THE NATIONAL RED LIST OF NORTH MACEDONIA

Golden jackal

Canis aureus

Macedonian

Чакал

Albanian

Çakalli i artë

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Not evaluated DATA DEFICIENT Least concern Near threatened Vulnerable Endangered Critically endangered Extinct in the wild Extinct
NE DD LC NT VU EN CR EW EX
Taxonomy
Assessment info
Population
Habitat and Ecology
Threats
Use and Trade
Conservation Actions
Bibliography

Taxonomy

Scientific name

Canis aureus

Authority

Linnaeus, 1758

Synonyms

/

Assessment info

IUCN Red List Category and Criteria

DD

Date assessed

December 2020

Assessors

Dime Melovski

Aleksandar Stojanov

Aleksandar Pavlov

Reviewers

Nathan Ranc

Contributors

Vasko Avukatov

Facilitators

Marteen P.G. Hofman

Justification

Golden jackal has made a remarkable comeback in the European landscapes. Its continuous expansion has reached many parts of central and even western and northern Europe. As part of this south-north expansion range, North Macedonia is characterized by ample suitable habitats and food for the highly tolerant and omnivorous golden jackal (Ranc et al.2017). The main population is found in the central part of the country, along Vardar River, but presence of golden jackals have been detected in the east and west of the country. However, there is still lack of comprehensive distribution data and the species might be more widely distributed across the country.
There are no official population estimates for the golden jackal. The population size estimate of 300 individuals is arbitrary, but extrapolated on the basis of the estimate done for the global golden jackal assessment. As there is very limited information on the size and distribution of the golden jackal population in N. Macedonia, the species is listed in the category data deficient (DD). Future monitoring and research are needed in order to evaluate the robustness of the expert-based estimates presented in this assessment but most importantly, to avoid potentially undetected decline of the species. Awareness-raising and education are crucial in the country, because the golden jackal suffers from a very negative reputation among the local livestock breeders and hunters.

Population

Current population trend

Increasing.

Description

There are no official data for the size of golden jackal population in N. Macedonia. On the other hand, estimating population size of a species that is still increasing its distribution range and varying in population densities is very difficult. In the global assessment (Hoffmann et al., 2018), estimated population size for Europe is 70,000 individuals. In order to come up with an approximation for North Macedonia, we summed up the territories for each European country in which the jackals are extant, and calculated the population size based on the relation between the surface area of North Macedonia and the total number of jackals in all of Europe (70,000 individuals). The resulting estimate is 300 individuals. However, this is an arbitrary estimate and needs to be verified in future by additional population surveys.

Habitat and Ecology

System

Terrestrial.

Habitat and Ecology

Throughout their range, golden jackals can inhabit a variety of habitats, ranging from semi-arid environments to forested, agricultural, rural, and semi-urban habitats (Hoffmann et al., 2018). The success of its wide expansion is also its omnivorous diet and tolerance of human presence (Cirovic, 2016). The extermination and low abundance of wolves in Europe is probably another reason for the successful extension of the golden jackal population in Europe. The above mentioned factors are also relevant for North Macedonia. Our hard facts of golden jackal presence point to a variety of ecosystems (lowland wetlands and swamps, to mountain areas of Mavrovo), and the camera-traps disclosed anecdotal evidence of jackal’s diet in the country.

Use and trade

Use and trade

There is no use and trade information for the species in North Macedonia. Currently, the species is strictly protected by the Law on Hunting, but this may change in the near future due to the high pressure of hunters to delist the species.

Threats

Threats

Although the expansion of the golden jackal in Europe is evident (Trouwborst et al., 2015; Krofel et al., 2017), the new predator, in areas where it was gone for centuries, has caused non-acceptance in the local hunting and farming communities. In North Macedonia, the golden jackal is considered a pest species (unpublished data) and it is widely persecuted despite the legal protection status (pers. obs.). In total, five road kills were documented in the last 8 years. One more threat that can cause a population decline is poisoning. Some farmers use poison baits for pest control and mostly to reduce livestock loss. The baits usually target wolves. So far, there has been a single evidence (case) of three poisoned golden jackals in North Macedonia.

Conservation actions

Conservation actions

The golden jackal is included in Annex V of EU Habitats Directive. On national level, the species is categorized as permanently protected game species according the Law on Hunting. No action or management plan exist for the species in North Macedonia.

Bibliography

Bibliography

Hoffmann, M., Arnold, J., Duckworth, J.W., Jhala, Y., Kamler, J.F. & Krofel, M. 2018. Canis aureus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

Ivanov, G., Karamanlidis, A.A., Stojanov, A., Melovski, D. and Avukatov, V. 2016. The re-establishment of the golden jackal (Canis aureus) in FYR Macedonia: Implications for conservation. Mammalian Biology 81: 326-330.

Krofel, M., Giannatos, G., Ćirovič, D., Stoyanov, S. and Newsome, T. 2017. Golden jackal expansion in Europe: a case of mesopredator release triggered by continent-wide wolf persecution? Hystrix, the Italian Journal of Mammalogy 28(1): 9-15.

Kryštufek, B. & Petkovski, S. 2003. Annotated Checklist of the Mammals of the Republic of Macedonia. Bonner zoologische Beiträge 51: 229-254.

Lanszki, J., Schally, G., Heltai, M. & Ranc, N. 2018. Golden jackal expansion in Europe: First telemetry evidence of a natal dispersal. Mammalian Biology 88: 81-84.
Trouwborst, A., Krofel, M. and Linnell, J.D.C. 2015. Legal implications of range expansions in a terrestrial carnivore: the case of the golden jackal (Canis aureus) in Europe. Biodiversity and Conservation 24: 2593-2610.

Ranc, N., Álvares, F., Banea, O., Berce, T., Cagnacci, F., Červinka, J., Ćirović, D., Cosic, N., Giannatos, G., Hatlauf, J., Heltai, M., Ivanov, G., Lanszki, J., Lapini, L., Maiorano, L., Melovski, D., Migli, D., Mladenovič, J., Acosta-Pankov, I., Penezic, A., Petrova, A., Šalek, M., Selanec, I., Selimovic, A., Stojanov, A., Szabo, L., Trbojevic, I., Trbojevic, T and Krofel, M. 2017. The golden jackal (Canis aureus) in Europe: predicting habitat suitability of a rapidly establishing carnivore. 33rd IUBG Congress, Montpellier, France: 320-322.

Trouwborst, A., Krofel, M. and Linnell, J.D.C. 2015. Legal implications of range expansions in a terrestrial carnivore: the case of the golden jackal (Canis aureus) in Europe. Biodiversity and Conservation 24: 2593-2610.

Ćirović, D., Penezić, A. & Krofel, M. 2016. Jackals as cleaners: Ecosystem services provided by a mesocarnivore in human-dominated landscapes. Biological Conservation 199: 51-55.