
==== Front
Heliyon
Heliyon
Heliyon
2405-8440
Elsevier

S2405-8440(24)12215-3
10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e36184
e36184
Research Article
Understanding the seasonal dietary patterns of the golden jackal (Canis aureus) for conservation implications in the Hirpora Wildlife Sanctuary, Western Himalayas
Najar Zakir Hussain zakirnajar1@gmail.com
a
Bhat Bilal A. bilalwildlife@gmail.com
a
Waheed Muhammad waheedtaxonomist@gmail.com
b
Haq Shiekh Marifatul marifat.edu.17@gmail.com
b⁎
Alhimaidi Ahmad R. Arabia.ahimaidi@KSU.EDU.SA
c
Amran Ramzi A. ramran@KSU.EDU.SA
c
Ahmad Riyaz riyaz.cf@gmail.com
d⁎⁎
a Department of Zoology, University of Kashmir, Srinagar, J&K, India
b Department of Ethnobotany, Institute of Botany, Ilia State University, Tbilisi, Georgia
c Department of Zoology, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh, 11451, Saudi Arabia
d Wildlife Trust of India, Noida, Uttar Pradesh, 20130, India
⁎ Corresponding author. marifat.edu.17@gmail.com
⁎⁎ Corresponding author. riyaz.cf@gmail.com
13 8 2024
30 8 2024
13 8 2024
10 16 e3618415 3 2024
10 8 2024
12 8 2024
© 2024 The Authors
2024
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/).
Background

Wild canids form an important component of the ecosystem but are generally less studied and least prioritized for conservation. Diet is fundamental for effective management and exhibits the role of a species in an ecosystem. Golden jackal (Canis aureus, Linnaeus, 1758), a medium-sized canid species is known for opportunistic and omnivorous foraging behavior.

Methods

This research investigates the feeding ecology of golden jackals within the Hirpora Wildlife Sanctuary, Western Himalayas. From August 2020 to July 2022, trails (n = 9; 1.5–5.5 km) were walked seasonally (once per month) to collect fecal samples (n = 128) for investigation of seasonal diet composition and dietary niche breadth and biomass consumption of prey items by golden jackal. The association between the coefficient of digestibility value and food items was assessed using the Pearson correlation. We also conducted PCA to understand contribution of major dietary items.

Results

Scat analysis revealed that jackals feed on both animal and plant matter. Animal matter constituted most of the diet, encompassing small mammals and domestic livestock, insects, and birds. Rodents emerge as the dominant dietary item, maintaining consistent prevalence year-round. Livestock carrion, notably domestic sheep formed a significant component across all seasons, with maximal consumption observed in summer. Notably absent from the jackals' diet were traces of threatened mountain ungulates. Domestic sheep emerged as the primary contributor (33.4 %) to the overall biomass consumed, highlighting the jackals' interaction with human-associated food resources. The research unveils an overall dietary niche breadth of 0.38, indicating a low degree of dietary diversity. Seasonal analysis indicates heightened dietary overlap in the autumn-summer transition, with rodents, domestic sheep, and birds being major contributors to this overlap.

Conclusion

The findings underscore the adaptability of golden jackals to diverse food resources in a seasonal environment. This study provides foundational insights into the dietary ecology of jackal crucial for its conservation and management strategies in the ecologically fragile ecosystem. The finding gives a hint at the role jackals can play in regulating rodent populations and contributing to environmental cleanliness by scavenging.

Keywords

Scat analysis
Predator
Canis aureus
Dietary preferences
Hirpora Wildlife Sanctuary
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pmc1 Introduction

Carnivores have consistently drawn substantial attention from the scientific and conservation communities worldwide, due to their threatened status [1]. The conservation of carnivores is of paramount importance due to their integral contribution to biodiversity and their crucial involvement in ecosystem dynamics, especially the regulation of prey populations [2]. Most research efforts focus on large carnivores, leaving meso-carnivores understudied [3]. Golden jackal is among the most widespread meso-carnivores in the world [4]. Despite their vast distribution throughout the Himalayan region, the ecological importance of the golden jackal is poorly understood. However, seasonal diets in the Western Himalayas and other parts of the Indian Himalayan Region (IHR) have not been explored yet.

