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Golden Jackal Diet Was Dominated by Livestock Carrion, While Jungle Cats Focused on Small Mammals

Golden jackal in Pench National Park, India
Research · Ecology

A study published on 15 June 2026 found clear dietary differences between golden jackals (Canis aureus) and jungle cats (Felis chaus) in the human-dominated Kuno–Chambal ravine landscape of Madhya Pradesh, India. Researchers analysed 117 scat samples collected during similar seasonal periods in 2024 and 2025: 96 from golden jackals and 21 from jungle cats. The scats were examined microscopically for remains such as hairs and plant material.

Occurrence and biomass describe different parts of the diet

The researchers used two complementary measures. Frequency of occurrence describes how often a food item appeared in the scats. Because one scat can contain several food items, occurrence percentages across items do not have to add up to 100%. Estimated relative biomass instead uses correction equations to approximate how much of the consumed prey biomass each item represented. Because different correction equations were used for the two predators, the authors caution that absolute biomass estimates are not strictly comparable between golden jackals and jungle cats. The values are most useful for ranking foods within each species and for comparing the broader dietary strategies.

Livestock carrion dominated jackal biomass

Golden jackals relied heavily on livestock carrion. When livestock items were combined as a dietary category, their cumulative occurrence exceeded 90%, and they contributed about 80% of the estimated prey biomass. The detailed results show why frequency and biomass should not be confused: plant matter was the most frequent single food category, occurring in 63.5% of jackal scats, while cattle and buffalo each occurred in 45.8%, sheep in 39.6% and goats in 17.7%. The authors link the high biomass contribution from livestock to open carcass disposal in the agro-pastoral landscape, which provides a predictable food subsidy for scavengers.

Jungle cats concentrated on the small-mammal size class

Jungle cats showed a contrasting diet. Rodents occurred in about 95% of their scats and contributed 48.5% of estimated prey biomass. Indian hare (Lepus nigricollis) contributed another 28.9%, so these small mammals together accounted for about 77% of the estimated biomass within the jungle-cat diet. The cat was therefore a prey-size specialist: it concentrated strongly on small mammals while still using many different species within that size class.

This distinction helps explain a seemingly counterintuitive result. Standardised niche breadth — a 0–1 measure in which higher values indicate resource use spread more broadly or evenly across categories — was higher in jungle cats (0.60) than in golden jackals (0.37). The jackal was more opportunistic in the types of food it could use, but its diet was uneven because a few high-biomass resources, especially livestock carrion, dominated. The jungle cat used a narrower prey-size class but spread its feeding more evenly across several small-mammal species.

Dietary overlap between the two carnivores was moderate, with a Pianka index of 0.45. The index runs from 0 for no shared resource use to 1 for identical use. A null-model test showed that the observed overlap was not greater than expected by chance, supporting dietary partitioning rather than unusually strong sharing of the same foods.

The study did not measure prey abundance directly, compare seasons, or test spatial and temporal segregation between the species. The authors therefore caution that the data describe dietary use but cannot by themselves establish active prey selection or all mechanisms that allow the two mesocarnivores to coexist.

Sources and image credit

  1. Sharma, S., Gupta, J., Jain, A., Panda, D., Maurya, K. K., & Singh, R. (2026). Dietary pattern and trophic resource partitioning among sympatric mesocarnivores in human-dominated semi-arid landscape, Madhya Pradesh. Ecologies, 7(2), 58. https://doi.org/10.3390/ecologies7020058Primary open-access research article published 15 June 2026. Researchers analysed 117 scats from the Kuno–Chambal landscape: 96 golden jackal and 21 jungle cat. Livestock carrion contributed about 80% of estimated prey biomass in golden jackals, while rodents and black-naped hare together contributed about 80% in jungle cats. Dietary overlap was moderate (Pianka index 0.45) but not significantly greater than random expectation. Prey abundance, seasonal comparisons and spatial/temporal segregation were not assessed.

Image: Bernard Gagnon / Wikimedia Commons — golden jackal in Pench National Park, Madhya Pradesh, India, 21 March 2026. Representative image for this story; not presented as an animal or scene from the reported study or event. · CC BY 4.0 · Source

About this content: This story was produced with AI assistance within an editorial workflow developed by Wildlife Vagabond. Editorial responsibility remains with Wildlife Vagabond.How AI is used

Ecology

SPECIES IN THIS STORY

Species in this story

Golden Jackal Canis aureus Explore species Jungle Cat Felis chaus Explore species Indian Hare Lepus nigricollis Explore species

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