This is the 30th in an ongoing series that highlights the riches of Pigeon Valley, the urban nature reserve in the heart of Glenwood. The focus of this article will be on the Side-striped Jackal.
At this point my friends nod knowingly to each other behind my back. He has flipped, there were already telltale signs. Or maybe he has become desperate at lack of things to write about. We can all see that the photo was not taken in Pigeon Valley?
So why am I writing about an animal that belongs somewhere far to the north? About four weeks weeks ago, around 3 a.m., Lucas Mpofana, a security guard in Albert Dlomo Road, near Pigeon Valley, saw an animal that scared him. It could have been a dog, but it wasn’t. It was wild. The animal walked down to Lena Ahrens Road, peered around, and then walked back, disappearing towards the reserve. The next night it returned around the same time and walked back and forth around the local roads. This time, Lucas took out his cell phone and, hiding in his hut, took a video, lit only by the streetlights.
You can see the video if you search on YouTube for Jackal in Glenwood. It shows the animal walking up the road towards the reserve. While not clearly visible, its shape is that of a jackal, most likely a Side-striped Jackal. While there is a bark, Lucas was not confident it came from the animal.
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It is though hard to understand how it came to be there – the nearest area it is typically found is towards the Mozambican border. We also have no specific evidence that it was in Pigeon Valley. However, some wildlife does range far. In the last two years we have had a Scimitarbill and a White-faced Owl in the reserve. Cameras in Westville have captured images of a family of Caracals. It could be part of a broader pattern of wildlife ranging far afield when their habitats are under threat, or in response to climate change.
Some local residents have been concerned that this animal is responsible for the disappearance of pets in the area and that it could take Red Duikers. If it is a Side-striped Jackal, though, its diet is only partially carnivorous, and it eats fruit and invertebrates, with perhaps some small mammals. There is no evidence of any threat to the duikers. A known threat is that of dogs roaming the streets – a few months ago, I was called just after dogs let out of a yard in the area mauled and killed a Red Duiker.
Crispin Hemson chairs the Friends of Pigeon Valley, a group that undertakes clearing of alien plants, keeps records of bird and mammal sightings and alerts management to any problems.
The Friends have a monthly walk at 7.30am on the second Saturday of each month. Email: friendsofpigeonvalley1@gmail.com.
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