Golden jackal Canis aureus, an opportunistic forager is capable of utilizing a wide dietary spectrum of food sources; however, the types of food it consumes are dependent on its availability in an occupied ecosystem [[5], [6], [7]]. Golden jackals can survive in diverse ecosystems because of their omnivorous feeding behaviour and ability to tolerate various environmental conditions [8]. In a natural environment, the jackal is adapted to an omnivorous mode of feeding and can be both a regular scavenger and an opportunistic forager [[9], [10], [11]]. The diet of golden jackal is composed of various prey species, plant materials, and fruits [7,12]. In the European jackal population, the food items consumed come from a variety of sources, including small mammals, livestock carcasses, water birds, and human leftovers [6,7,13].

The species has one of the most extensive distributional ranges of any canid, surviving in large populations from the southernmost tip of Sri Lanka to the easternmost sections of Myanmar, Thailand, and certain provinces in China [14,15]. Golden jackals are known to cause economic losses to humans by crop raiding and livestock depredation [16]. However, the omnivorous habit of golden jackals, is vital to maintain balanced ecosystem. Their ability to adapt and switch between prey species prevents biodiversity disruptions, ensuring relatively stable prey abundance levels [7,17]. They are known to play an important role in seed dispersal and control of the rodent population [7,18]. Unlike specialist predators, opportunists avoid driving species to extinction by shifting their diet according to prey availability [[5], [6], [7]]. They act as “cleaners” by consuming discarded animal waste, especially in areas where waste regulations are inadequate [18]. Overall, the opportunistic nature of golden jackals helps to maintain ecosystem stability and health by preventing cyclic prey population variations associated with specialist predators [7].

Despite being present throughout the Indian subcontinent, very little is known about their ecological role in the diverse ecosystems across India, in particular, there is a paucity of research on the ecology of this species in the Northwestern Himalayas. Humans have altered the habitats of wildlife, particularly the quantity and quality of food, with consequences for animal health, development, and survival [19]. As a result of changes in agro-pastoral activities, construction of Mughal Road, habitat loss and fragmentation, and other development projects in the HWS, a study in and around the sanctuary was required to determine how jackals adapt to varied settings, especially in terms of dietary ecology, in order to sustain long-term services of jackal in the ecosystem. We expected the diet of jackal to vary seasonally and have less dietary overlap between the seasons, due to the seasonal changes in the availability of the food in the study area. We aimed to determine the proportion of threatened wild ungulates in the jackal diet to assess the potential impact on their populations. We were also interested to know how trophic niche breadth of jackal changes across seasons.

2 Materials and methods

2.1 Study area

Hirpora Wildlife Sanctuary (HWS) covers an area of 341 km2 and an elevational range of 2557m–4638m above sea level, it is located in the Shopian district of Jammu and Kashmir, in the north-western Himalayas between 33° 29′ N and 74° 30′E (Fig. 1). The area is characterized by seasonality with harsh winters and pleasant summers. There are four distinct seasons across the year spring (March to May), summer (June to August), autumn (September to November), and winter (December to February). The climate is generally temperate [20], with greater degrees of variance in the amount of precipitation. The mean annual precipitation is 3.24 mm/day (NASA). Snow is the primary form of precipitation, and it is possible to find snow in some places of the sanctuary even up to June (summer). The topography is characterized by lofty mountains, rocky cliffs, and alpine meadows with gullies and nullahs crisscrossing the undulating terrain.Fig. 1 Map of the study area showing sampling points (a) India (b) Jammu & Kashmir, (c) land use/cover map of the Hirpora Wildlife Sanctuary (HWS) in the north-western Himalayas.

Fig. 1

The sanctuary is characterized by different vegetation types [21]. At lower elevations, the dry areas are occupied by trees such as blue pine (Pinus wallichiana) whereas exposed slopes are covered by silver fir (Abies pindrow) and spruce (Picea smithiana). Broad-leaved trees (Acer caesium) are also found in some areas. The ground cover is dominated by Himalayan indigo (Indigofera heterantha), Himalayan viburnum (Viburnum grandiflorum), and Kashmir elder (Sambucus wightiana). The middle elevations (2100–3200m) or subalpine zones are dominated by Juniperus communis and Rhododendron anthopogon and associated with a good amount of Betula utilis representing the treeline in this zone. The higher elevations (3200–4600m) or alpine zones are occupied by Saussurea costus, Phlomis bracteosa, Salvia hians, Gaultheria trichophylla, and Salix flabellaris.

