Skip to main content

Population densities and habitat use of the golden jackal (Canis aureus) in farmlands across the Balkan Peninsula

European Journal of Wildlife Research volume 60, pages 193–200 (2014)Cite this article

Abstract

The main objective of this study was to analyze the habitat use and population densities of the golden jackal in four countries across lowland regions of the Balkan Peninsula, known as the core area of the species' distribution in Europe. Using indirect (acoustic) method for detecting territorial golden jackals, we surveyed jackal presence and densities on 331 monitoring sites in four countries, covering area an of 4,296 km2 in total during April and May 2007–2012. We used GIS to assess landscape and environmental characteristics in a 2-km circular buffer (12.6 km2) around calling stations. Average population density of golden jackals in the study areas ranged between 0.6 and 1.1 territorial groups/10 km2 (mean ± SE, 0.6 ± 0.06 groups/10 km2), with several high-density areas with up to 4.8 territorial groups/10 km2. Analysis of habitat use showed that for both jackal occurrence and number of jackal groups, the only significant parameter was the interaction between country and intensity of agriculture, indicating that jackals adapt their habitat selection patterns in relation to the habitat availability. We observed that selection of the more suitable habitats (shrub–herbaceous vegetation/heterogeneous agricultural vegetation) increased with lower proportion of these habitat types in the study area. Our study confirms high habitat plasticity of the golden jackal and offers explanation for its recent range expansion, which might be connected with the land use changes during the last decades in the Balkan Peninsula.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

Access options

Buy single article

Instant access to the full article PDF.

USD 39.95

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

References

  • Alain B, Gilles P, Yannick D (2006) Factors driving small rodent's assemblages from field boundaries in agricultural landscapes of Western France. Landscape Ecol 21:449–461

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Arnold J, Humer A, Heltai M, Murariu D, Spassov N, Hackländer K (2012) Current status and distribution of golden jackals Canis aureus in Europe. Mammal Rev 42:1–11

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Banea OC, Krofel M, Červinka J, Gargarea P, Szabó L (2012) New records, first estimates of densities and questions of applied ecology for jackals in Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve and hunting terrains from Romania. Acta Zool Bulg 64:353–366

    Google Scholar 

  • CORINE 2006 seamless vector dataset. http://www.eea.europa.eu/data-and-maps/data/clc-2006-vector-data-version-2

  • Červinka J, Šálek M, Pavluvčík P, Kreisinger J (2011) The fine-scale utilization of forest edges by mammalian mesopredators related to patch size and conservation issues in Central European farmland. Biodivers Conserv 20:3459–3475

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Červinka J, Šálek M, Padyšáková E, Šmilauer P (2013) The effects of local and landscape-scale habitat characteristics and prey availability on corridor use by carnivores: a comparison of two contrasting farmlands. J Nat Conserv 21:105–113

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ćirović D, Milenković M, Paunović M, Penezić A (2008) Present distribution and factors of range spread of golden jackal (Canis aureus L. 1758) in Serbia. In: Hunting Association of Serbia (Ed.), Proceedings of the International Conference on large carnivores, Žagubica, pp. 93–102 (In Serbian with English summary)

  • ESRI (2011) ArcGIS Desktop: Release 10. Redlands, CA: Environmental Systems Research Institute

  • Giannatos G (2004) Conservation action plan for the golden jackal Canis aureus L. in Greece. WWF Greece, Athens

  • Giannatos G, Marinos Y, Maragou P, Catsasorakis G (2005) The golden jackal (Canis aureaus L.) in Greece. Belg J Zool 135:145–149

    Google Scholar 

  • Harrington FH, Mech LD (1982) An analysis of howling response parameters useful for wolf pack censusing. J Wildl Manage 46:686–693

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huck M, Jedrzejewski W, Borowik T, Jedrzejewska B, Nowak S, Myslajek RW (2011) Analyses of least cost paths for determining effects of habitat types on landscape permeability: wolves in Poland. Acta Theriol 56:91–101

