title

The jackal (Canis aureus) in the zone of occupation and hostilities in Ukraine: a biogeographical analysis

author(s)

Igor Zagorodniuk (orcid: 0000-0002-0523-133X)

affiliation

Institute for Evolutionary Ecology, NAS of Ukraine (Kyiv, Ukraine)

bibliography

Theriologia Ukrainica. 2026. Vol. 31: 98–125.

DOI

language

English, with Ukrainian summary, titles of tables, captures to figs

abstract

The history of the jackal’s expansion into the eastern part of Ukraine (in fact, all regions east of the Dnipro River) during the first quarter of the 21st century is examined in detail. The dynamics of the jackal’s settlement and the specifics of its spread in eastern Ukraine, in the regions east of the Dnipro River (in fact, east of the Odesa–Kyiv line), covering all areas of current hostilities and occupation zones, are analysed. The study is based on a detailed OSINT analysis of data from all types of open sources and reports from local residents and colleagues, including wildlife experts, and partly on publications, which are very scarce. Unlike the right-bank part of the country, the source of this expansion was the jackal populations living on the pre-Caucasian plains, separated from Ukraine by the Sea of Azov, the Lower Don, and the Kerch Strait. It has been shown that the expansion took place in several waves, with the main phase of settlement in the region occurring between 2005 and 2015, i.e. before the period of catastrophic changes in all traditional forms of nature use and before the period of active hostilities as a result of Russian aggression against Ukraine. Over two decades, a cluster system of settlements has formed, numbering about 10 and spaced about 70–100 km apart. Most of these clusters are associated with river floodplains, reservoir bays, estuaries, and, less frequently, ravine-balka systems. From there, jackals spread further, blurring the boundaries between clusters. Statistical data on the recording and hunting of jackals by hunters between 2011 and 2025 have been compiled, broken down by year and region. The current data is supplemented by a search for historical evidence of the appearance of jackals in the territory of modern Ukraine in the 18th–20th centuries. All such cases relate to the southern (coastal) regions and indicate that jackals have been appearing in the region on multiple occasions in historical times and, therefore, their status as a native species within its distribution range. Modern expansion can be interpreted as new fluctuation in the geographical range, which changes in accordance with the dynamics of climatic factors. The main factor in the restoration of the range is climate warming, primarily the reduction of areas with permanent winter snow cover, which allows jackals to successfully forage for food.

keywords

golden jackal, species expansion, hostility zone, Eastern Europe

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