OLBIA 2013 REPORT AVAILABLE in e-Bulletin GOJAGE

 Record in Ukraine *Central Podolia* 

 and Belarus *monitoring of raptor birds* 

are now members of GOJAGE. The Golden Jackal situation in Ukraine and possible sightings in SW Belarus will be discussed during the annual workshop "Theriological School" during the 30.09-5.10.2013 period in the Carpathian National Park, where zoologists and Environmental Ecologists from Minsk and Kyiv will be present.

Zoologists and Environmental Ecologists or Naturalists from Turkey, Finland, Germany, Japan and the 8 countries where broader activities of GOJAGE already took place are integrating the independent group of jackal population ecology studies in Europe and abroad.

 WEST 2013, WILDLIFE SURVEY IN WEST BELARUS

MINOR 2013 expedition to Artvin NE Turkey was delayed and another challenge is proposed for the same dates 18(19)-25(24) of September 2013: WEST 2013, Wildlife Survey in West Belarus and jackal´s ENA. This expedition will be organized by Ecology Department of NGO Crispus Sibiu Romania and the main objectives are to find jackal species signals near Tomasouka locality on Vigonoshchanskoe Lake surroundings in Brestkaya Voblasts, Belarus.

MINOR 2013, WILDLIFE AUTUMN SURVEY IN NE TURKEY (Asia Minor) DELAYED

Dates already established, if interested please Contact controlecologic@gmail.com for details.

 Finally, in the middle of September, we can organize one-week survey, eco-trekking, and data collection expedition in NE Turkey.

The First Proposal to NE Turkey was made in September 2012, then we delayed it for Spring 2013, but we couldn't go due to some administrative limits of colleagues and to Baltica 2013, fieldwork in W Estonia. It was proposed a very hard Safari from Central Kayseri to Artvin but now we reformulated the travel and seems the best choice is Kars City, situated 210km from Artvin. Here we plan to visit two National Parks, where accommodation and entrance are allowed. As it is too late to get permission to do a jackal survey from National Authorities and our colleagues from Kayseri couldn't do it in such o short period this time we only focus on collecting another kind of wildlife data. Large carnivores, Vultures, jackals, and if available Caracal caracal are the main species to follow in our journey.

2º INTERNATIONAL COLLOQUIUM (internal discussions)  ARTVIN (KARS), TURKEY 2013

“Study of the golden jackal populations. Bio-geography and Ecology”

DELAYED (not performed due to administrative problems)

-Romania Assumptions on the relation between Jackal dispersion patterns and hunting as a migration factor in Europe (Ovidiu Banea & Nicoleta Dinculescu)

-The Greece Bio-acoustic survey is a useful tool to determine the distribution area and population density of jackals. Project and PhD thesis proposals in Greece (Giorgos Giannatos)

-Turkey Dispersal behavior of carnivores in NE Turkey. Can we track jackal movements with camera trapping? (Hüseyin  Ambarlı)

Colleagues from Italy, Bulgaria, Serbia, Croatia, Hungary, Slovenia, and Estonia are invited to send free themes of jackal reports or personal works on jackal ecology. Data on competitive behavior and habitat selection or human activity related to jackal density, presenting other factors that could determine jackal dynamics are very well received and published in e-Bulletin and the final report of MINOR 2013. The Colloquium has informal character between specialists and works could be presented in brief .pdf format or .ppt format. In case the GOJAGE Colloquium will be organized in a space with a slide projector, the .ppt could be explained by another member present at the meeting.

Summer Survey of Jackals’ Habitat in RAMSAR Units, SE Romania

REPORT (here)

Time: 17th to 21st of July 2013

Location: Comana Natural Park Reserve and Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve, South Romania

JACKAL IN BELARUS (Шакалы ў Беларусі)

On 7.01.2012  Dzedzich Newspaper published that Mr Karnatskevich Nicholas, hunted near Tomashovka, Brest region in West Belarus an individual of the golden jackal species. The news was presented on Belarusian TV channel CTV.BY on 6.01.2013. Report on this news here (by Crispus NGO Sibiu).

