the past the present and the future of golden jackal in...

The Past the Present and the Future of Golden Jackal in Hungary László Szabó, Miklós Heltai, József Lanszki

Szent István University Institute for Wildlife Conservation

University of Kaposvár

Department of Nature Conservation

What is it? A "Sacred" animal, or a "feared" Predator, or ...?

Fotó: Lanszki József

Introduction • The golden jackal became extinct in Hungary and the

most part of the Balkans and Central Europe by the middle of the 20th century.

• Settled down again in the southern region of Hungary in the nineties.

• The southern and eastern parts of the Balkan Peninsula seem to hold the largest populations of jackals.

• Greece, one of the region’s strongholds for the species, experienced a large-scale population decline in the last 3 decades.

The current distribution of the Golden Jackal and the possible directions of further spreading

Janosch Arnold, Anna Humer, Miklós Heltai, Dumitru Murariu, Nikolai Spassov, Klaus Hackländer 2010. Current status and distribution of golden jackals (Canis aureus L., 1758) in Europe. Mammal Review Accepted on 26 Jul 2010.

Questions

– What were the earlier occurrences of the golden jackal in Hungary like?

– What factors help its intensive spreading?

– Unlimited spreading? What is the limiting factor?

– Is there any impact on wildlife ?

– What can be expected in the future?

Materials and Methods • Studied the available and dominant food resources

• small mammal trapping (2001 - 2004)

• Diet composition (fox - jackal)

• scat – collecting and analysis (1997 - 2009)

• Studied the directions of spreading

• mail quastionnaire survey (1997 - 2006)

• hunting bag data (1997 - )

• acoustic survey (2004 - 2009)

• collected proof specimen (2000 - 2009)

• Post mortem examination (2000 - 2009)

• body measurements (fox - jackal)

• reproduction (placental scar)

- golden jackal - probably jackal - questionable

The occurrences of the Golden Jackal between 1800 and 1920

Béllye (1891)

Debrő (1882)

Tamás TÓTH, László KRECSÁK, Eleonóra SZŰCS, Miklós HELTAI and György HUSZÁR 2009. Records of the golden jackal (Canis aureus Linnaeus, 1758) in Hungary from 1800th until 2007, based on a literature survey. North-Western Journal of Zoology 5(2): 357-363. IF: 0.817

Tyukod (1937)

Derecse (1942)




Mail questionnaire

1997 2006

L. Szabó, M. Heltai, E. Szűcs, J. Lanszki and R. Lehoczki 2009. Expansion range of golden jackal in Hungary between 1997 and 2006. Mammalia 73. p. 307-311. IF.: 0.365.

Hunting bag data (source: Game Management Database, Gödöllő)

COUNTRY

R2 = 0,95

TRANSDANUBIA

R2 = 0,93

EAST FROM RIVER DANUBE

R2 = 0,91

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

hu

nti

ng

bag

(n

)

Country TransdanubiaEast from river Danube Expon. (Country)

Acoustic survey…

- The most answers: uncultivated lands, woodlands, bushy areas cultivated lands

- Stable population against fluctuation

- Highest estimated density: 13,6 sp / 1000 ha in Hungary (Hajós-Szentgyörgy 2005 autumn)

Density

L., Szabó, L., M. Heltai, and J. Lanszki 2008. Factors that influence the Golden jackal’s (Canis aureus L. 1758) spreading in Hungary. 92nd Annual Meeting of the German Society of Mammalogy. Mammalian Biology. Special Issue Vol. 73: 41 p. IF: 1.119

Changing of the group density in the study period

R2 = 0,3626

0

0,5

1

1,5

2

2,5

3

3,5

win

ter

au

tum

n

win

ter

au

tum

n

win

ter

au

tum

n

win

ter

su

mm

er

au

tum

n

win

ter

su

mm

er

au

tum

n

win

ter

2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

Gro

up

de

ns

ity

(g

rou

p/1

00

0h

a).

..........

Habitats

L., Szabó, M. Heltai, and J. Lanszki 2008. Factors that influence the Golden jackal’s (Canis aureus L. 1758) spreading in Hungary. 92nd Annual Meeting of the German Society of Mammalogy. Mammalian Biology. Special Issue Vol. 73: 41 p. IF: 1.119

Rivers' vallies as green corridors for jackals

Szabó, L., Heltai, M. és Lanszki, J. 2006. A Tisza, mint zöld folyosó szerepe az aranysakál magyarországi terjedésében. Vadbiológia, 12: 47-54.