    PubMed Central  PubMed  Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jhala YV, Moehlman PD (2004) Golden jackal Canis aureus. In: Sillero-Zubiri C, Hoffmann M, Macdonald D (eds) Canids: Foxes, Wolves. Jackals and Dogs Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan. IUCN/SSC Canid Specialist Group Gland, Switzerland, pp 156–161

    Google Scholar 

  • Krofel M (2008) Survey of golden jackals (Canis aureus L.) in Northern Dalmatia, Croatia: preliminary results. Natura Croatica 17:259–264

    Google Scholar 

  • Kryštufek B, Murariu D, Kurtonur C (1997) Present distribution of the golden jackal Canis aureus in the Balkans and adjacent regions. Mammal Rev 27:109–114

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kuemmerle T, Müller D, Griffiths P, Rusu M (2009) Land-use change in Southern Romania after the collapse of socialism. Reg Environ Change 9:1–12

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lanszki J, Giannatos G, Heltai M, Legakis A (2009) Diet composition of golden jackals during cub-rearing season in Mediterranean marshland, in Greece. Mamm Biol 74:72–75

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Markov G, Lanszki J (2012) Diet composition of the golden jackal Canis aureus in an agricultural environment. Folia Zool 61:44–48

    Google Scholar 

  • Müller D, Kuemmerle T, Rusu M, Griffith P (2009) Lost in transition: determinants of cropland abandonment in postsocialist Romania. J Land Use Sci 4:109–128

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Python Software Foundation (2012) Python Language Reference, version 2.6. http://www.python.org. Accessed Aug 2012

  • QGIS (2012) Quantum GIS Geographic Information System. Open Source Geospatial Foundation Project. http://qgis.osgeo.org

  • R Development Core Team (2009) R: A language and environment for statistical computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria, http://www.R-project.org. ISBN 3-900051-07-0

    Google Scholar 

  • Sillero-Zubiri C, Reynolds J, Novaro A (2004) Management and control of canids near people. In: Macdonald DW, Sillero-Zubiri C (eds) Biology and conservation of wild canids. Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp 17–40

    Google Scholar 

  • Simeneh G (2010) Habitat use and diet of golden jackal (Canis aureus) and human-carnivore conflict in Guassa community conservation area, Menz. MSc.Thesis, Addis Ababa University. Addis Ababa

  • StatSoft Inc (2010) STATISTICA (data analysis software system), version 9.1. www.statsoft.com

  • Stoyanov S (2012) Golden jackal (Canis aureus) in Bulgaria. Current status, distribution, demography and diet. International symposium on hunting, “Мodern aspects of sustainable management of game population” Zemun-Belgrade, Serbia, 22–24 June, 2012. pp 48–56

  • Szabó L, Heltai M, Lanszki J, Szűcs E (2007) An indigenous predator, the golden jackal (Canis aureus L. 1758) spreading like an invasive species in Hungary. Bulletin USAMV-CN, 63–64

  • Šálek M, Kreisinger J, Sedláček F, Albrecht T (2009) Corridor vs. hayfield matrix use by mammalian predators in an agricultural landscape. Agr Ecosyst Environ 134:8–13

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Šálek M, Kreisinger J, Sedláček F, Albrecht T (2010) Do foraging opportunities determine preferences of mammalian predators for habitat edges in an agricultural landscape? Landscape Urban Plan 98:86–91

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • ter Braak CJF, Šmilauer P (1998) CANOCO release 4. Reference manual and user's guide to Canoco for Windows: software for canonical community ordination. Microcomputer Power, Ithaca

Download references

Acknowledgments

We are grateful to Aleš Lipičnik, Nadja Osojnik, and Aleš Sedlar for their help in the field. We thank Giorgos Giannatos, Nikolai Spassov, Luca Lapini, Stoyan Stoyanov, and Dumitru Murariu for their scientific and technical advice. We would also like to thank Marina Kipson for editing the English manuscript. This work was supported by the research aim of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic (RVO 68081766), by the grant of Grant Agency of University of South Bohemia 168/2013/P and Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Serbia (Contract TR 31009).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Vertebrate Biology, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Květná 8, 603 65, Brno, Czech Republic

