Jackal

Nikon 750+150-600 ISO 800 F/8 1/250s.Jackal in Pench

Nice sighting of this elusive predator. Its good that you captured the moment when it turned towards you, but I think due to the movement, the sharpness is slightly low. Maybe a wider aperture like f7.1 or a higher ISO would have helped to get a better shutter speed to freeze the movement. Look forward to see more from Pench. Thanks for sharing.

The same head turn, as seen by me in the outskirts of Kolkata. Nice take. Thanks for sharing. SaktiWild

The moment you look into their eyes you can make out that this is an intelligent species. I respect their tenacity as well. There was a time when Jackals were numerous. These days sighting of a jackal is also a big thing in many places. Thanks for sharing.

Cheers,
Sabyasachi

You're right Sabyasachi. In older days kings used to declare rewards to those who killed jackals. Anybody who produced any proof of a jackal kill was rewarded. This was done to protect the villagers and cattle from attacks from the vast jackal population. This led to a sharp decline in the species. Maybe that's why they've become so wary of humans and thus very difficult to sight.

All I can speak is that the timing of the captured image is perfect.