Golden Jackal: Spotted in Ticino for the First Time

A golden jackal has been spotted in Ticino for the first time. Game wardens from the cantonal Office for Hunting and Fishing were able to confirm the presence of the dog-family animal in the Onsernone-Centovalli area.

This was announced on Tuesday by the Kora Foundation.

According to the statement from the foundation, which specializes in predators and ecology, game wardens from the cantonal Office for Hunting and Fishing spotted the golden jackal.

Kora views the appearance of a new species in the southern canton as a positive sign. The presence of the golden jackal shows that the Ticino ecosystem is very stable and boasts a rich biodiversity.

The golden jackal, originally native to the Arabian Peninsula and India, was first spotted in Switzerland in 2011, when it appeared in the northwestern Alps.

Eight years later, it was sighted in the cantons of Graubünden, St. Gallen, Geneva, and others. So far, only individual golden jackals have ever been spotted, Kora adds.

A European species experiencing a natural expansion

In reality, it comes as no complete surprise: this little-known species has been documented in Switzerland for nearly a decade. The European golden jackal has been present on our continent for thousands of years, yet for a long time it was confined to a few coastal regions of southeastern Europe, where it has been subject to persecution by hobby hunters. In the second half of the 20th century, the golden jackal benefited from protective measures, setting in motion a remarkable expansion toward new favorable territories. By the 1980s, it had established a foothold in the Alpine regions of Italy and Austria, and the observations recorded in 2011 on the Swiss Plateau likely refer to animals from these neighboring populations. Golden jackals are protected in Switzerland as in neighboring countries, and their gradual arrival is not expected to have any adverse effects.