Original news here (In Belarusian)

BULGARIA, April 16th  2013

ESTONIA JACKAL ORIGIN and LUPASTER taxonomy in North AFRICA

 After Giorgos Giannatos, an Environmental Ecologist, who introduced bio-acoustic stimulation to jackal studies in Europe in 2001, with a lot of experience in jackal ecology, expressed on 9.04.2013 his opinion regarding Jackal recent observations in Estonia,  Prof Dr Nikolai Spassov sent us now his opinion about the Estonian situation. While Luca Lapini, Ivana Selanec, and Ovidiu Banea believe that jackals reached naturally Matsalu National Park Reserve in West Estonia, Giorgos Giannatos believes that jackals were introduced or exist as allochthonous species.

Nikolai Spassov, 16.04.2013 

The fact of discovery of a small group of jackals in Estonia is rather strange. This canid is not adapted to vast forests, cold winters and deep snow, which represent main obstacles for the existence of the jackal population in Europe and Central Asia. That’s why its dispersal till these northern latitudes seems abnormal from the point of view of the knowledge of the ecological requirements of the species. From the other hand we need to have in mind  two circumstances: the extreme ability for adaptation of the high mammals as carnivores and especially the canids; the human factor (the creation of additional quantity of food resources, as well as road building  which helps the invasion of impenetrable territories).  The human factor is the cause of the extreme and unique, as it seems, jackal expansion in Europe during the last decades.  The natural penetration of the Jackal in Estonia  seems rather doubtful, but possibly it is  not absolutely improbable as a consequence of the extreme growth of the population in the South-East of Europe and the existing impulses of dispersal  in relation to this.  On the other hand, I don’t believe in the subsistence  of a jackal population in this northern country. If this is a natural colonization the attempt of survival in northern latitudes is condemned to failure... without an additional human help.

Regarding our note about genetics use in Canis genus phylogeny, Nikolai Spassov presented the following suplementary data on Canis lupaster taxonomy: It is possible that it is closer to wolves than to jackal, but its morphology demonstrates specific features, and I still believe that it is a separate species.

Related to DNA results, Dr Spassov reminded that the Canis lupaster species could have a common ancestor with the wolf but retains some plesiomorphic features.

Entire GOJAGE report and Nikolai Spassov fragment of original paper, about Canis lupaster skull and teeth morphological feature, here. In Bibliography chapter of this page, Spassov N., 1989 The position of jackals in the Canis genus and life-history of the golden jackal (Canis aureus) in Bulgaria and on the Balkans is avialable.

On the End of the 2013, Ilya Acosta Pankov, biologist in Sofia will start jackal ecology study inside his thesis program as PhD candidate with Prof Dr Spassov as thesis director.

LEGISLATION  JACKALS at EU 25 (27 countries) level is Near Threatened Category in IUCN Red List

Temple, H.J. and Terry, A. (Compilers). 2007. The Status and Distribution of European Mammals. Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities. viii + 48pp, 210 x 297 mm.

The 2007 European Union lifted the golden jackal species status from Least Concern to Near Threatened.

About the legal status of the species in Europe. Interview on Radio Romania International (PDF in French). Redactor Teofilia Nistor, Emisiunea INFO TERRA. Original audio MP3 in Romanian   

 WHO IS LOOKING 2013

From the beginning of 2013 GOlden JAckal Informal Study Group in Europe GOJAGE www.goldenjackal.eu had 5799 visits of 1828 unique visitors from 87 countries. Here, only a part of the statistics. Click on the photo to enlarge it!

 BALTICA 2013  

Small video material about Jackals in Matsalu National Park Reserve on Estonian TV, here, Jackals ate grapes

During 27-29th of March, an international team performed a wildlife survey,Baltica 2013, in western Estonia. The team included Biologist Peep Männil, Estonian Environment Information Center, Biologist Alex Lotman, Estonian Fund for Nature, Kaja Lotman Environmental Board Estonia, Liisi Laos, wildlife researcher, Kirbla, Lääne County and Ovidiu Banea, Environmental Ecologist, NGO Crispus Sibiu, Romania. The main purpose of this survey was to evaluate Matsalu National Park Reserve environment in winter conditions. During 2 days survey, the team analyzed the ecological network of those systems. At least 3 alive jackal individuals exist in Kasari Delta.

