Indian Jackal
Encyclopedia
The Indian Jackal also known as the Himalayan Jackal is a subspecies
of golden jackal
native to India
, Bhutan
, Burma and Nepal
. Its karyotype
is quite different (2N=78; NF=84) from that of its Eurasian and African counterparts (2N=80).
, the pale areas of the back being of a pale buff colour rather than whitish or silver. Black specimens have been reported in Bengal
. Adults are slightly larger than common jackals, and grow to a length of 100 cm (39 in), 35-45 cm (14-18 in) in height and 8-11 kg (18-24 lb) in weight.
It typically inhabits lowlands on the outskirts of towns, villages and farms, where they shelter in holes among ruins or dense brush. Except during hot periods, the Indian jackal usually only leaves its den at dusk and retires at dawn. Though primarily a scavenger which subsists on garbage and offal, it will supplement its diet with rodents, reptiles, fruit and insects. It will form small pack
s when hunting small deer
and antelope
s. Although it will occasionally kill poultry
and young kids and lambs, it is largely harmless. When wild prey is scarce, it will usually take to eating vegetable matter, including maize
and Jujube
fruit. It is extremely harmful to the vineyard
s of western India, and eats large quantities of coffee bean
s in the Wayanad district
.
Lone jackals expelled from their pack have been known to form commensal relationship
s with tiger
s. These solitary jackals are known as kol-bahl, bhálú in southern India, phéall, phao, pheeow or phnew in Bengal and ghog in other regions. They will attach themselves to a particular tiger, trailing it at a safe distance in order to feed on the big cat's kills. A kol-bahl will even alert a tiger to a kill with a loud pheal. Tigers have been known to tolerate these jackals: one report describes how a jackal confidently walked in and out between three tigers walking together a few feet away from each other.
and Nepali
folklore, where they often take over the role of the trickster taken by the red fox
in Europe and North America. The story of The Blue Jackal
for example has the jackal disguising itself with blue paint as Neelaakanth, the guardian of all animals, and tricking the other animals into providing food for him, so that he may continue protecting them. He is driven away once the monsoon washes the paint from him. In some tales, jackals are portrayed as malevolant and treacherous. The Mahabharata
describes the story of a jackal who sets his friends, the tiger, wolf, mongoose and mouse against each other, just so he can eat a gazelle without sharing it. In Hinduism
, the name of Shiva
itself means jackal, and a jackal was often illustrated as the consort of Kali
. Jackals are the vahana
s of various Hindu and Buddhist deities, particularly in Tibet. Durga
was often linked to the jackal.
In Rudyard Kipling
's Mowgli
stories collected in The Jungle Book
, the character Tabaqui is a jackal despised by the Sioni wolf pack, due to his mock cordiality, scavenging habits and his subservience to Shere Khan
. He appears in the beginning of the book, visiting Mowgli's adoptive parents, Mother
and Father Wolf, and they are clearly annoyed by his presence, since he announces that Shere Khan the tiger is hunting in their territory. Tabaqui is later killed by one of Mowgli's 'siblings', Grey Brother, who crushes his back.
Subspecies
Subspecies in biological classification, is either a taxonomic rank subordinate to species, ora taxonomic unit in that rank . A subspecies cannot be recognized in isolation: a species will either be recognized as having no subspecies at all or two or more, never just one...
of golden jackal
Golden Jackal
The golden jackal , also known as the common jackal, Asiatic jackal, thos or gold-wolf is a Canid of the genus Canis indigenous to north and northeastern Africa, southeastern and central Europe , Asia Minor, the Middle East and southeast Asia...
native to India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, Bhutan
Bhutan
Bhutan , officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked state in South Asia, located at the eastern end of the Himalayas and bordered to the south, east and west by the Republic of India and to the north by the People's Republic of China...
, Burma and Nepal
Nepal
Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...
. Its karyotype
Karyotype
A karyotype is the number and appearance of chromosomes in the nucleus of an eukaryotic cell. The term is also used for the complete set of chromosomes in a species, or an individual organism.p28...
is quite different (2N=78; NF=84) from that of its Eurasian and African counterparts (2N=80).
Description
Its fur is a mixture of black and white, with buff on the shoulders, ears and legs. The buff colour is more pronounced in specimens from high altitudes. Black hairs predominate on the middle of the back and tail. The belly, chest and the sides of the legs are creamy white, while the face and lower flanks are grizzled with grey fur. It is generally of a richer colour than the common jackalCommon Jackal
The Common Jackal , also known as the Persian or Turkestan Jackal is a subspecies of golden jackal native to Middle Asia, Afghanistan, northwestern India, Iran, Iraq, the Arabian Peninsula, and Pakistan...