The protected area is home to a range of significant fauna. Some important mammals of the region include Pir Panjal markhor (Capra falconeri cashmiriensis), Kashmir musk deer (Moschus cupreus), Himalayan brown bear (Ursus arctos isabellinus), Himalayan black bear (Ursus thibetanus), and Himalayan wolf (Canis lupus chanco). In addition, HWS is a potential habitat for various bird species [22,23]. The dominant avian families that inhabit HWS are Phasianidae, Corvidae, Passeridae, Muscicapidae, and Accipitridae [22].

The migratory tribal herders (Gujjars and Bakarwals), traditional herders (shepherds), and local villagers use this area in summer to graze their livestock [24]. Mostly all the communities are agro-pastoralists. Agricultural practices (especially potato crop production, and apple production) and the rearing of livestock (sheep, goat, cow, and buffalo) serve as major income of the local people.

2.2 Data collection and scat analysis

From August 2020 to July 2022, trails (n = 9; 1.5–5.5 km; total length of transects 26 km) were walked seasonally (once per month) to collect fecal samples for investigation of seasonal diet composition and dietary niche breadth and biomass consumption of prey items by golden jackal. Jackal scats are distinguished from other carnivores by their shape, size, diameter, characteristic contents, and tracks around them [5,25]. The jackal scats comprise a few fragments from the same droppings [[16], [26], [27], [28]]. The scats were kept in paper bags and labeled with the date, trail name, GPS coordinates, and habitat type. The scats were sun-dried at the base camp and then brought to the Research laboratory, Department of Zoology, University of Kashmir, and dried in an oven at 60 °C to prevent fungal contamination before being stored. Free-ranging dogs were absent in the area. In addition, most of the scats were collected along the trails where jackal was often sighted.

For diet investigation, the scats were soaked in water for 24–36 h [16]. After soaking, scats were washed thoroughly in a fine sieve with tap water (mesh size: 60 μm). We spread each scat sample on a tray and used forceps to sort and identify different prey items present in the scat. We weighed the remnants of each scat by using an electronic weighing scale. A sample of 20 hairs from each scat was randomly selected for identification [29]. Prey items, particularly hair, were given a thorough cleaning of alcohol before being cleared with xylene. The hairs were identified based on cuticular cell arrangements and medullary patterns [24], using reference collections prepared in the Wildlife Research Laboratory , Department of Zoology, University of Kashmir, and the published literature [16,[27], [29], [30]].

2.3 Data analysis

The species diet was expressed as the relative frequency of occurrence (RO), the percentage of biomass (B%), and niche breadth. Due to a lack of reference materials, the insects and rodent species were treated as two categories. The relative occurrence (RO) of the consumed prey items was calculated according to the given formula [6].RO=frequencyofithpreyitemsummationoffrequenciesofallpreyitems×100

The biomass of prey items consumed by jackals was calculated by multiplying the dry weights of prey remnants by the coefficient of digestibility (COD); for cattle (118), small mammals (23), birds (35), insects (5), and plant materials (14) [16,31,32].B=wi×qi

whereas wi is the weight of the remnant of ith species, qi is the coefficient of digestibility.

The dietary niche breadth was estimated using the Levins index [33]:B=1∑Pi²

where pi is the relative frequency of consumed food items by predator p.

Niche breadth values have been classified as high when they exceed 0.6, moderate when they fall between 0.4 and 0.6, and low when they are below 0.4 [34].

Diet overlap between distinct seasons was estimated using Pianka index [35];O=∑i=1nPiyi∑i=1nPi2+∑i=1nyi2

Pi = Proportion of ith species in the diet of golden jackal during season p

yi = Proportion of ith species in the diet of golden jackal during season y

It ranges from 0 to 1, where: 0 indicates no overlap in resource use between two seasons. 1 indicates complete overlap, meaning the species use resources in exactly the same way between two seasons.

To compare diet fluctuations, we used RO of different food items consumed by golden jackals in different seasons. The permutation one-way analysis of variance (PERMANOVA; Bray-Curtis with permutation N: 9999) was used to determine the statistical differences of diet items during different seasons.

