🐺 The golden jackal colonizes Europe, seen in France and Norway

Historically present in southeastern Europe, the golden jackal was observed in France for the first time in 2017. An international study, coordinated by a scientist from INRAE, shows that the presence of this canid is expanding across the European continent partly thanks to human activities, which allow it to escape a dominant predator and competitor, the wolf.

The scientists studied a dataset combining listening points, climatic and landscape variables, and wolf presence from nearly 9,000 sites across 13 European countries to identify the factors influencing the distribution of the golden jackal. Their results, published in Nature Ecology & Evolution, show that the presence of the wolf is the main factor limiting the expansion of the golden jackal.


However, when wolves are present, jackals concentrate more near inhabited areas where human activities limit the negative effect of wolves on jackals, producing a "human shield" effect. The scientists' projections indicate that nearly 75% of European landscapes are potentially favorable for the golden jackal.

The golden jackal is an opportunistic canid with a diverse diet, primarily composed of rodents but also carcasses of larger dead animals. As a scavenger, it plays a cleaning role in ecosystems and helps limit the spread of diseases. It is a medium-sized predator, living in family groups.

The spectacular expansion of the golden jackal in Europe is one of the most marked range shifts currently observed in mammals. Historically confined to southeastern Europe, it is now observed across the continent, from the Atlantic coasts in France to beyond the Arctic Circle in Norway.


Previous local-scale studies have suggested several hypotheses about the mechanisms favoring this expansion, such as climate change, land-use changes, or the absence of the wolf, a dominant competitor that can also attack jackals, without providing clear evidence.

This new study analyzes the phenomenon at the continental scale using a unique dataset combining acoustic monitoring, climatic and landscape variables, and comprehensive data on wolf presence. Between 2001 and 2017, the research team studied the expansion of jackals in Europe using listening points at nearly 9,000 sites across 13 Central and Southeastern European countries.

This allowed them to locate territorial golden jackal groups, including in areas occupied by wolves. Then, using a statistical model, they identified the ecological and human factors that favor the establishment and presence of the species in order to predict its future expansion.

Human activities limit the influence of the wolf on the presence of the golden jackal

Their results show that the wolf is the main factor limiting the expansion of the golden jackal in Europe. Jackals more frequently occupy areas without wolves, while their probability of presence decreases sharply in areas of permanent wolf presence. However, the analyses show that a "human shield" effect modifies interactions between the two species: when wolves are present, jackals concentrate more near inhabited areas, where the influence of human activities seems to limit the negative effect of wolves on jackals.

This highlights that human activities not only modify habitats but also species interactions at the continental scale. This study thus demonstrates that the human shield effect can shape the distribution of a mesopredator (medium-sized predator in the middle of the food chain) across all of Europe.

The scientists' projections indicate that 75% of European landscapes are potentially favorable for the golden jackal, an area nearly six times larger than its current distribution. France would be the country with the highest carrying capacity. Wolf recolonization could reduce these favorable habitats in the short term, although this effect would remain partially compensated by the human shield and would depend heavily on wolf management practices at the continental and national levels.

Golden jackal fact sheet

The golden jackal is a medium-sized canid, smaller and more slender than the wolf but more massive than the fox, generally weighing between 22 and 26 lb (10-12 kg) in Europe. A particularly adaptable species, it can live in a wide variety of environments: wetlands, heterogeneous agricultural landscapes, and even heavily anthropized environments when cover areas (hedges, thickets, canals, small woodlands) are available. Conversely, it generally avoids large forests, snowy mountainous areas, and areas heavily occupied by wolves.

The jackal is an opportunistic omnivore that feeds on small mammals, birds, invertebrates, fruits, carrion, and sometimes human-derived resources. It most often lives in territorial pairs or small family groups.

Historically confined to the southeastern fringes of Europe, the golden jackal has been undergoing a spectacular expansion across the continent for about fifty years. Now present in more than 20 European countries, it has recently been observed for the first time in several Western and Nordic European countries, including France, Spain, the Netherlands, and Norway. The European population is now estimated at more than 150,000 individuals.

The species is classified as "Least Concern" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and as "non-huntable game species" in France. Its rapid expansion raises many ecological questions, particularly due to its interactions with other wildlife and certain human activities.

Reference

Ranc N. et al. (2026). Human shielding from wolves facilitates jackal expansion across Europe. Nature ecology & evolution DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-026-03060-y