The range of the species is changing. But how to explain that such an animal is found in Finistère?
It all started with an automatic shot taken in an educational farm in southern Finistère last spring. A camera trap surprised an amazing animal: a little too big to be a fox, but too small to be a wolf. Besides, he didn’t have the dark paws like a fox, when he sported the same ears and the same tail as a wolf. The photo was therefore closely analyzed. Specialists have just confirmed it: it is indeed a golden jackal, which was spotted in this Breton farm.
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Its presence in Brittany is a first, but it confirms what the French Office for Biodiversity has been sensing for several years: this species tends to extend its territory from the Balkans and central Europe to Western Europe and North. Populations of jackals are already installed in Italy or Switzerland, says Patrick Hoffner, mammal specialist at the Natural History Museum. And around fifteen observations of isolated animals have been carried out in France for five years, in Haute-Savoie, Deux-Sèvres, Bouches-du-Rhône in Essonne, in particular. But without it being possible to know at this stage, how many jackals are exploring our country.
No known case of golden jackal attack on humans
According to observations made in Eastern Europe, this animal attacks farms less than foxes or wolves. In the wild, it is very good at feeding on small prey, but also
game carcasses or rubbish in the bins sometimes. To date, there are no known cases of golden jackal attack on humans.
In France, for the moment, it is neither protected nor huntable. It has no status since it does not officially exist. If its presence is confirmed, it will be necessary to clarify this legal vagueness, and to see how it fits into our ecosystem and its cohabitation in particular with the wolf and the fox.