We used the Pearson approach to calculate the correlation coefficient between coefficient of digestibility and other parameters. The outcomes were then presented in a correlogram utilizing the ‘corrplot’ package. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was employed to explain the proportion of variance in the data, linking specific food items to the coefficient of digestibility values based on differences in preference levels using the package “vegan” in the software R 4.0.0.

Linear regression analysis is a statistical method employed to evaluate the association between explanatory and response variables. In our study, we utilized linear regression analysis to investigate the influence of various explanatory variables, namely RO%, on determining the B% of prey items. The linear regression equation is expressed as follows equation:Y = a +bX.

Here, Y represents the response variable, X denotes the explanatory variable, a signifies the intercept, and b represents the slope of the line. The linear regression model estimates the value of the explanatory variable based on the response variable.

3 Results

3.1 Overall diet

Scats were collected and analyzed from August 2020 to July 2022 on a seasonal basis. We identified 13 different types of food items in the overall diet, which included plant matter, animal matter, soil, anthropogenic, and unidentified items. Plant matter included leaves, twigs, grass, and seeds while animal matter included rodents, pika, sheep, goats, cows, horses, buffalo, birds, and insects. Fig. 2 shows medullary hair patterns of some major prey species presented in the diet of golden jackal. The Overall relative occurrence (RO) of the plant matter was 13.9 %, and the animal matter was 74.3 % (Fig. 3). Among animals, rodents represented the dominant category (RO: 35.8 %), followed by insects (RO: 14.4 %), and birds (RO: 7.46 %). Of the total scat samples analyzed, a relative occurrence of 9 % was recorded as undigestible items (polythene, cloth, stone and soil) and 2.48 % remained unidentified. Sheep contributed the most to the overall percent biomass consumed, followed by rodent, and cow. (Fig. 3).Fig. 2 Microscopic hair pattern (10 × 40x) of major prey species (a) rodent (b) pika (c) sheep (d) goat (e) cow (f) horse.

Fig. 2

Fig. 3 Overall relative occurrence (RO) and percent biomass (B%) consumption of diet items by golden jackal in HWS.

Fig. 3

3.2 Seasonal diet composition

The seasonal diet composition of the golden jackal is given in Table 1. The seasonal difference in the diet was significant (PERMANOVA: Permutation N = 9999, Total sum of square = 12.29, within-group sum of squares = 6.13, F = 3.264, P = 0.0004). The autumn diet revealed 11 different items. The contribution of the animal matter (domestic and wild) was higher (RO: 76.4 %) than the plant matter (RO: 16.4 %) Among the animal remnants, rodents occurred more frequently than other prey items. Animal matter contributed higher biomass (96.6 %) than plant matter (3.4 %). During winter, scat analysis revealed more animal remnants (56.1 %) than plant remnants (22 %) in the jackal's diet. The relative occurrence of rodents was again highest followed by sheep, cow, horse, and buffalo. Animal prey species accounted for 96.6 % while plant materials accounted for 4.6 % of the biomass. The scat samples, collected in spring showed a more relative occurrence of animal matter (80.8 %) than plant matter (5.8 %). The rodents occurred more frequently in the diet followed by insects, birds, sheep, and goats. The contribution of animal matter to biomass consumption was maximum (98.7 %), while the contribution of plant matter to biomass consumption dropped to nearly negligible (1.3 %). During summer the contribution of animal matter was higher (RO: 81.1 %), than plant matter (RO: 13.2 %). Rodent occurrence was found maximum followed by insects and sheep. Other items such as goat, cow, buffalo, and birds were also consumed. The domestic sheep contributed maximum (33.5 %) while insects contributed minimum (0.6 %) to the biomass consumed by jackals. The dietary niche breadth was tangentially broadened from spring (B = 0.26) to winter (B = 0.45) (Fig. 4). The food habits of golden jackals vary according to season, and there are noticeable differences in the diet of jackals in this study. However, the trend of overlapping increases from winter to spring, peaking in summer. The dietary niche overlap between seasons was maximum in autumn-summer (0.98) and low in winter-spring (0.63) (Fig. 5).Table 1 Seasonal diet of jackal in terms of relative occurrence (RO%) and biomass (B%) consumption of prey items.