For more info about Matsalu National Park Reserve and Baltica 2013, please contact Mrs Kaja Lotman, Keskkonnaameti Hiiu-Lääne-Saare regiooni juhataja, tel 524 7899, kaja.lotman@keskkonnaamet.ee

GOJAGE thanks to Environmental Board member and President of Europarc Nordic-Baltic Federation, Mrs. Kaja Lotman, Mr. Peep Mannil, Ms. Liisi Laos, Mr. Aleksei Lotman, Mr. Tonis Ulm, Mr. Andrus, and all team from Matsalu National Park Reserve in Läänemaa, West Estonia.

The first jackal alive photographed in Estonia, Juniperus scrub habitat, 58º Latitude N, Baltic Sea Coast, Altitude 0 m.

This young female belongs to a group of at least 3 individuals. Bio-acoustic stimulation and snow track were positive for this territorial group (Photoreport here). Photo TONIS ULM 28.03.2013, Environmental Inspector Matsalu NP Reserve. Case report and brief considerations on jackal habitat specialist behavior here. 

Stable population?

Efforts are being made now to discover if a possible relationship between Estonian jackals with those of Romania, and Ukraine exists. 

This cluster seems to have been established since 2011: howling was reported for more than 2 years and 10 month year old female was killed at the end of February 2013. We have enough conditions (reproduction and existence for at least 2 years) to affirm that in Estonia exists at least one reproductive territorial group of golden jackal species (Canis aureus, L. 1758).

Origin

Now, a lot of efforts are made to establish the biogeography of related phenomena and categorize the species in Estonia, both theories being possible.

1) Natural colonization from the Northern Coast of the Azov Sea, Donetsk County, Ukraine using Dnieper (Ukraine) and Daugava (Belorussia and Latvia) River Catchments.

2) Intentionally introduced, 2-3 years ago. 

 Sketched by Ovidiu Banea (Base map: Wikipedia)

Zoologist Dr Luca Lapini (jackal ecosystem expert since 1981) , Ivana Selanec and Ovidiu Banea, Environmental Ecologists, all of them members of Informal Study Group of Golden Jackal in Europe recognize that the first possibility may be the correct one. Of course, this hypothesis should be confirmed with genetic analysis collected from individuals from closest core areas to determine parental relations, and the demonstration of new records of species in wetlands in river basins of the Dnieper and Dvina Zapadnaya (Daugava) River Basins.

Another colleague, Giorgos Giannatos, an Environmental Ecologist, who introduced bio-acoustic stimulation to jackal studies in Europe in 2001, with a lot of experience in jackal ecology, expressed on 9.04.2013 his opinion: "Absolutely NOT possible. For several reasons like the huge distance, the harsh climate, the large boreal forest wilderness, the paucity of food outside human settlements, the sparse human population, the nonpresence of jackals north of Slovakia, and many more - you name it!! I believe those jackals in Estonia are animals released by people. We don't know the components and all the details and I think even the scientists from Estonia they have no real clue about what happened. The case needs to be investigated and probably science could help track the animals' origin."

 Genetics of Estonian specimen will be studied in Poland

We already sent 2 samples from the south-eastern part of Romania (possibly related to the Dobrogea and Danube Delta jackal population), 3 samples from the western part of Romania (possibly related to the  Hungarian jackal population), and one sample of Estonian young female killed in Estonia to Prof. Wiesław Bogdanowicz, director of Museum and Institute of Zoology, Polish Academy of Sciences, to conduct an investigation on these samples and compare its DNA with samples in GenBank, a genetic database.

This kind of analysis is very useful to understand Phylogenetic trees, but also to understand the biogeography of the species. 

