Proceedings of the National Museum of Natural History, 2014, Nr 12, pages 100–105

Golden Jackal (Canis aureus) in Ukraine: Modern Expansion and Status of Species

Zagorodniuk I.

Summary:
The golden jackal (Canis aureus) refers to species that are unknown in fauna surveys of Ukraine at any time, and therefore it can be regarded as an alien species. All available sources of current appearance and features of the expansion of this species in Ukraine are analyzed. This species was first recorded in 1998 in the Danube Delta, whence it has spread into adjacent areas of Northern Black Sea. Further ways of the jackal’s expansion were investigated by using cartographic materials, which were indexed by the dates of the first registration of the jackal. Such analysis suggests three independent directions and waves of the jackal’s expansion in Ukraine: Danube-to-Polissia (the most powerful), Don-to-Donets (average power), and Zakarpattia (the weakest). The species "passed" all the territory of Ukraine during 10–15 years, and today the general outline of its reconstructed area covers more than 50 % of the country. Analysis of ancient sources suggests that the species is not new for the fauna of Ukraine, and it was in its composition during the Cossack era, at least in the 16th–18th centuries. Key diagnostic features of the species that are important for the diagnosis of samples in the field are presented.

Keywords:
golden jackal, Canis aureus, expansion, Ukraine.

Corresponding author address:
National Museum of Natural History, NAS of Ukraine; Bohdan Khmelnytsky St. 15, Kyiv, 01030 Ukraine; e-mail: zoozag@ukr.net

summary ukr., summary ros., summary eng, pdf

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