A golden jackal (Canis aureus) individual was recorded ~40 km east of Prague in the Czech Republic. It is the first record of a living golden jackal in the country; up to now several individuals have been recorded but all of them were either shot dead or killed by a vehicle. The observed animal was documented by camera traps set up for research of carnivore diversity in different habitats in the study area. It was first photographed on 19 June 2015, and in total there were 57 records made by 12 traps until 24 March 2016 when the animal was still present in the area. Forty-nine of the 57 records were made in a shrubby grassland over an area of ~100 ha, 39% of sightings were during the day and 61% in the night. There were two distinct peaks in the circadian activity of the animal, from 4 to 10 a.m., and from 6 p.m. to midnight. We also review the verified records of the golden jackal in the Czech Republic, some of which were only published in local hunting magazines. However, the observation reported in this paper represents the first evidence of a long-term occurrence in Europe of the same golden jackal individual, that persisted for at least nine months and over winter, northwest of Hungarian-Austrian border where the population has been known to reproduce.

Department of Ecology Faculty of Science Charles University Viničná 7 CZ 12844 Prague 2 Czech Republic; Center for Theoretical Study Charles University and The Czech Academy of Sciences Jilská 1 CZ 11000 Prague 1 Czech Republic

Department of Ecology Faculty of Science Charles University Viničná 7 CZ 12844 Prague 2 Czech Republic; Department of Zoology Faculty of Science Charles University Viničná 7 CZ 12844 Prague 2 Czech Republic

Department of Ecology Faculty of Science Charles University Viničná 7 CZ 12844 Prague 2 Czech Republic; Institute of Botany Department of Invasion Ecology The Czech Academy of Sciences CZ 25243 Průhonice Czech Republic

Institute of Botany Department of Invasion Ecology The Czech Academy of Sciences CZ 25243 Průhonice Czech Republic; Department of Ecology Faculty of Science Charles University Viničná 7 CZ 12844 Prague 2 Czech Republic

Zobrazit více v PubMed

Agnarsson I, Kuntner M, May-Collado LJ. (2010) Dogs, cats, and kin: a molecular species-level phylogeny of Carnivora. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 54: 726–745. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2009.10.033 PubMed DOI

Anděra M. (2014) Co je nového v zoologii – pozor na šakala. Živa 62: 25–26.

Arnold J, Humer A, Heltai M, Murariu D, Spassov N, Hackländer K. (2012) Current status and distribution of golden jackals DOI

Banea OC, Krofel M, Červinka J, Gargarea P, Szabó L. (2012) New records, first estimates of densities and questions of applied ecology for jackals in Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve and hunting terrains from Romania. Acta Zoologica Bulgarica 64: 353–366.

Banea OC, Bogdanowicz W, Lapini L, Giannatos G, Spassov N. (2015) Letter of complaint about the situation of the golden jackal in Lithuania. GOJAGE e-bulletin form 2nd of June 2015 http://goldenjackal.eu/E-Bulletin-GOJAGE.php

Bauer K, Suchentrunk F. (1995) Weitere Ausbreitung des Goldschakals,

Blackburn TM, Pyšek P, Bacher S, Carlton JT, Duncan RP, Jarošík V, Wilson JRU, Richardson DM. (2011) A proposed unified framework for biological invasions. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 26: 333–339. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2011.03.023 PubMed DOI

Demeter A, Spassov N. (1993)

Feriancová-Masárová Z, Hanák V. (1965) Stavovce Slovenska IV, Cicavce. Vydavatelstvo SAV, Bratislava.

Forejtek P, Ernst M, Matoušková J. (2011) Šakal obecný (

Galov A, Fabbri E, Caniglia R, Arbanasić H, Lapalombella S, Flotijančić T, Bešković I, Galaverni M, Randi E. (2015) First evidence of hybridization between golden jackal ( PubMed DOI PMC

Giannatos G. (2004) Conservation action plan for the golden jackal (

Hell P, Bleho Š. (1995) Novodobý výskyt šakala obyčajného (

Herzig-Straschil B. (2007) Short note: first breeding record of the golden jackal (

Ho-Leitner M, Kraus E. (1989) Der Goldschakal,

Hudeček JJ, Jakubec M. (2014) Šakal obecný (

Hulme PE, Bacher S, Kenis M, Klotz S, Kühn I, Minchin D, Nentwig W, Olenin S, Panov V, Pergl J, Pyšek P, Roques A, Sol D, Solarz W, Vilà M. (2008) Grasping at the routes of biological invasions: a framework for integrating pathways into policy. Journal of Applied Ecology 45: 403–414. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2664.2007.01442.x DOI

Humer A. (2006) Goldschakale in Österreich. Aktueller Status und Managementstrategien unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Einstellung und des Wissens zum Thema Goldschakal bei österreichischen Bezirksjägermeistern. Diploma Thesis, Institute of Wildlife Biology and Game Management, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna.

IUCN (2000) Guidelines for the prevention of biodiversity loss caused by alien invasive species. IUCN, Gland.

Jhala Y, Moehlman PD. (2008) DOI

Kadlec M. (2012) Zajímavosti. Myslivost 60(6): 71.