, the pale areas of the back being of a pale buff colour rather than whitish or silver. Black specimens have been reported in Bengal
Bengal
Bengal is a historical and geographical region in the northeast region of the Indian Subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. Today, it is mainly divided between the sovereign land of People's Republic of Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal, although some regions of the previous...
. Adults are slightly larger than common jackals, and grow to a length of 100 cm (39 in), 35-45 cm (14-18 in) in height and 8-11 kg (18-24 lb) in weight.
It typically inhabits lowlands on the outskirts of towns, villages and farms, where they shelter in holes among ruins or dense brush. Except during hot periods, the Indian jackal usually only leaves its den at dusk and retires at dawn. Though primarily a scavenger which subsists on garbage and offal, it will supplement its diet with rodents, reptiles, fruit and insects. It will form small pack
Pack (canine)
Pack is a social group of conspecific canids. Not all species of canids - notably the red fox - form packs. Pack size and social behaviour within packs varies across species.-Species which exhibit pack behavior:...
s when hunting small deer
Deer
Deer are the ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. Species in the Cervidae family include white-tailed deer, elk, moose, red deer, reindeer, fallow deer, roe deer and chital. Male deer of all species and female reindeer grow and shed new antlers each year...
and antelope
Antelope
Antelope is a term referring to many even-toed ungulate species indigenous to various regions in Africa and Eurasia. Antelopes comprise a miscellaneous group within the family Bovidae, encompassing those old-world species that are neither cattle, sheep, buffalo, bison, nor goats...
s. Although it will occasionally kill poultry
Poultry
Poultry are domesticated birds kept by humans for the purpose of producing eggs, meat, and/or feathers. These most typically are members of the superorder Galloanserae , especially the order Galliformes and the family Anatidae , commonly known as "waterfowl"...
and young kids and lambs, it is largely harmless. When wild prey is scarce, it will usually take to eating vegetable matter, including maize
Maize
Maize known in many English-speaking countries as corn or mielie/mealie, is a grain domesticated by indigenous peoples in Mesoamerica in prehistoric times. The leafy stalk produces ears which contain seeds called kernels. Though technically a grain, maize kernels are used in cooking as a vegetable...
and Jujube
Jujube
Ziziphus zizyphus , commonly called jujube , red date, Chinese date, Korean date, or Indian date is a species of Ziziphus in the buckthorn family Rhamnaceae, used primarily as a fruiting shade tree.-Distribution:Its precise natural distribution is uncertain due to extensive cultivation,...
fruit. It is extremely harmful to the vineyard
Vineyard
A vineyard is a plantation of grape-bearing vines, grown mainly for winemaking, but also raisins, table grapes and non-alcoholic grape juice...
s of western India, and eats large quantities of coffee bean
Coffee bean
A coffee bean is a seed of a coffee plant. It is the pit inside the red or purple fruit often referred to as a cherry. Even though they are seeds, they are referred to as 'beans' because of their resemblance to true beans. The fruits - coffee cherries or coffee berries - most commonly contain two...
s in the Wayanad district
Wayanad District
Wayanad District in the north-east of Kerala, India, was formed on November 1, 1980 as the 12th district by carving out areas from Kozhikode and Kannur districts. Kalpetta is the district headquarters as well as the only municipal town in the district. The region was known as Mayakshetra in the...
.
Lone jackals expelled from their pack have been known to form commensal relationship
Commensalism
In ecology, commensalism is a class of relationship between two organisms where one organism benefits but the other is neutral...
s with tiger
Tiger
The tiger is the largest cat species, reaching a total body length of up to and weighing up to . Their most recognizable feature is a pattern of dark vertical stripes on reddish-orange fur with lighter underparts...
s. These solitary jackals are known as kol-bahl, bhálú in southern India, phéall, phao, pheeow or phnew in Bengal and ghog in other regions. They will attach themselves to a particular tiger, trailing it at a safe distance in order to feed on the big cat's kills. A kol-bahl will even alert a tiger to a kill with a loud pheal. Tigers have been known to tolerate these jackals: one report describes how a jackal confidently walked in and out between three tigers walking together a few feet away from each other.
