Zorg voor jonge dieren
In East Africa young are born year round, but birth
Litters number up to six but usually average two to
four. It takes about 10 days for the infants' eyes to open, and
for the first few weeks of life they remain in the thickets or
holes where they were born. At about 3 weeks they begin to spend
time outside playing with their litter-mates. At first the games
are clumsy attempts at wrestling, pawing and biting. As they
become more coordinated, they ambush and pounce, play tug of war
and chase each other. The mother changes den sites about every
two weeks, so the young are less likely to be found by
predators.
The pups are suckled and fed regurgitated food until they are
about 2 months. By 3 months they no longer use the den, but
start to follow their parents, slowly learning the territory and
observing hunting behavior. By 6 months, they are hunting on
their own. Their parents, however, continue to feed, groom and
play with them.
Sometimes pups stay with their parents and help raise their
younger brothers and sisters. At times they bring back food to
their younger siblings or babysit them while the parents hunt
for food. Most pup deaths occur during the first 14 weeks of
life, so the presence of helpers increases the survival rate.
Roofdieren
Leopards, hyenas and eagles are jackals' most feared
predators. Eagles are small pups biggest threat.
Wist je dat?
- Jackals are noisy. Family or pack members communicate with
each other by a screaming yell and yapping, or a sirenlike
howl when a kill is located.
- Jackals are very cunning and resourceful. Although usually
considered scavengers-they do pick over kills made by large
carnivores and frequent rubbish dumps-they also hunt and kill
a variety of prey.