Proof specimen in Hungary (2000-2009)

Source population Green corridor

New breeding pair

L., Szabó, M. Heltai, and J. Lanszki 2008. Factors that influence the Golden jackal’s (Canis aureus L. 1758) spreading in Hungary. 92nd Annual Meeting of the German Society of Mammalogy. Mammalian Biology. Special Issue Vol. 73: 41 p. IF: 1.119

Body size

Jackal Fox

Male Female Male Female

Body

weight (kg)

11,7±1,5

(n=19)

10,2±1,4

(n=14)

6,3±0,9

(n=247)

5,4±0,7

(n=268)

Body

length (cm)

84,8±8,0

(n=17)

79,0±3,8

(n=12)

71,6±5,6

(n=248)

68,0±4,6

(n=290)

Tail

length (cm)

23,9±3,3

(n=16)

24,0±3,3

(n=12)

41,7±4,5

(n=235)

40,5±4,0

(n=287)

Leg

length (cm)

43,3±2,7

(n=16)

41,8±3,1

(n=10)

41,9±2,4

(n=248)

39,9±2,1

(n=296)

L. Szabó, M. Heltai, J. Lanszki, E. Szűcs., 2007. An indigenous predator, the Golden jackal (Canis aureus L.1758) spreading like an invasive species in Hungary. Bulletin of University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine, Cluj-Napoca, Vol. 63-64: 230-235.

Basic data of reproduction

• Placental scar examination:

• Fox Jackal

• x: 4,9 x: 5,75

• Reproductive females

• 67 % 29 %

• n = 438 n = 14

• More inactive jackal females (than inactive fox females) alpha female

Szabó, L., Heltai, M.. and Lanszki, J. 2008. Factors that influence the Golden jackal’s (Canis aureus L. 1758) spreading in Hungary. 92nd Annual Meeting of the German Society of Mammalogy. Mammalian Biology. Special Issue Vol. 73: 41 p. IF: 1.119

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Wi Sp Su Au Wi Sp Su Au Wi Sp Su Au Wi Sp Su Au

75 46 67 100123 44 49 37 40 36 28 27 58 21 27 36

2001 2002 2003 2004

Plants

Other prey

Domestic animals

Birds

Wild ungulates

Small mammalsBiom

ass

cons

umed

n

a) JACKAL a) JACKAL a) JACKAL

Jackal

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Wi Sp Su Au Wi Sp Su Au Wi Sp Su Au Wi Sp Su Au

64 27 73 104 131 53 64 59 46 33 47 49 50 27 29 35

2001 2002 2003 2004

Biom

ass

cons

umed

n

Fox

J. Lanszki, M. Heltai, and L. Szabó 2006. Feeding habits and trophic niche overlap between sympatric golden jackal (Canis aureus) and red fox (Vulpes vulpes) in the Pannonian ecoregion (Hungary). Canadian Journal of Zoology, 84(11): 1647-1656. IF.: 1,393.

254 sp/ha

2 sp/ha

Feeding habits

Feeding habits

Food Jackal Fox Δ P

77,2 68,1 9,1 **

1,4 2,7 -1,3 ns

9,0 4,9 4,1 **

2,0 1,3 0,7 ns

0,5 1,8 -1,3 ns

0,5 0,9 -0,4 ns

0,1 0,2 -0,1 ***

5,1 2,7 2,4 ns

0,1 0,5 -0,4 ***

5,6 18,2 -12,6 ***

Feeding Habits

Generalist, adapting to local abundance of food resources

a) JACKAL a) JACKAL a) JACKAL

H,K,H

1%

Ragadozó

3%Nyúl

4%

Kisemlős

6%

Nagyvad

6%

Növény

6%

Gerinct.

1%

Háziállat

37%

Madár

36%

J. Lanszki, G. Giannatos, M. Heltai, A. Legakis. 2009. Diet composition of golden jackals during cub-rearing season in Mediterranean marshland, in Greece. Mammalian Biology 74(1): 72-75. IF.: 1.387.

R, A, F

Birds

ungulates

Small mammals

hare predator

invertebrates

Domestic animal

Plant materials

Questions and Answers

– What were the eariler occurrences of the golden jackal in Hungary? • Sporadic occurrences

– Is there any impact on wildlife ? • Eating small mammals, but…

– What factors help its intensive spreading? • No competitors; stronger than the red fox, better reproduction

strategy; habitat and food generalist

– Unlimited spreading? What is the limiting factor? • Habitat without hiding place – intensive agricultural areas

– What can be expected in the future? • Common predator species with countrywide occurrence

the past the present and the future of golden jackal in...

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