Jackals are mostly considered as scavenger but is actually very successful hunters. Jackal are very resourceful feeders. They are omnivores(feeding of both plant and meat material). Jackal are known to feed on insects and rodents, but seen taking down bigger species like sick, injured and young impala, duiker etc.
On one of last weekend’s morning game drive we came across a small herd of impala with quite a few young lams present. They seemed very uneasy when we stopped. They snorted(warning signal of nearby predators) and were all staring in the same direction. On closer inspection we noticed two black backed jackal approx 30 metres away. Thinking that the impala is to big for a Jackal to take down we realised that the jackal were trying to separate one of the lambs from the rest of the herd. The one jackal started the chase for a few metres with the second jackal taking over(relay fashion). The two jackal attempted this on a few occasions without any luck. The impala stopped running and turned on the jackal chasing them back 50metres. Every time the impala turned their backs on the jackal they tried again to separate the lams from the herd but to no avail. The Jackal gave up after about 7 attempts and retreated to a nearby shade to rest during the heat of the day. The impala also decided to move away where they would be safer.