Side-striped Jackal

Side-striped Jackal

Canis adustus

Daily sighting probability ~70% · Very likely
at Kidepo Valley National Park

In 3 days >90%

17 Verified sightings at Kidepo Valley National Park From 2019 to 2026
175 In all 11 parks
February Best month
🌅 Crepuscular When it's spotted

About the Side-striped Jackal

The side-striped jackal (Lupulella adusta or Schaeffia adusta) is a canine native to Central and Southern Africa. The side-striped jackal has a much wider distribution than the better-known black-backed Jackal, but there are large parts of their range with no information on their population status.

The Swedish zoologist Carl Jakob Sundevall named the species Canis adustus in 1847. The German zoologist Max Hilzheimer proposed a different genus as Schaeffia adusta in 1906. Fossil remains of the side-striped jackal date to the Pliocene era. A mitochondrial DNA sequence alignment for the wolf-like canids gave a phylogenetic tree with the side-striped jackal and the black-backed jackal being the most basal members of this clade, which means that this tree is indicating an African origin for the clade.

Wikipedia →

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Kidepo Valley National Park 🇺🇬 Uganda
~70%
2 Liwonde National Park 🇲🇼 Malawi
~60%
3 Murchison Falls National Park 🇺🇬 Uganda
~40%
4 Kafue National Park 🇿🇲 Zambia
~30%
5 Mana Pools National Park 🇿🇼 Zimbabwe
~30%
6 Moremi Game Reserve 🇧🇼 Botswana
~30%
7 uMkhuze Game Reserve 🇿🇦 South Africa
~20%
8 Kruger National Park 🇿🇦 South Africa
~10%
9 Serengeti National Park 🇹🇿 Tanzania
~10%
10 Masai Mara National Reserve 🇰🇪 Kenya
~10%
11 iSimangaliso Wetland Park 🇿🇦 South Africa
~10%

Cities Where Found

# City Country Daily sighting probability
1 Nairobi 🇰🇪 Kenya
~10%

Zoos & Centres Where Found

# Zoo / Centre Country
1 Kano Zoo 🇳🇬 Nigeria In captivity
2 Nairobi Safari Walk 🇰🇪 Kenya In captivity
3 Animal Orphanage 🇰🇪 Kenya In captivity
4 Audu Bako Zoo 🇳🇬 Nigeria In captivity

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing a Side-striped Jackal in Kidepo Valley National Park?

Very likely

About 70% of wildlife watchers report a Side-striped Jackal sighting in Kidepo Valley National Park on a given day, based on 17 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 8th most-seen of the 15 mammals we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.

When is the best time to see a Side-striped Jackal in Kidepo Valley National Park?

February and March

In those months about 80% of wildlife watchers report a Side-striped Jackal in Kidepo Valley National Park on a given day, against about 20% in April, the lowest month. Those are among Kidepo Valley National Park's driest months, with about 25 mm of rain a month against 130 mm in July. September and November–December have too few records to rate.

What time of day is best to see a Side-striped Jackal?

Between 6 and 9 am

Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Side-striped Jackal sightings with a recorded time, and about 7 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is most active around dawn and dusk.

Is Kidepo Valley National Park the best place to see a Side-striped Jackal?

Yes

Of the 11 parks where we can rate Side-striped Jackal sightings, Kidepo Valley National Park has the highest daily chance: about 70%. Next come Liwonde National Park (Malawi, about 60%) and Murchison Falls National Park (Uganda, about 40%). All parks ranked.

Where does the Side-striped Jackal sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the Side-striped Jackal is recorded against all the mammals logged in Kidepo Valley National Park (17 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.

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