Just wanted to share this with you-I meet this friend of mine twice a year, every year, at the same picnic spot in the Kalahari. We never come to close to each other, just greet and then depart. He is always there, old, frail, his ears tattered, his fur worn out, friendly but not too friendly. He is skinny, not in the best condition but somehow he manages to survive. It is illegal to feed animals in the Park but I think he has been fed before, otherwise he would not hang around the place all the time. Nevertheless he is still wild and no one dares touch him-he would most probably bite. I hope to see him again, he is quite delightful and he does not mind to come close to me, even though I have nothing to offer him but a kind word and some brief human non-threatening companionship.
Cheryl, this jackal is one cool little fellow- my guess is, since he is so old and tattered, he has been hanging around that picnic site for some time waiting for food scraps (I have known him for about three years now, saw him twice a year). Last time I saw him was March 2013-we stopped the car under a big tree and had tea and rusks and I kept looking around but did not see him. Went to look around the bushes and there he was, running towards me, he must have been far away but heard a car and he was coming to investigate...I never get too close and do not try to touch him-that would probably ruin our friendship!
I have some more pics of him, if you're not already bored with this little guy I shall post some close-ups, just to show you his big tattered ears.