On one of our recent safaris, one of our rangers stumbled across another skulk of Black backed Jackal pups.

There were 6 young ones, roughly a few weeks old, busy running around being curious about their new surroundings close to the den, while the adults were lying around being lazy and making sure that the young ones don’t go wondering off too far!

In the evenings when the adult pair went off scavenging for food, the young Jackals practice the same thing around the den, catching creatures ranging from insects and lizards to other small creatures.

The interesting part for us was how curious they were about the game drive vehicles! We would stop roughly 20m away from them and they would gradually get more and more curious, until they were literally standing next to the vehicle!

A fantastic sighting for all of us, as is normal when there is babies of any kind involved.

The Big 5 are an incredible group of animals to look for but there’s so much more to nature than just seeking out the Big 5, and these little Jackals are a fine example of that!

Tim Verryenne

Head Ranger – Kapama Main