Canis adustus
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
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.
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kidepo Valley National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 2 | Liwonde National Park | 🇲🇼 Malawi | |
| 3 | Murchison Falls National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 4 | Kafue National Park | 🇿🇲 Zambia | |
| 5 | Mana Pools National Park | 🇿🇼 Zimbabwe | |
| 6 | Moremi Game Reserve | 🇧🇼 Botswana | |
| 7 | uMkhuze Game Reserve | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 8 | Kruger National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 9 | Serengeti National Park | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 10 | Masai Mara National Reserve | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 11 | iSimangaliso Wetland Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nairobi | 🇰🇪 Kenya |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kano Zoo | 🇳🇬 Nigeria | |
| 2 | Nairobi Safari Walk | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 3 | Animal Orphanage | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 4 | Audu Bako Zoo | 🇳🇬 Nigeria |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Side-striped Jackal sighting in Serengeti National Park on a given day, based on 6 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 42nd most-seen of the 44 mammals we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 40%, if each day is a fresh chance.
November
In that month about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Side-striped Jackal in Serengeti National Park on a given day, against under 5% in February, April–June, August–October and December, the lowest months. That is one of Serengeti National Park's wettest months, with about 130 mm of rain against 5 mm in July.
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.
9th of 11
Of the 11 parks where we can rate Side-striped Jackal sightings, Serengeti National Park ranks 9th at about 10%. The best odds are in Kidepo Valley National Park (Uganda, about 70%), Liwonde National Park (Malawi, about 60%) and Murchison Falls National Park (Uganda, about 40%). All parks ranked.
Same genus: Canis
The closest relatives of the Side-striped Jackal that you can see in Serengeti National Park (genus Canis, Wolves and Dogs) are Black-backed Jackal (about 40%) and African Golden Wolf (about 30%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Side-striped Jackal is recorded against all the mammals logged in Serengeti National Park (6 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.