Table 1Food items	Autumn (n = 32)	Winter (n = 33)	Spring (n = 38)	Summer (n = 28)	
RO%	B%	RO%	B%	RO%	B%	RO%	B%	
I. Animal remains	
1. Small mammals	
Rodent	34.5	30.3	24.4	12.3	46.2	34.3	35.8	22	
Pika	1.8	2.8	–	–	–	–	1.89	1.8	
2.Large mammals	
Domestic sheep	7.3	34.2	9.76	38.8	5.8	27.9	9.43	33.5	
Domestic goat	–	–	–	–	1.9	14.7	3.77	1.2	
Cow	3.6	14.5	4.88	21.3	3.8	18.5	3.77	1.2	
Horse	–	–	2.44	10.1	–	–	–	–	
Buffalo	1.8	7.9	2.44	6.7	–	–	3.77	4.2	
3 Birds	7.3	3.4	12.2	6.7	7.7	2.7	3.77	4.2	
4. Insects	20	1.5	–	–	15.4	0.7	18.9	0.7	
II. Plant remains	16.3	3.4	22	4.6	5.8	1.2	13.2	1.7	
III. Others	
5. Indigestible items	19.44	–	17.09	–	9.6	–	1.89	–	
6. Unidentified	1.82	–	4.88	–	3.8	–	–	–	
Total	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	

Fig. 4 Levin's standardized index shows seasonal dietary niche breadth.

Fig. 4

Fig. 5 Seasonal dietary overlap of golden jackal in the HWS.

Fig. 5

In this analysis, PC1 accounted for 65.1 % and PC2 for 28.7 % of the variance in the distribution, as depicted in the biplot (Fig. 6). The PCA plot visually presents the results for the first two components. PC1 exhibited substantial positive loadings from insects, plant matter, birds, and rodents, making it a measure of the long-term impact on food items. Conversely, PC2 displayed significant negative loadings from other food items, indicating strong negative associations in the landscape. Additionally, we assessed the correlation between food items and the coefficient of digestibility value. For instance, biomass was found to be linked to sheep, goats, horses, and cows, respectively. Insects, plant matter, birds, and rodents exhibited a higher frequency of occurrence and relative occurrence. The PCA analyses clearly delineated different groups, with distinct separations between them. These separations were based on similarities in the composition of food items they foraged (Fig. 6).Fig. 6 PCA analysis biplot of different consumption of diet items by golden jackal in the HWS.

Fig. 6

The association between the coefficient of digestibility value and prey items was assessed using the Pearson correlation. The frequency of occurrence (FO) and the relative occurrence (RO) have a substantial positive correlation (p < 0.001) between them. We observed a statistically non-significant negative relationship between the coefficient of digestibility value (COD), frequency of occurrence (FO), and relative occurrence (RO). While remnant weight (RW) has a positive relationship with the frequency of occurrence (FO) and the relative occurrence (RO). Biomass also has a positive correlation with coefficient of digestibility values (Fig. 7).Fig. 7 Pearson correlation of relative occurrence (RO), coefficient of digestibility values (COD), remnant weight (RW), and percent biomass (B%), for different food items of golden jackal in HWS.

Fig. 7

4 Discussion

Predator diet composition and food niche are mostly determined by species morphology [36] however, food availability is also important, and this is influenced by environmental productivity, climatic conditions, and season [37]. Meanwhile, golden jackals in their historical range in the Western Himalayas ate a greater variety of food resources [9]. Instead, they focused their foraging efforts on the most abundant food sources, such as tiny rodents and domestic cattle. Our study revealed that jackals could survive in harsh climatic conditions like HWS owing to their omnivorous, scavenging, and predator skills. The majority of the jackal scats contained multiple food items including insects, birds, small to large-sized domestic animals, and plant matter. It might be because jackals primarily hunt on a variety of prey species, such as small, and medium-sized mammals, and scavenge on the carcasses of large mammals [8,38].

Rodents and domestic livestock were the primary diet of jackals in our study site. Domestic animal consumption varies with temperature and appears to peak in the winter [39]. Their intake may result from direct predation, although it is more likely via scavenging or feasting on the remains of domestic animal slaughter (mostly in winter) from legal and illegal dumping. Jackals consume domestic animals more frequently during the winter season, which is linked to a decline in the abundance of other types of food (such as rodents). The availability and accessibility of domestic animal remnants/offal (as anthropogenic origin food subsidy) is instead determined by sanitation surrounding towns and guarding animals on pasture. This type of food is typically available year-round. Better management of such offal could be an approach for limiting golden jackals' range expansion [40].

