Reproduction of the golden jackal (<i>Canis aureus</i>) outside current resident breeding populations in Europe: evidence from the Czech Republic

Abstract

Abstract The golden jackal is a mesocarnivore with a rapidly expanding European range, where current resident breeding populations occupy much of the Balkans, Pannonian Basin and the Black and Caspian seas coasts. Despite numerous post-2000 records, breeding of this species in the newly colonized regions of Central and Northwestern Europe remained unconfirmed. Photography- and direct observation-based evidence obtained in 2017 from Central Bohemia, Czech Republic, indicates a north-western shift in the breeding range over 300 km from the closest known breeding jackal population in Pannonian Basin.