Presence in folklore and literature
Golden jackals appear prominently in IndianFolklore of India
The folklore of India compasses the folklore of the nation of India and the Indian subcontinent.The subcontinent of India contains a wide diversity of ethnic, linguistic, and religious groups...
and Nepali
Culture of Nepal
The rich cultural heritage of Nepal, has evolved over centuries. This multi-dimensional cultural heritage encompasses within itself the cultural diversities of various ethnic, tribal, and social groups inhabiting different altitudes, and it manifests in various forms: music and dance; art and...
folklore, where they often take over the role of the trickster taken by the red fox
Red Fox
The red fox is the largest of the true foxes, as well as being the most geographically spread member of the Carnivora, being distributed across the entire northern hemisphere from the Arctic Circle to North Africa, Central America, and the steppes of Asia...
in Europe and North America. The story of The Blue Jackal
The Blue Jackal
The Blue Jackal is a story known throughout the Indian sub-continent.-Earliest reference:The earliest reference to the Blue Jackal can be found in Panchatantra, a collection of stories which depict animals in human situations...
for example has the jackal disguising itself with blue paint as Neelaakanth, the guardian of all animals, and tricking the other animals into providing food for him, so that he may continue protecting them. He is driven away once the monsoon washes the paint from him. In some tales, jackals are portrayed as malevolant and treacherous. The Mahabharata
Mahabharata
The Mahabharata is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India and Nepal, the other being the Ramayana. The epic is part of itihasa....
describes the story of a jackal who sets his friends, the tiger, wolf, mongoose and mouse against each other, just so he can eat a gazelle without sharing it. In Hinduism
Hinduism
Hinduism is the predominant and indigenous religious tradition of the Indian Subcontinent. Hinduism is known to its followers as , amongst many other expressions...
, the name of Shiva
Shiva
Shiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...
itself means jackal, and a jackal was often illustrated as the consort of Kali
Kali
' , also known as ' , is the Hindu goddess associated with power, shakti. The name Kali comes from kāla, which means black, time, death, lord of death, Shiva. Kali means "the black one". Since Shiva is called Kāla - the eternal time, Kālī, his consort, also means "Time" or "Death" . Hence, Kāli is...
. Jackals are the vahana
Vahana
Vāhana denotes the being, typically an animal or mythical entity, a particular deva is said to use as a vehicle. In this capacity, the vāhana is often called the deity's mount. Upon the partnership between the deva and his vāhana is woven much iconography and mythology...
s of various Hindu and Buddhist deities, particularly in Tibet. Durga
Durga
For the 1985 Hindi Film of Rajesh Khanna see DurgaaIn Hinduism, Durga ; ; meaning "the inaccessible" or "the invincible"; , durga) or Maa Durga "one who can redeem in situations of utmost distress" is a form of Devi, the supremely radiant goddess, depicted as having eighteen arms, riding a lion...
was often linked to the jackal.
In Rudyard Kipling
Rudyard Kipling
Joseph Rudyard Kipling was an English poet, short-story writer, and novelist chiefly remembered for his celebration of British imperialism, tales and poems of British soldiers in India, and his tales for children. Kipling received the 1907 Nobel Prize for Literature...
's Mowgli
Mowgli
Mowgli is a fictional character from India who originally appeared in Rudyard Kipling's short story "In the Rukh" and then went on to become the most prominent and memorable character in his fantasies, The Jungle Book and The Second Jungle Book , which also featured stories about other...
stories collected in The Jungle Book
The Jungle Book
The Jungle Book is a collection of stories by British Nobel laureate Rudyard Kipling. The stories were first published in magazines in 1893–4. The original publications contain illustrations, some by Rudyard's father, John Lockwood Kipling. Kipling was born in India and spent the first six...
, the character Tabaqui is a jackal despised by the Sioni wolf pack, due to his mock cordiality, scavenging habits and his subservience to Shere Khan
Shere Khan
Shere Khan is a fictional tiger of the Indian jungle. He is the chief antagonist in two of Rudyard Kipling's Jungle Book stories featuring Mowgli. Shere Khan is named after an Afghan Prince Kipling encountered on his trips to Afghanistan...
. He appears in the beginning of the book, visiting Mowgli's adoptive parents, Mother
Raksha (Jungle Books)
Raksha the Demon is a fictional character featured in Rudyard Kipling's Mowgli stories, collected in The Jungle Book and The Second Jungle Book...
and Father Wolf, and they are clearly annoyed by his presence, since he announces that Shere Khan the tiger is hunting in their territory. Tabaqui is later killed by one of Mowgli's 'siblings', Grey Brother, who crushes his back.