MyKrugerHoliday
Photo: Giles Laurent · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source ↗
Black-backed Jackal
Rooijakkals · Lupulella mesomelas
A slim, fox-like dog with reddish legs and a striking black-and-silver saddle running down its back. Black-backed jackals are clever, bold survivors who eat almost anything, from beetles and mice to fruit and the scraps left by lions. They often trot along roadsides at dawn and dusk, and their eerie, wailing howls are a classic sound of the African night.
Log your Black-backed Jackal sighting — free →How to identify it
Look for the dark, silver-flecked 'saddle' on its back, edged sharply against rusty-red sides.
Look for its tracks
Neat little dog print, four toes with claws; small and oval, often trotting in a straight line.
Where to see it in Kruger
Common in open grassland and around waterholes throughout the park, seen most often at dawn, dusk, and night.
Did you know
Mated pairs stay together for life and raise their pups as a devoted team.
Often confused with
See it? Log it — free.
MyKrugerHoliday is a free, offline field guide and one-tap sighting log for a Kruger self-drive. No ads, no account, works with no signal.