Chacal Commun

The Golden Jackal probably colonised Europe during the early Holocene (Spassov 1989, Sommer and Benecke 2005). Early remains were found in southern Greece and in Dalmatia in Croatia (Krofel et al. 2017). Golden Jackals remained limited to the small coastal areas of the Mediterranean and Black seas and their numbers were low until the 19th century, probably restricted by the presence of the Grey Wolf (Krofel et al. 2017). The first expansion into the Pannonian basin was detected in the 19th century. The expansion increased after World War II and has been very rapid since the 1970s, especially for the Pannonian-Balkan subpopulation. The estimated population size for Europe is between 97,000 and 117,000 Golden Jackals, of which approximately 84,000 are within the EU 27 (LCIE 2018). These are distributed in four subpopulations.

1. Pannonian-Balkan
According to an evaluation of the population in 2012-2016 (LCIE 2018), the subpopulation is estimated to be between 95,000 and 114,000 jackals and is increasing rapidly. The vast majority of the population is located in Bulgaria (46,000-61,000). Another five countries had high numbers of individuals: Serbia (c. 20,000), Hungary (c. 14,000), Romania (c. 10,000), Croatia (3,300-6,700) and Greece (c. 800). Numbers are also increasing in Bosnia and Herzegovina (300-500), Slovenia (150-350), Estonia (27 family groups in 2020; Männil and Ranc 2022) and North Macedonia (40-80). Few animals occur in Austria (minimum three family groups; Hatlauf et al. 2017). The population size of jackals in Slovakia is unknown but is growing (Urban et al. 2016, Guimarães et al. 2019). The first reproduction was recently detected in Czechia (Jirku et al. 2018), in Poland (Kowalczyk et al. 2020) and in Germany. The subpopulation is growing very rapidly as shown by temporal data. Relict populations in southeastern Bulgaria started to spread in the early 1960s. The distribution range increased 33-fold between 1962 and 1985, at accelerating rates (Kryštufek et al. 1997). In Serbia, the rapid expansion started at the beginning of the 1980s. Population estimates derived from hunting bag statistics suggest an exponential population growth (Ćirović et al. 2008, Heltai et al. 2013). Reproductive populations are now established throughout most of Serbia (Ćirović et al. 2008), where only vagrants are recorded. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, the population has been reported to be increasing since 2000 with an average 35% annual growth in hunting records. The highest densities are reported for the northern part of the country (Trbojević et al. 2018). In Hungary, the species went extinct in the middle of the 20th century, naturally recolonised in the 1990s, and is now expanding very rapidly (Heltai et al. 2000, Heltai et al. 2004). Golden Jackals were first noticed in Estonia and Latvia in 2011 and were thought to be the result of natural expansion (Rutkowski et al. 2015, Männil and Ranc 2022).

2. Adriatic
Throughout the 20th century, the subpopulation was gradually increasing and expanding towards the northwest from its historic stronghold, in southern Dalmatia, Croatia (Kryštufek and Tvrtković 1990). In 2016, the population was estimated to be 2,000-2,700 jackals and continues to increase (LCIE 2018). The vast majority of the population is located on the coast of Croatia (c. 1,300-1,600), mainly in Dalmatia (LCIE 2018). Golden Jackals are also present in Montenegro (400-700), mainland Greece (c. 120), southern Bosnia and Herzegovina (c.100) and western Slovenia (50-150). A few family groups occur in Italy (c. 3-9).

3. Peloponnese
The subpopulation in the Peloponnese declined between the 1980s and the early 2000s (Giannatos 2004, Giannatos et al. 2005). Since then, the subpopulation is increasing and there were an estimated 100-120 jackal family groups i.e., 400-480 individuals in 2015 (LCIE 2018).

4. Samos Island
The subpopulation of Golden Jackal on Samos Island is small, estimated in 2015 to be around 20 jackal family groups (i.e., around 80 individuals) and is thought to be stable (Giannatos et al. 2005, LCIE 2018). Golden Jackals most likely colonised Samos Island from nearby Türkiye (1.7 km away). Their presence was already reported during the 18th and 19th centuries (Masseti 2012). Their low genetic variability suggests that the subpopulation may be isolated from the mainland (Rutkowski et al. 2015).