We found no wild ungulates in the golden jackal's diet, which could be attributed to the spatial isolation between jackals and wild ungulates, and small number of wild ungulates in the HWS. A few studies have shown wild ungulates in the diets of jackals [41,42], but research conducted in Greece validates our observation [6]. Furthermore, the motorable road within the study area is open during the summer and autumn and acts as a major route for migratory herders who come from different valleys of Pir Panjal to alpine and sub-alpine areas of Kashmir to graze their livestock. During migration, their livestock often becomes the victim of starvation, bad weather, and road kills. The first author frequently observed carcasses on roadsides during the two years of fieldwork. Moreover, the fringes of HWS are occupied by agro-pastoralists, who also throw dead animals in the forest. The large proportion of livestock in the diet of jackals came from scavenging on these carcasses. As revealed by our study, more than half of the biomass consumed by jackals was contributed by domestic mammals. This easily accessible food limited the jackals to lower elevation areas (2222m-2755m asl), which are rarely used by wild ungulates (Pir Panjal markhor and Kashmir musk deer) in the study area.

According to some earlier studies conducted in various parts of the world, mammalian prey is the major component of the food of jackals [7,43,44]. Our study revealed a regular consumption of rodents throughout the year that is similar to the studies undertaken in various parts of Asia [10,45,46]. In the majority of agricultural habitats in Europe, rodents have been the preferred food item for jackals [47,48]. Probably wild canids are active at night time as a result of their specialized ability to capture rodents. Also, rodents are more susceptible to nocturnal predators [10]. It is worth mentioning here, that the villages around our study site practice extensive agriculture (potato crop and apple crop) within and around the study area, which probably makes this landscape favorable for rodents.

Our study confirmed that mammalian species (small mammals and domestic animals) were the most significant food category for the golden jackal as has been reported by other studies too [16,29,49]. Among domestic animals, sheep contributed to the maximum biomass consumed throughout the year, especially in summer when the area receives migratory livestock besides the resident livestock. It is probably because study site falls in the migratory route of livestock herders from warmer areas of the Pir Panjal range (Poonch & Rajouri twin districts of Pir Panjal) to the colder region of Kashmir in summer. In autumn, consumption of rodents was highest among all prey species, as reported rodent activity and density are high in the autumn to acquire more food and to search for warm places to avoid the upcoming harsh winter [12].

The contribution of birds to the diet was comparatively higher in winter than in other seasons because of heavy snow fall in the area, the birds particularly partridges, and pheasants, often reach lower elevations in search of food, which increases the likelihood that a jackal may hunt them successfully. Sometimes heavy snow takes a toll on such birds, and a jackal can just scavenge. In the rest of the seasons, it is challenging for jackals to catch live birds, and they fail most of the time [4]. The percentage of birds taken by the golden jackal varies greatly in studies conducted in India, Pakistan, and Greece [6,10,16,44].

In this study, insects were observed at a higher frequency, compared to what was reported in Sariska Tiger Reserve in India [10]. Jackals are also known to consume larvae; however, there remains do not show up in the feces [19]. In HWS summers are in full bloom and insects are quite abundant. The maximum contribution of plant matter was found in winter and its contribution in the rest of the seasons was found in nearly equal proportion. The plant matter consisted mainly of unidentified grasses, leaves, twigs, identified fruits (apple, and tomato), pumpkin, and pepper. Fruits and other plant matter are abundant in autumn and contribute only 16.3 % (RO). This is contrary to the investigations revealed by a study in Potohar, Pakistan [16], where in autumn fruits and other plant materials contributed a large proportion.

In our study area, jackals also consumed leftovers from human meals. In some parts of the globe, jackals subsisted nearly solely on this item [5,29,50]. The diet of golden jackal contained a higher proportion of indigestible items (polythene, cloth, sand and soil) during autumn and winter. During these seasons, the availability of easily digestible food sources such as insects, fruits, small mammals and plant matter decreases. Probably, the harsh climatic conditions in the area limit the food options of the golden jackal. This is contrary to the result of the study conducted in Pakistan [29]. The dietary niche breadth was moderate in winter, low in autumn, summer, and spring. In spring, most of the biomass that contributed to the diet came from rodents and domestic sheep.

