The golden jackal, pictured here in Tanzania, has arrived on French territory.

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Scott K Macleod / REX / REX / SIPA

It is an animal halfway between fox and wolf ... A golden jackal, historically present from Asia to Europe but not in France, was observed at the end of 2020 in Deux-Sèvres.

This would be the third location of this canine in the country, confirming colonization towards the West, authorities announced on Tuesday.

On December 31, "a photo trap recorded a video attesting to the presence of a golden jackal in the town of Clussais-la-Pommeraie", in the south of the neighboring department of Charente, said the prefecture of Deux-Sèvres. and the French Biodiversity Office (OFB).

International experts on the species of the golden jackal (

Canis aureus

), including those from the OFB, were asked to authenticate the animal, based on images from the Federation of Hunters of Deux-Sèvres.

"His appearance is close to the wolf, but his behavior brings him closer to the fox"

The golden jackal, the OFB explains, can weigh 7 to 17 kg with a height at the withers of 45-50 cm, taller than a fox, but with a shorter and less bushy tail.

"Its appearance, its coat, is a little closer to the wolf, but its behavior, its food, rather brings it closer to the fox", explained Yoan Bressan, specialist "Small and medium carnivores" at the OFB.

"It is a scavenger and an opportunistic predator like the fox, which can hunt small preys", lives rather isolated or in pairs than in packs like the wolf, with "a behavior of discretion similar to the red fox", adds- he does.

Favoring small preys and carrion, it can "only exceptionally represent a threat to flocks, a sheep is already big for it".

Colonization phase north and west from the Balkans

Historically present over a vast area from Asia to South-Eastern Europe, the jackal has for about fifty years started a phase of progressive colonization towards the north and west, from the Balkans.

In France, observations of isolated individuals were authenticated in Haute-Savoie on three occasions, in 2017, 2018 and 2019, and another confirmed at the end of 2020 in the Bouches-du-Rhône.

With the Deux-Sèvres animal, these are "the most western signs of presence known to date", according to the OFB.

Under the terms of the European Fauna-Habitat directive of 1992, the golden jackal is "part of the European natural heritage", if it is not threatened, states have an obligation to "maintain its population in a good state of conservation".

In France, where it is considered a “new species”, but “not exotic introduced by humans”, it is “neither huntable nor trappable”.

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