Jackals are a type of canine, animals that are related to dogs, coyotes, foxes and wolves. They look like a cross between a German shepherd and a fox. They have the fox's small face, delicate legs and fluffy tail, with the German shepherd's long, alert ears.

There are three species of jackals: Golden jackal, Side-striped jackal and Black-backed jackal. The golden jackal lives in open savannas, deserts, and arid grasslands. Side-striped jackals are found in moist savannas, marshes, bushlands, and mountains. The black-backed—also called sliver-backed—jackal lives primarily in savannas and woodlands.

Jackals are animals that make their home in different parts of Africa as well as in European countries such as Greece, Romania, Italy, and Bulgaria along with others. They are omnivores eating both plants and meat. A male and female jackal are monogamous meaning they stay together throughout their lives and the pair raises their pups together. These canines can live up to 12 years in the wild.

As omnivores, jackals like to eat both meat and vegetation. Their diet consists of leftovers from other animals' kills, ground-dwelling birds, reptiles, antelopes, fruits, insects, berries and grass. They're not picky, though. They will also eat human trash if something more suitable isn't available.

Fossil deposits have revealed that the black-backed jackal is one of the oldest known dog species. It has remained pretty much unchanged since the Pleistocene epoch, up to 2.5 million years ago.

The color of their coat helps it to blend in with its territory. Just think of how easily a common jackal would disappear into the light brown grass on the African savanna! This camouflaging helps to protect it if predators are in the area.

With their long legs and curved canine teeth, they are well adapted for hunting, and their large feet and fused leg bones give them a physique well-suited for long-distance running, capable of maintaining speeds of 16 km/h (9.9 mph) for extended periods of time. They are mostly nocturnal animals that usually conceal themselves by day in brush or thickets and sally forth at dusk to hunt.

A jackal that is walking alone is likely to run away from a threat while a large group of jackals may stand their ground against a predator. A pack of jackals may even be able to overwhelm a leopard or a hyena. At the very least, a large pack may be able to chase the predator away. In the folklore of the indigenous Khoikhoi people of south-western Africa, the black-backed jackal often travels in tandem with the lion, which it frequently outsmarts or betrays using its superior intelligence.

Jackals are highly vocal. Best known for their high wailing calls – often given in the early evening, when one individual answers another until an unearthly chorus builds up – they also utter a repeated yapping when tailing a predator; a call that sometimes betrays an irritated lion or leopard. Each jackal family has their own yipping sound that only members of their own family respond to. Side-striped jackals can hoot like owls. Because of this, they are called "o loo" by the Karamajong people of Uganda.

The three species of jackal are not endangered and are listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature' Red List of Threatened Species as least concern. This means that their populations are mostly stable and they are found in multiple regions.