We ask with great persistence all hunting associations in Bielorussia, Ukraine, Latvia, Russia, or zoological institutions, and museums, if they have samples of biological tissue to contact the Institute of Zoology in Warsaw or GOJAGE E-mail: gojage@goldenjackal.eu

Also, fellow biologists and researchers from the Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis, Department of Biology, University of Oslo, Norway, Wildlife Conservation Research Unit, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, United Kingdom, Biology Department, Science Faculty, Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia, National History Museum in Vienna to help us with GenBank.

Until now, the Egyptian jackal - Canis aureus lupaster - had been considered a rare sub-species of the golden jackal. The new evidence shows it is not a jackal at all, but a type of grey wolf. See below the open-source article (Rueness et al, 2011) on African Wolf phylogeny. 

Rueness EK, Asmyhr MG, Sillero-Zubiri C, Macdonald DW, Bekele A, et al. (2011) The Cryptic African Wolf

Conclusions on Estonian jackal at the end of the report (here).

2013 AGENDA

1) GOJAGE Research Article.  Joint all data collected during broader activities of GOJAGE 2012 in Greece, Hungary, Croatia, Slovenia, Italy, Romania, Bulgaria, and Serbia and publish results after a multivariate analysis, especially for ecological factors responsible for new natural colonization of the species in Central and SE Europe.

2) MINOR 2013 NE Turkey wildlife survey proposal, delayed

3) International meeting, location, and date will be scheduled for the 2nd Semester of 2013.

2º INTERNATIONAL COLLOQUIUM (internal discussions) 2013

“Study of the golden jackal populations. European concerns”

DELAYED

CARPENUL 2012, Snow-track survey to evaluate wildlife in Tarnavelor Plateau, Transilvania ROMANIA. Here in the Vurpar area, near Sibiu, a caducifolius forest and 600m altitude hills, where humans live together with wildlife, we wait for another canid, the golden jackal. It may be part of this ecological system and cross from the Mures River basin to the Olt River basin through this path of bears, lynx, wolves, and their prey. We observed footprints that perhaps belong to jackals, but until new sightings and observations. we do not assume the jackal presence in the area. It will be very interesting to evaluate the horizontal ecological network between jackals, foxes, lynxes, wolves, and night raptor birds and most importantly with the small game as ungulates in two hunting terrains of the area and also near the villages or where the shepherds and hunters reported damages. In the areas where the habitats of wolves overlap with jackals habitat, misunderstanding those damages is very easy to report. In Alba county and in Olt county, 80 km to the north and 150 km to the south from where we performed this survey, NGO Crispus, already identified jackals inside the Carpathians Arch and also on the Southern slope in both Mures and Olt River basins.

 Lepus europaeus and Canis lupus

PARADIS (Raj) 2012, CHAGALJ survey in Peljesac Peninsula CROATIA

GOJAGE includes a research team in Turkey

In October 2012, researchers from Erciyes University contacted GOJAGE members and started their collaboration for better knowledge and information disclosure of Turkish concerns regarding golden jackal species ecology. With this group of environmental ecologists and biologists in Turkey, GOJAGE extends its work range to 9 European countries.

Welcome to all colleagues from Turkey and have a nice, long, and pleasant stay!

In only 15 days, since we met, GOJAGE enriched data from SE Europe and jackal-specific ecological systems survey in some areas of NE Turkey is now a priority for 2013. A proposal for MINOR 2013 GOJAGE Jackal Ecological Systems SURVEY will be evaluated during the following months.

Turkey (Türkiye) lies at the nexus of Europe, the Middle East, Central Asia, and Africa. Turkey’s location, mountains, and its encirclement by three seas have resulted in high terrestrial, freshwater, and marine biodiversity. Most of Turkey’s land area is covered by one of three biodiversity hotspots (Caucasus, Irano-Anatolian, and Mediterranean). Of over 9000 known native vascular plant species, one-third are endemic.

