Golden Jackal in Estonia – is it just a joke?

From the beginning of 2013 Estonian natural fauna got a new mammal species – Golden Jackal!  So how did it happen?  A group of hunters from Hanila community (West-Estonia) shot an adult specimen before they ever understood that they had made the history.  A DNA check didn't match any of the data from  the zoos, so it had to have arrived along natural pathways. The closest populations to Estonia – in Hungary and in Ukraine - were descovered in the 1990s, therefore the animals have had every opportunity to move here along the riversides, swamps and forests. 

Photo: Margus Viipsi / Source: Estonian Daily News

Shy animals who always keep low profile, inhabiting shrubs and reedbeds – they can be very hard to notice.  It was their specific high-pitch howling before hunting trips and in the mating season, that made local people aware of them in 2010, but the origin of the voice was hard to distinguish.

Jackal's natural enemy is wolf and that's why they are most often met in areas where wolves are  more scarce. 

In 2014 several sightings from north, north-east and south Estonia were recorded. It seems that the Jackals arrived some years ago and is likely to be here to stay.  By the end of 2014 they were recorded on Saaremaa Island.

There are concerns about problems that may result from the arrival of this species for example in Matsalu National Park this species may devastate the local amphibian fauna, especially the reintroduced Natterjack Toad population.