardised indices were calculated to determine diet breadth. The black-backed
jackal’s diet showed wide diversity, indicating a generalist diet with a large plant component
(presumably incidentally consumed) (77.6%) and animal remains (67.8%). Anthropogenic
matter (e.g. pieces of serviettes, glass, and fabric) occurred in the scat in almost equal
percentages in both winter (46.5%) and summer (44.4%). Despite the low reported
occurrence of black-backed jackals in Greater Johannesburg, the jackals at Jackal Creek Golf
Estate have modified some of their behaviour and diet for urban life. Although their
crepuscular peak in activity resembles that of naturally occurring black-backed jackals, the
nocturnal peak suggests a change in behaviour to avoid human contact. Given their proximity
to humans at the Estate, the anthropogenic content of the diet is expected, but their diet also
consisted of typically naturally occurring prey, such as rodents. It would appear that black-backed jackals are urban adapters, defined as species that are able to adapt to urban areas
while still making use of natural resources.
Description
A research report submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Masters by Coursework in Environmental Sciences to the Faculty of Science, School of Animal, Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2021