Turkey ranks 140th out of 163 countries in biodiversity and habitat conservation. Millennia of human activities have dramatically changed the original land and sea ecosystems of Anatolia, one of the earliest loci of human civilization. Nevertheless, the greatest threats to biodiversity have occurred since 1950, particularly in the past decade. Although Turkey’s total forest area increased by 5.9% since 1973, endemic-rich Mediterranean maquis, grasslands, coastal areas, wetlands, and rivers are disappearing, while overgrazing and rampant erosion degrade steppes and rangelands. The current ‘‘developmentalist obsession’’, particularly regarding water use, threatens to eliminate much of what remains, while forcing large-scale migration from rural areas to the cities. According to current plans, Turkey’s rivers and streams will be dammed with almost 4000 dams, diversions, and hydroelectric power plants for power, irrigation, and drinking water by 2023. Unchecked urbanization, dam construction, draining of wetlands, poaching, and excessive irrigation are the most widespread threats to biodiversity.

Hunting is by far the most common human-wildlife interaction across Turkey; hence the codification of wildlife conservation and management under the Terrestrial Hunting Law.

Turkey’s public and private conservation community is still young and emerging. Continued and increasing support from national and international partners will help Turkey place natural resource protection and sustainable development on par with other concerns (Ç.H. S.ekercioglu et al. / Biological Conservation 144 (2011) 2752–2769)

The Status of Mammalian Carnivores in Turkey by Kirk Johnson 2003

Most of the largest carnivores have been extirpated while others are in decline. The fate of Turkey’s wildlife lies with various governmental bodies holding often conflicting agendas and handicapped by a lack of skilled personnel and funding. If Turkey’s current suite of laws can be strengthened, transparently enforced and corruption rooted out, the long-term survival of carnivore species throughout the Middle East will be enhanced.

The region of Asia Minor or Anatolia (today’s Turkey) is a natural bridge connecting Europe and Asia. This region was historically home to a divorce group of carnivores such as the Caspian tiger (Panthera tigris virgata), the Asiatic lion (Panthera leo persica) gray wolf (Canis lupus), striped hyena (Hyaena hyaena), brown bear (Ursus arctos), Anatolian leopard (Panthera pardus tulliana), Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx), caracal (Caracal caracal), Eurasian otter (Lutra lutra), golden jackal (Canis aureus), red fox (Vulpes vulpes), European wildcat (Felis silvestris caucasica), pine marten (Martes martes) and other smaller mustelid species (Botas et al. 2002). 

Jackal and Caracal in Turkey

The golden jackal (Canis aureus), the“coyote” of Turkey, an eight to eleven kg. canid with a widespread range stretching from eastern Africa to southern Asia (Ivory 1997). Jackals normally live as mated pairs in family units with young, often including grown young helpers from earlier litters (Ivory 1997). They are opportunistic foragers with a varied diet, including berries, young ungulates, rodents, hares, ground-nesting birds, fish, insects, and various small reptiles(Ivory 1997). No research has been conducted on the diet of golden jackals in the wilds of Turkey, but it perhaps includes the young of roe and red deer. On occasion, shepherds in the Kackars encounter jackals that take lambs from flocks (Colak 2002). These canids are still widespread in Asia Minor, but have no legal protection and are locally extirpated in many accessible locations.

A much rarer felid still calls Anatolia’s Black Sea and Taurus Ranges’ home. The caracal weighs between 11-20 kg, and has distinctive ears characterized by long tufts of black hair (Botas et al. 2002). The cat was once widespread throughout Anatolia, with records of the cat existing from the Aegean coastal mountains, the entire Taurus Range, eastern Anatolia, and the Tokat area near the Black Sea (Botas et al. 2002). By 2002, the caracal was considered very rare and likely extirpated from most of these regions (Botaset al. 2002). The caracal is known to attack domestic sheep and goats, but its usual prey includes birds, hares, and small rodents such as voles (Botas et al. 2002; CSG Species Accounts 1996). In the only study of this species conducted in the Middle East, twenty resident and transient caracals were found to utilize an irrigated agricultural area of 100 sq. km in Israel’s Negev Desert (CSG Species Accounts 1996). Such high local densities occur despite large overlapping home ranges of 57 to 221 sq. km (CSG Species Accounts1996). The species has official protection in Turkey under the Central Hunting Commission ( Botas et al. 2002).

