Religious beliefs in superstition, coupled with extensive online advertisements, have helped sustain local and transnational markets in a talisman called the ‘jackal horn’. In a recent study published in Journal of Threatened Taxa, scientists from the Wild Canids–India Project team document that the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (Government of India) has seized 126 skins, 8 tails, more than 370 ‘jackal horns’, 16 skulls and two live jackals between 2013 and 2019. The findings indicate that the illegal wildlife trade … Read More
Wild Canids and Hyenas: Flagships for Increasing India’s Conservation Potential?
India has a wide diversity of carnivores that represent multiple unique ecosystems like forests, grasslands, scrublands, open / barren lands, deserts, ravines and the trans-Himalayan plains. A recent study by researchers from Wildlife Conservation Society–India, University of Florida (USA), Ashoka Trust for Ecology and the Environment, Wildlife Conservation Trust, National Centre for Biological Sciences and James Cook University (Australia) proposes that protecting wild dogs or dholes, jackals, wolves, foxes and hyenas, and their habitats, can offer incredible potential to expand … Read More
Uttar Pradesh’s first Sloth Bear Conservation Reserve Proposed in Mirzapur Forest Division
A first of its kind, and Uttar Pradesh’s first Protected Area dedicated to Sloth Bear may come in Mirzapur Forest Division. The proposal for 408 sq.km. Conservation Reserve is backed by the first ever wildlife inventory using camera trap survey conducted in three forest ranges- Marihan, Sukrit and Chunar under Mirzapur Forest Division, Uttar Pradesh. The report titled “Wildlife Inventory and Proposal for Sloth Bear Conservation Reserve” published in July 2019 is authored by Vindhyan Ecology and Natural … Read More
Jackal and Domestic Dog Hybrid, Howrah, West Bengal
On the evening of 30th September 2018, I was strolling near a village named Narit, Howrah, West Bengal, to try and get a glimpse of the fishing cat. Instead, I chanced upon a pack of 7-8 Golden Jackals (Canis aureus) that had suddenly appeared out of the darkness in dense bamboo forest.
Among the pack, two had a distinct coat of white and a tinge of orange. Initially I mistook them to be street or feral dogs, but unlike dogs, … Read More
Jackals and porcupine, Bharatpur
On 15th October 2016 at about noon in Bharatpur National Park in Rajasthan, three jackals were seen by us around a fresh carcass of a porcupine right on the edge of water. They fled, and, try as we could, they did not approach the carcass in our presence. The carcass had injury marks on the neck and foot and a small opening at the rear.
Later, at 5.40 the same evening we found the jackals tugging away and feeding on … Read More
Observation on Roadkills in Dudhwa National Park
This picture highlights roadkill of a Golden Jackal (Canis aureus) observed inside Dudhwa National Park in Uttar Pradesh. The metal road that lies on the Indo-Nepal border is about 26 km long from Dudhwa gate to Gauri Phanta (Last village on India’s side) and is open to vehicular traffic from approximately 6 am to 7 pm. The road is quite busy during the day with large transport trucks, tempos and buses crossing the International border from either side.
During our … Read More
Day of the Jackal, Chennai
While on our usual birding trip, we headed towards this grassland on the outskirts of Chennai looking for migrant species. This is actually a fresh water lake and beautiful grassland side by side, with the monsoon bringing in a copious inflow from sources near the lake. The lake is one of the important wetlands around Chennai, and serves as foraging and breeding grounds for several resident and migratory birds. As we started to scan, we suddenly saw movement, and noticed … Read More
Jackals in Nagarahole
Although jackals occur widely across India, we know very little about them. These images were photographed on the morning of 11th November, 2012 near the Kabini backwaters in Rajiv Gandhi National Park (Nagarahole Tiger Reserve). We believe that jackals have never been sighted here for past over 15 years, so it’s interesting to know if these jackals have lost their way and have entered the protected forest. Or are there any other reasons for them to been wandering in Nagarahole?… Read More
Jackal in Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary
On Oct 13, 2012, in the evening, we saw this jackal feeding on termites by the road side in Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary. The jackal did not seem to be bothered by our presence, though vehicles passing by would scare him. He would hide and come back out to feed when it was safe.
We visit Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary regularly for our volunteer work. Over time, we have observed some positive changes due to the good work by the DFO, Mr.Vasanth … Read More
Blackbuck Near Mysore Reserve Forest
This was photographed near Kavalande, off the Chamarajanagar Road, near Nanjangode (Mysore State Reserve Forest). This place is home to at least two groups of highly endangered Blackbuck and other mammals such as the Indian Jackal, Small Indian Fox, Black-naped Hare and other dry grassland species.… Read More
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