Koepfli KP, Pollinger J, Godinho R, Robinson J, Lea A, Hendricks S, Schweizer RM, Thalmann O, Silva P, Fan Z, Yurchenko AA, Dobrynin P, Makunin A, Cahill JA, Shapiro B, Álvares F, Brito JC, Geffen E, Leonard JA, Helgen KM, Johnson WE, O’Brien SJ, Van Valkenburgh B, Wayne RK. (2015) Genome-wide evidence reveals that African and Eurasian golden jackals are distinct species. Current Biology 25: 2158–2165. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2015.06.060 PubMed DOI

Koubek P, Červený J. (2007) The golden jackal (

Kowalczyk R, Kołodziej-Sobocińska M, Ruczyńska I, Wójcik JM. (2015) Range expansion of the golden jackal (

Krofel M. (2009) Confirmed presence of territorial groups of golden jackals ( DOI

Krystufek B, Murariu D, Kurtonur C. (1997) Present distribution of the Golden Jackal DOI

Langham GM, Schuetz JG, Distler T, Soykan CU, Wilsey C. (2015) Conservation status of North American birds in the face of future climate change. PLoS ONE 10: e0135350 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0135350 PubMed DOI PMC

Lapini L, Molinari P, Dorigo L, Are G, Beraldo P. (2009) Reproduction of the golden jackal (

Leonard JA, Echegaray J, Randi E, Vilá C. (2014) Impact of hybridization with domestic dogs on the conservation of wild canids. In: Gompper ME. (Ed.) Free-ranging dogs and wildlife conservation. Oxford University Press, Oxford, 170–185.

Mihelič M, Krofel M. (2012) New records of the golden jackal (

Möckel R. (2000) Ein Goldschackal (

Mošanský A. (1995) Vlk šakal na Slovensku. Zborn. Výskum a ochrana cicavcov na Slovensku. Banská Bystrica, 107–108.

Robinet C, Roques A. (2010) Direct impacts of recent climate warming on insect populations. Integrative Zoology 5: 132–242. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1749-4877.2010.00196.x PubMed DOI

Rutkowski R, Krofel M, Giannatos G, Ćirović D, Männil P, Volokh AM, Lanszki J, Heltai M, Szabó L, Banea OC, Yavruyan E, Hayrapetyan V, Kopaliani N, Miliou A, Tryfonopoulos GA, Lymberakis P, Penezić A, Pakeltytė G, Suchecka E, Bogdanowicz W. (2015) A European concern? Genetic structure and expansion of golden jackals ( PubMed DOI PMC

Stoyanov S. (2012) Golden jackal (

Šálek M, Červinka J, Banea OC, Krofel M, Ćirović D, Selanec I, Penezić A, Grill S, Riegert J. (2014) Population densities and habitat use of the golden jackal ( DOI

Science for Environment Policy (2016) Golden jackal should not be treated as an alien species in Europe. European Commission DG Environment News Alert Service 443, The University of West England, Bristol.

Sillero-Zubiri C. (1996) Records of Honey Badger,

Sillero-Zubiri C, Hoffmann M, Macdonald DW. (Eds) (2004) Canids: foxes, wolves, jackals and dogs: status survey and conservation action plan. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland: and Cambridge, UK.

Spassov N. (1989) The position of jackals in the

Suchomelová E. (1999) Šakal obecný – nový druh fauny ČR? Ochrana přírody 54: 144–145.

Szabó L, Heltai M, Szücs E, Lanszki J, Lehoczki R. (2009) Expansion range of the golden jackal in Hungary between 1997 and 2006. Mammalia 73: 307–311. https://doi.org/10.1515/MAMM.2009.048 DOI

Thuiller W, Albert C, Araujo MB, Berry PM, Cabeza M, Guisan A, Hickler T, Midgley GF, Paterson J, Schurr FM, Sykes MT, Zimmermann NE. (2008) Predicting global change impacts on plant species’ distributions: future challenges. Perspectives in Plant Ecology Evolution and Systematics 9: 137–152. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ppees.2007.09.004 DOI

Trouwborst A, Krofel M, Linnell JDC. (2015) Legal implications of range expansions in a terrestrial carnivore: the case of the golden jackal ( DOI

Walther G-R, Gritti ES, Berger S, Hickler T, Tang ZY, Sykes MT. (2007) Palms tracking climate change. Global Ecology and Biogeography 16: 801–809. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1466-8238.2007.00328.x DOI

Walther G-R, Roques A, Hulme PE, Sykes M, Pyšek P, Kühn I, Zobel M, Bacher S, Botta-Dukát Z, Bugmann H, Czúcz B, Dauber J, Hickler T, Jarošík V, Kenis M, Klotz S, Minchin D, Moora M, Nentwig W, Ott J, Panov VE, Reineking B, Robinet C, Semenchenko V, Solarz W, Thuiller W, Vilà M, Vohland K, Settele J. (2009) Alien species in a warmer world: risks and opportunities. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 24: 686–693. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2009.06.008 PubMed DOI

Role of invasive carnivores (Procyon lotor and Nyctereutes procyonoides) in epidemiology of vector-borne pathogens: molecular survey from the Czech Republic

Carnivore distribution across habitats in a central-European landscape: a camera trap study