Jackals of Pulicat

Jackals of Pulicat! As in Pulicat Lake? What are Jackals doing in a lake? Yes, all natural questions that come to ones mind when one reads the title “Jackals of Pulicat”. But the fact is that there is indeed a pack of Golden Jackals living on some of the islands of Pulicat Lake in Tamil Nadu.

My friends and I were on a short birding trip to Pulicat Lake in Tamil Nadu. I had only been to the Andhra Pradesh side of the massive Pulicat Lake till then. So I did not want to miss an opportunity to explore the Tamil Nadu side. But never did I expect to see Golden Jackals at the lake. But there they were, walking on the beach of one of the islands. In fact we saw four of them on the first day. Here are some pictures that I managed to take of them when they unexpectedly showed up during the evening boat ride in search of birds.

They seemed extremely weary of humans. As soon as we tried to approach a bit more closer the island where they were seen, it immediately became cautious, alert and sat up right.

A few steps from us in its direction had it disappearing into the woods. The same thing happened when we saw one during the next morning boat ride.

As soon as the boat starting to move towards the island it moved into the woods and disappeared.

Upon reaching back home I wondered if there had been other sightings of these mammals as well as how they managed to survive there. Searching on the internet showed that there were several folks who had sighted and photographed them. They possibly have been around at the lake for close to 20 years. It is just that not everyone gets lucky to see them I guess. Atleast I certainly considered myself to  have been lucky to see them 🙂 . Seemingly, being omnivorous and thus hunting or scavenging as needed, has helped them to survive in these parts. But as in other places, their population is under threat owing to loss of habitat and other factors. I just hope that they continue to survive.

So the next time you visit Pulicat Lake in Tamil Nadu keep an eye out. You might just get to see them as well.

You can also read more about the Pulicat Lake in my other posts here and here.

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