The golden jackal, a newcomer to France that could establish itself permanently

On March 14, two amateur photographers came across a mammal while walking in the Seine Estuary National Nature Reserve in Seine-Maritime. "We took out our cameras and photographed what we could," they told France 3 Baie de Seine. Dog? Wolf? The two women hesitated and sent their images to the association responsible for protecting the park, which, in turn, contacted the French Office for Biodiversity (OFB). The experts' verdict: the animal was a golden jackal. A species of canid smaller than the wolf but larger than the fox, with rounded ears, a pointed snout, and a short tail. On April 3, the OFB announced, this time, that a golden jackal had appeared in an image taken by a camera trap in the Hérault department.

Since 2017, Canis aureus have been spotted sporadically in France. They have now been seen in every region except Burgundy-Franche-Comté. In total, around 80 records (images and other verified information) confirm the presence of this new mammal species, which had never previously lived in the country.

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