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The golden jackal (Canis aureus) in Bosnia and Herzegovina: density of territorial groups, population trend and distribution range

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Abstract

In this article, we present the results of the first systematic surveys of golden jackals in Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H). The population status and distribution of the golden jackal (Canis aureus) in B&H was largely unknown, and the few existing literature records mention their presence at only five localities in the country. We interviewed managers of all the hunting grounds in B&H and reviewed available jackal hunting records from 2000 to 2016. In total, we collected 212 records of legally harvested jackals. We observed an increasing trend of harvested jackals in B&H (on average 35% annual increase) during this same period. Using the acoustic (playback) method, we confirmed the presence of 80 territorial jackal groups along six transects covering 3081 km2. We estimated density to be a minimum of 0.33 groups/10 km2 in northern B&H and 0.10 groups/10 km2 in central B&H. Jackal groups were located at significantly lower altitudes with respect to available area along the transects. We present a distribution map of confirmed jackal occurrences in B&H, which indicates that the core area of jackal distribution in the country is currently located along the Sava River and its tributaries in the northern part of B&H. Jackals are sporadically present in the rest of the country, where gray wolves (Canis lupus) probably limit their presence. In total, jackal presence has been detected in 19% (109 out of 586) of 10 × 10 km grid cells covering the country. The primary factor driving the expanding population of jackals in northern B&H appears to be immigration of jackals from Croatia and Serbia.

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Acknowledgements

We want to thank to Marko Ivanišević for helping with the preparation of maps, and Jennifer C. Ellis and Nataša Baštinac for improving the English. We are also grateful to Duško Ćirović and Krzysztof Schmidt for constructive comments, and two anonymous reviewers for reviewing the early draft and providing several useful suggestions that considerably improved the manuscript.

Funding

MK was funded by the Slovenian Research Agency (grant no. P4-0059).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Sciences, University of Banja Luka, Mladena Stojanovića 2, 78000, Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina

    Igor Trbojević & Danijela Malešević

  2. Faculty of Ecology, Independent University of Banja Luka, Veljka Mlađenovića 12e, 78000, Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina

    Tijana Trbojević

  3. Biotechnical Faculty, Department for Forestry, University of Ljubljana, Večna pot 83, 1000, Ljubljana, Slovenia

    Miha Krofel

Authors
  1. Igor Trbojević
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  2. Tijana Trbojević
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  3. Danijela Malešević
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  4. Miha Krofel
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Igor Trbojević.

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Communicated by: Krzysztof Schmidt

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Trbojević, I., Trbojević, T., Malešević, D. et al. The golden jackal (Canis aureus) in Bosnia and Herzegovina: density of territorial groups, population trend and distribution range. Mamm Res 63, 341–348 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13364-018-0365-1

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