    Martin Šálek

  2. Faculty of Agriculture, Applied Ecology Laboratory, University of South Bohemia, Studentská 13, 370 05, České Budějovice, Czech Republic

    Jaroslav Červinka

  3. Administration of Třeboňsko PLA, Nature Conservation Agency of the Czech Republic, Valy 121, 379 01, Třeboň, Czech Republic

    Jaroslav Červinka

  4. Ecology Department of Crispus NGO Sibiu, Str. Papiu Ilarian 14, Sibiu, Romania

    Ovidiu C. Banea

  5. Biotechnical Faculty, University of Ljubljana, Večna pot 83, 1001, Ljubljana, Slovenia

    Miha Krofel

  6. University of Belgrade, Faculty of Biology, Studentski trg 16, 11000, Belgrade, Serbia

    Duško Ćirović & Aleksandra Penezić

  7. Association BIOM, Bianknijeva 12/b, 10000, Zagreb, Croatia

    Ivana Selanec

  8. Department of Ecosystem Biology, Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, Branišovská 31, 370 05, České Budějovice, Czech Republic

    Stanislav Grill

  9. Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, Branišovská 31, 370 05, České Budějovice, Czech Republic

    Jan Riegert

Authors
  1. Martin Šálek
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Jaroslav Červinka
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Ovidiu C. Banea
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Miha Krofel
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Duško Ćirović
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Ivana Selanec
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Aleksandra Penezić
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Stanislav Grill
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. Jan Riegert
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Martin Šálek.

Additional information

Communicated by C. Gortázar

Appendices

Appendix 1

Variables used to analyze habitat preferences of golden jackal in the study areas according to Corine Land Cover classes.

Table 5 Variables used to analyze habitat preferences of golden jackal in the study areas according with Corine Land Cover classes
Full size table

Appendix 2

Fig. 1
figure 1

Number of golden jackal groups on individual monitoring sites in studied countries

Full size image

Appendix 3

Fig. 2
figure 2

Agricultural intensity (score from the first ordination axis of PCA) at occupied/unoccupied counting points for (a) Romania, (b) Bulgaria, (c) Croatia, and (d) Serbia. Whiskers—non-outlier range, boxes—25–75 % of data, squares—median. For each country, we performed Mann–Whitney U test, and statistical significances are noted within graphs

Full size image

Appendix 4

Fig. 3
figure 3

Relationships between agricultural intensity (score from the first ordination axis of PCA) and number of jackal groups for (a) Romania, (b) Bulgaria, (c) Croatia, and (d) Serbia. Significant relationship was found only for Serbia (simple regressions, statistical significances are noted within graphs)

Full size image

Appendix 5

Medians for proportions of each occupied/unoccupied habitat type related to the agricultural intensity with statistical significance (Mann–Whitney U tests), and analyses of the effect of habitat type on number of jackal groups. P values below P = 0.05 are in italics. Arable arable land, Hetero heterogeneous agricultural vegetation, Shrubs shrub–herbaceous vegetation.

Table 6 Medians for proportions of each occupied/unoccupied habitat type related to the agricultural intensity with statistical significance (Mann–Whitney U tests), and analyses of the effect of habitat type on number of jackal groups
Full size table

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Šálek, M., Červinka, J., Banea, O.C. et al. Population densities and habitat use of the golden jackal (Canis aureus) in farmlands across the Balkan Peninsula. Eur J Wildl Res 60, 193–200 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10344-013-0765-0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10344-013-0765-0

Keywords

  • Golden jackal
  • Acoustic monitoring
  • Population density
  • Habitat use
  • GIS
  • Farmland
  • Balkan Peninsula