Jackals in Kabini Forests!

[Praveen Siddannavar]

I shot this image at Kabini recently & this is the first time I have ever seen a Jackal in Kabini forest. It was yet another misty wintery morning, we were driving towards Balle and suddenly we noticed that a large group of spotted deers were running helter- skelter as though a tigress was chasing them. We had spotted a tigress in the same area previous evening and it is quite oblivious that she would come to our mind first.
Upon driving further we saw a pair of Jackals (male and female), they were in no mood to attack but were on the move. We followed them for a while and finally the Jackals decided that they will rest and the male jackal came on the man made track and posed for me for a while.

Another observation during this sighting was none of the spotted deers chose to give alarm calls on seeing the jackals, however when a langur saw them he gave loud alarm calls similar to the one they tend to do when they see a predator. It was amazing to make some early morning images with these jackals. We were fortunate to spot them again next day.

The Jackals are subspecies of Golden Jackal and are native to India. Its fur is a mixture of black and white, with buff on the shoulders, ears and legs. The buff color 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.

Jackals are predominantly scavengers and when solitary they are also know to follow the tigers to share the kill & this is known as "Commensal Relationships".

Camera Used - Canon 1D Mark IV with Canon f4 500mm lens + 1.4x TC
EXIF : ISO 800 Av 5.6 Tv 1/160 sec, EC - 0.3, cropped for composition