- Where to see one
- 3 U.S. zoos in our directory hold black-backed jackal, confirmed against each zoo's own animal list.
Conservation status
Not Evaluated
This species has not been assessed for the IUCN Red List, so it sits outside the threat scale entirely.
About the black-backed jackal
The black-backed jackal is a medium-sized canine native to two regions of Africa separated by roughly 900 km: the southern tip of the continent and the eastern coast from Kenya to Eritrea. It has a reddish brown to tan coat and a black saddle running from the shoulders to the base of the tail. Opportunistic omnivores, jackals eat insects, rodents, hares, young antelopes, carrion, birds, reptiles and plant matter. They are monogamous and territorial, and older offspring often stay on to help raise the next pups. Litters hold one to nine pups, born between July and October.
Black-backed Jackal facts
- Its kidneys are well adapted to water deprivation, so it can thrive even in deserts.
- Where it overlaps with the larger side-striped jackal, it drives that species from grassland into woodland.
- A single jackal can kill a healthy adult impala.
- It has lived in eastern and southern Africa for at least 2 to 3 million years.
Where to see black-backed jackal in the U.S.
3 zoos across 3 states
Find the closest one
Rank the 2 zoos holding black-backed jackal by how far they are from you. Your location is used in your browser to sort this list and is never sent to us.
1 more zoo holds black-backed jackal but has no coordinates on file yet, so it isn't ranked here. It's in the full list below.
AZAThe Association of Zoos and Aquariums. Accredited members have passed an independent inspection of animal care and welfare, safety, conservation and education, repeated every five years. Many smaller facilities never apply, so “not accredited” isn't a verdict on its own. What accreditation means · How we check this
Built from each zoo's own published animal list.
