Black-backed jackal
| Common name | Scientific name | Average weight of adult male | Average length or shoulder height | Diet | How do they live | Feeding time | Gestation period | Number of young at birth |
| Jackal, black-backed | Canis mesomelas | 8 kg | 38 cm | carnivorous | solitary or pairs | day/night | 2 months | 4 pups |
They occur all over South Africa and you hear them calling each other at night. Males and females would form long-term relationships and mark their territories.
They are unmistakable with their reddish colour, black and white saddle and thick black tail.
Even though they scavenge and usually appear like magic after a successful kill by a larger predator they hunt the lambs of various antelopes and they do kill sheep, goats and chickens. By doing so many farmers hunt them relentlessly. Furthermore they would eat insects, rodents, birds and reptiles. In other words they are opportunistic feeders.