The rise of a carnivore, the evolution of the presence of the golden jackal in Slovakia

Abstract

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Rabies control in wildlife: the golden jackal (Canis aureus) requests for attention – a case study

“…When the naturally migrating golden jackals met the rabies-free zone of the continent without any real limiting factors, then the size and density of the population began to increase rapidly. Due to its ecological plasticity, the jackal began to spread to the western part of the continent, creating conflicts with farmers and hunters and causing human health risk as a reservoir of zoonotic diseases (Lanszki et al, 2018;Guimarães et al, 2019;Balog et al, 2021). By this time, these medium-sized carnivores became the most important scavenger species in the Western Balkans region contributing to the disposal of tons of offals originated from big game species and also domestic animals (Ćirović et al, 2016;Lanszki et al, 2018).…”

“…During the last decade of the 20 th century, the golden jackal population of the Balkans began to spread westwards. The assumable reasons of this expansion are alteration in land-use and animal husbandry, warmer winters without deep snow-cover, and the lack of top-down suppression by the grey wolf (Canis lupus) (Krofel et al, 2017;Guimarães et al, 2019;Spassov and Acosta-Pankov, 2019). As a result, a very dense golden jackal population established in the lowland habitats of the southwestern part of Hungary, as well (Lanszki et al, 2018;National Game Management Database, 2020).…”

Golden jackal, a natural disperser or an invasive alien species in Slovakia? A summary within European context

“…As described in other regions, the presence of the three large carnivores in Slovakia (Ursus arctos, Canis lupus, and Lynx lynx) can be a limiting factor for the expansion and establishment of the species through the entire country (Krofel et al, 2017;Newsome et al, 2017). Therefore, the interaction and sympatry between species in further field surveys and other studies should be assessed (Guimarães et al, 2019).…”

“…The increase of the species abundance in Hungary and its distribution in the 1980s, it is an indicator of how and from where the golden jackals arrive in Slovakia (Demeter and Spassov, 1993;Hell and Rajský, 2000;Heltai et al, 2000;Szabó et al, 2009). The first official golden jackal record in Slovakia originated in 1989, when one individual was shoot near Čierna village in the southeast part of the country (6 km from the Hungarian and Ukrainian borders) (Mošanský, 1995;Arnold et al, 2012;Danko, 2012;Guimarães et al, 2018Guimarães et al, , 2019. Nevertheless, it is still not clear if golden jackals were present in the past and so it is possible that they are making a return to old habitats (Bethlenfalvy, 1952;Szunyoghy, 1957Szunyoghy, , 1959Nagy, 1959;Janovičová, 2016).…”

“…There are presently records of golden jackal reproduction from most of South-Eastern Europe, parts of eastern and central Europe and more recently recorded in some western countries (Trouwborst et al, 2015;Jirků et al, 2018;Kowalczyk et al, 2020). In past decade, golden jackal numbers grew in Slovakia and together with the increase of its dispersion range through the country become a permanent species of the Slovak fauna, although there are no clear evidence of its reproduction (Urban et al, 2017;Guimarães et al, 2018Guimarães et al, , 2019.…”