The species acted in a generalist manner probably because of the small number of food categories in the study area. MacArthur and Pianka [51] postulated that when food is scarce, a predator will act like a generalist, but when food is plentiful, it will act more like a specialist. The jackal showed considerable diet overlap between seasons. The overlap was highest in summer-autumn (0.98). During these seasons it frequently consumed readily available rodents, insects, and carcasses of domestic sheep, goats, cows and buffalo. It seems like the jackal's diet is not heavily influenced by seasonal variations. Probably easily available food resources like small mammals, livestock carrions and birds almost round the year likely lead to a high overlap in diet items. The higher summer-autumn overlap could be attributed to the peak presence of migratory livestock during these seasons, the increased activity of rodents, and the widespread availability of domestic livestock carcasses throughout the sanctuary.

5 Recommendations

The study's findings offer valuable recommendations for the conservation and management of golden jackals in the Hirpora Wildlife Sanctuary of the north-western Himalayas. The consistent prevalence of rodents in the jackal diet underscores the importance of prioritizing the conservation of habitats supporting robust rodent populations. Collaborative efforts between wildlife managers and local communities are crucial for implementing responsible livestock management practices. During our field work, we found a large number of animals dying of natural causes and accidents dumped along the roadside in the sanctuary, attracting jackals to feed on the easily available food. Although this may help to minimize the transmission of diseases, the jackals nonetheless get killed in the road hits. We advocate proper animal carcass disposal and to quantify the jackal road kills in the study site. Additionally, raising awareness among local residents about the benefits that jackals provide will aid in the conservation of these less studied animals, which are integral to the ecosystem.

Our study confirms that the jackals don't impact the threatened mountain ungulates in the study area; therefore, other threats to these species need to be identified and mitigated. Studies like prey-predator dynamics may be conducted in future to get better insights for long term conservation of the jackal and its prey. Long-term monitoring and research initiatives are recommended to further elucidate the species' behavioral adaptations and responses to environmental changes. Integrating these findings into regional wildlife management policies will contribute to adaptive strategies that consider the seasonal variations in the jackal diet and the broader ecological dynamics of the north-western Himalayas.

6 Conclusions

The findings of the study suggest that the golden jackal primarily consumes rodents and livestock carcasses across seasons. This pattern of dietary preference indicates several interesting ecological roles and behaviours of the golden jackal. The fact that rodents were the most common food item for golden jackals suggests that these animals play a significant role in controlling rodent populations. This is crucial for maintaining a balanced ecosystem because rodents if left unchecked, can cause ecological imbalances, damage crops, and potentially transmit diseases. The consumption of livestock carcasses highlights the golden jackal's role as a scavenger. They help clean up carcasses and organic matter in the environment, which is essential for preventing the spread of diseases and recycling nutrients back into the ecosystem. This scavenging behaviour contributes to ecosystem health and maintenance. In addition, the study provides additional support for the opportunistic foraging character of the golden jackal.

Funding

This research received no external funding.

Data availability statement

All data supporting the findings of this study are presented within the manuscript. No additional datasets were used. Any inquiries regarding the data can be directed to the corresponding author.

CRediT authorship contribution statement

Zakir Hussain Najar: Writing – original draft, Formal analysis, Data curation, Conceptualization. Bilal A. Bhat: Resources, Project administration, Methodology, Investigation. Muhammad Waheed: Writing – review & editing, Visualization, Validation, Software. Shiekh Marifatul Haq: Investigation, Formal analysis. Ahmad R. Alhimaidi: Visualization, Resources, Project administration. Ramzi A. Amran: Writing – review & editing, Investigation. Riyaz Ahmad: Writing – review & editing, Project administration, Funding acquisition.

Declaration of competing interest

On behalf of coauthors, I declare that the authors have no conflict of interest regarding this manuscript.

Acknowledgments

The authors sincerely acknowledge the Researchers Supporting Project number (RSP2024R232), King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. We are highly thankful to the Department of Wildlife Protection, Jammu and Kashmir for providing the necessary permission to carry out fieldwork in the Hirpora Wildlife Sanctuary. We also thank the staff of Wildlife Trust India for assistance in the field.
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