Golden Jackal (Canis aureus) eating Jackfruit (Artocarpus Heterophyllus) in India

The Wild Golden Jackal (Canis aureus) is a wolf-like canid native to Eurasia. It is an opportunistic feeder that includes fruits in its omnivorous diet, which also consists of meat, carrion, and various plant matter. Golden jackals are known to eat soft fruits like mangoes and jamuns; however, they tend to avoid fruits with hard shells, such as jackfruits, which is highly unusual and requires extra effort. They typically eat fallen fruit, but here, a rare instance was documented, where a jackal is seen climbing from the jungle to a high wall in the locality, biting and gnawing at jackfruit from a jackfruit tree, feasting on a jackfruit, extracting the seeds in Tehatta, West Bengal, India, on 22/05/2025.