In 2007, individuals of caracals, including a pregnant female and other 12 mammal species were photo trapped in Datca Peninsula SW Anatolia (Ilemin & Gurkan 2010, Zoology in the Middle East, Heidelberg).

 KARAR Orman ve Su İşleri Bakanlığından:  2012-2013 AV DÖNEMİ Decision of Ministry of Forestry and Water Affairs 2012-2013. Data provided by Prof Dr Coşkun TEZ, Erciyes University, Kayseri, Oct 2012  (Click photo)

Some data about the conservation of jackal species in Turkey were provided by Prof Dr Coşkun TEZ, GOJAGE.

Details (in English) of large mammalian species biological diversity and genetics project in Turkey can be accessed here.

Powerpoint of this project owned by the General Directorate of Nature Protection of National Parks of the Ministry of Environment and Forestry can be accessed here.

 Who is visiting us, STATISTICS updated for 27 of Oct 2012

 SISTEM 2012, brief report of GOJAGE 2 in Romania (here)

GOJAGE 2 BROADER ACTIVITIES IN DIFFERENT EUROPEAN COUNTRIES

11th of Oct - 25th of Nov 2012

-press release 

-details (GOJAGE 2 proposal) PDF

-Methodology: The teams are invited to do a survey in 15-30 calling stations and to register data as is shown in the MVA sheet PDF and worddoc.format

-previous reports (click on the country flag)

 GOJAGE blog, 

Free space for publishing members` activities, news about jackal studies, mammals, Carnivora Order, and Press Release. Members and visitors are invited to use the comments space as a forum discussion for each entrance, click on the image below.

IUCN South-Eastern European e-Bull, Nr 29/ MARCH 2012

 data about GOJAGE presented by Ivana Selanec, CROATIA

BROADER ACTIVITIES IN DIFFERENT EUROPEAN COUNTRIES press release

 GOJAGE 1 Spring Stage 12-16.04.2012 & Broader project EuroJACK proposal

                                                - Romania & Bulgaria 

                                                 - Serbia

                                                 - Croatia

                                                 - Hungary     

                                                 - Slovenia

                                                 - Italy

                                                 - Greece                                                             

GOJAGE 2 Autumn Stage 12-16.10.2012

An innovative study of GOJAGE initiated by Czech Republic research team

Tools: (even if you see coordinates sign WGS 94, the type is referred for UTM as in MVA)

1) WORKSHEET to use for acoustic stimulation and landscape (GOJAGE 1)

2) WORKSHEET by GOJAGE to use for ANTHROPOGENIC PRESSURE (Giannatos 2012)

3) MVA Multivariate Analysis SHEET to use as additional to bio-acoustic, Nº1 WORKSHEET (GOJAGE 2)    <.doc format >

Giurgiu County, Ghimpati GMU (Romania) 26.10.2011

1º INTERNATIONAL COLLOQUIUM (internal discussions)

“Study of the golden jackal populations. European concerns”

ITALY, Luca Lapini (Italian situation. Jackal biology, tools for studies) (REPR)

HUNGARY, Laszlo Szabo (Hungarian situation. Jackals and agrosystems) (REPR)

CZECH REPUBLIC, Jaroslav Cervinka & Martin Salek  (Czech Republic situation. Habitat fragmentation, edge effect and mesocarnivores in applied ecology) 

SLOVENIA, Miha Krofel (Croatian and Slovenian situation. Studies. Canis mesomelas experience in Namibian Desert)

ROMANIA, Ovidiu Banea & Petre Gargarea (Romanian situation. Study proposal. Biodiversity and human activities in relation with the golden jackal)

GREECE, Giorgos Giannatos (Acoustic monitoring technique. How became the golden jackal a threatened species in Greece. Projects around Europe) (25th OCT )

SERBIA, Dusko Cirovic (Serbian situation, diet and genetic studies) (23rd OCT)