The Golden Jackal of Samos

The golden jackal is a medium-sized, nocturnal canid, whose pelt colours are quite variable. There is a diminishing population on the island of Samos, the only Greek island it's found on. Minimum number of jackal groups in Samos is between 13-20.
• Head and body length: 88–96 cm
• Tail length: 21–26 cm
• Weight: 10–14 kg, life expectancy 8-9 years in the wild

Jackals have a reputation for being sneaky, skulking scavengers and nuisance animals that steal domestic sheep and lambs but on the contrary they're 50% vegetarian and an overall benefit to agriculture. In reality, jackals are nearly 50 per cent vegetarian, feeding on fruits and berries. The other half of their diet comes mainly from carrion and hunting small animals like reptiles, frogs, fish, rodents, rabbits, insects, and ground-dwelling birds.

Although they do take the occasional lamb, jackals can also benefit agriculture by keeping the number of rodents and rabbits down. Their negative public image is more than just a simple case of mistaken identity, however. In Greece, this reputation is seriously affecting the survival of the country's golden jackals ( Canis aureus ). There is a high mortality of jackals during the wild boar hunting period. They're shot by hunters in the process of hunting for wild boar. They are also killed on the roads, by vehicles. The forest fires reduced the population in 1999 but within the next three years it was quickly recovered.