The golden jackal: Europe’s quiet newcomer

A new canid is making its way across Europe. Since 2016, the golden jackal (Canis aureus) has been recorded in the Netherlands – so far as wandering individuals, but the establishment of a first resident pair is only a matter of time. For the Rewilding Academy, which works on ecosystem restoration and biodiversity recovery, this is a significant development. What do we know about this species? What role might it play in Dutch nature? And are there any risks?

This article is based on a literature review conducted as part of a graduation internship at the Rewilding Academy.

About the golden jackal

The golden jackal is a medium-sized canid – larger than a red fox, smaller than a wolf. Weighing between 13 and 15 kilograms, with a reddish-brown coat and a pointed snout, it is clearly distinguishable from both relatives. In the field, it can be identified by its paw prints: the two front toes are fused at the rear, a feature visible in loose soil.

The species is flexible and opportunistic. It lives in monogamous packs consisting of a breeding pair, their pups, and female yearlings. Territories in Europe average 2-4 km², but can vary considerably depending on the season and food availability. Young animals searching for their own territory sometimes travel hundreds of kilometres – crossing roads, rivers, and even motorways.

Its diet is broad: small mammals (particularly mice and voles), birds, amphibians, plant matter, carrion, and refuse. In wetter habitats such as marshes and reed beds, it frequently hunts coypu, muskrats, hares, and geese – which explains its nickname, the ‘reed wolf’.

From The Balkans to the Lowlands

The golden jackal is native to Southeast Europe and Asia. A cautious westward expansion began at the end of the 19th century, but it was not until the 1980s that the spread truly accelerated. Today the species is present throughout Central Europe; in Germany, multiple established packs with pups have already been documented. In 2016, the first golden jackal in the Netherlands was recorded on the Veluwe, followed by sightings in Overijssel and Limburg.

Underlying this expansion is a combination of factors – but one that is often overlooked is climate change. Rising temperatures are shifting the ecological boundaries within which species can survive, and for the golden jackal, warming winters have made previously inhospitable regions in Central and Northwest Europe newly accessible. In that sense, the jackal is a climate refugee: pushed and pulled northward by a changing climate that is steadily redrawing the map of where wildlife can live. The scale of that shift is perhaps best illustrated by a single data point – in 2020, golden jackals of Balkan origin were recorded north of the Arctic Circle in Norway.

Beyond climate, land-use changes have played a decisive role: the intensification of agriculture (more livestock, more carcass material), heavy hunting pressure on deer providing abundant carrion, and – crucially – the systematic persecution of wolves. As wolves retreated into large, undisturbed nature reserves, smaller woodlands and farmland were vacated and colonised by the jackal. The species effectively followed the footprint of human disruption.

In Europe, the golden jackal is recognised as a native species, since it reaches its expanding range under its own power. It therefore falls under Annex V of the EU Habitats Directive, meaning all member states are obliged to maintain a favourable conservation status.

Suitable habitats in the Netherlands

A habitat suitability analysis by the Dutch Mammal Society (Wennink et al., 2019) assessed which parts of the Netherlands could support golden jackals. The findings are striking: without accounting for wolf presence, the Netherlands could theoretically support up to 1,476 family groups across approximately 16,000 km².

The most suitable habitats are small-scale, structurally diverse landscapes combining low disturbance, sufficient space, and prey diversity: semi-open woodlands, forest edges, reed beds, river banks, and agricultural land with hedgerows and scrub. Core areas identified include the Veluwe, the Utrecht Ridge, National Park Nieuw Land (including the Oostvaardersplassen), and various areas in the northeast and southeast of the country.

When wolf presence is factored in — wolves actively chase jackals out of their territories — the available area shrinks to around 9,685 km², with room for 851 family groups. That remains substantial. Large urban areas and much of the western Netherlands are generally unsuitable.

What role can the golden jackal play in the ecosystem?

Predators are essential to healthy ecosystems. They regulate prey populations, promote biodiversity, and influence prey behaviour through what ecologists call the ‘ecology of fear’ — an effect whereby the mere presence of a predator changes how herbivores use the landscape, indirectly shaping vegetation structure.

For Dutch nature, the arrival of the golden jackal presents several concrete opportunities.

Control of invasive species. In wetter habitats, the golden jackal readily preys on muskrats and coypu — both invasive species that damage riverbanks and flood defences. The American red swamp crayfish, which undermines banks and outcompetes native crayfish, also features on its menu. Natural population control through predation could be a welcome complement to costly eradication programmes.

Reducing goose pressure. Geese — particularly the greylag goose — cause considerable crop and grassland damage in agricultural areas. The golden jackal actively hunts geese, which could locally reduce grazing pressure.

Impact on the fox. The golden jackal competes directly with the red fox in both habitat and diet. Research in Italy shows it can displace foxes from their territories — and under food stress will even hunt foxes, as confirmed by DNA analysis of jackal scat. This could have positive knock-on effects for meadow bird populations, which are already under severe pressure from fox predation.

The risks: an honest assessment

A balanced picture requires equal attention to potential problems.

Meadow birds. The golden jackal also eats birds, including medium-sized species such as pigeons, ducks, and – possibly – meadow birds. It could both reduce fox numbers and itself prey on ground-nesting birds: two opposing effects that make the net outcome for these species uncertain. Enclosing important breeding areas with predator-proof fencing is the most reliable protective measure.

Livestock predation. Although the golden jackal is shy and mainly active at night, incidents involving sheep have been documented in other countries. The risk is real but manageable. Measures proven effective against wolves — electric fencing, livestock guardian dogs, night enclosures — work equally well against golden jackals. Targeted lethal removal of a persistently problematic individual is legally possible as a last resort, under strict conditions, via the existing environmental permitting framework.

Protected small mammals. Peatlands and wetlands are home to rare vole species under strict legal protection. The golden jackal may add predation pressure in these areas. The degree of impact depends heavily on the overall health and biodiversity of the ecosystem concerned.

Lessons from other countries

Countries that have encountered the golden jackal earlier offer useful perspectives.

In Croatia, golden jackals behave as opportunistic omnivores that hunt relatively little as long as sufficient carrion and waste is available. Human-wildlife conflict is rare; farmers have even come to appreciate the species as a natural controller of rats on arable land.

In Germany — where the species is now permanently established — public debate has remained modest compared to the controversy surrounding wolves. In 2025, German authorities issued their first permit for the shooting of a problematic individual on the island of Sylt, following repeated sheep predation.

In Austria, researcher Jennifer Hatlauf has called for standardised monitoring protocols and cross-border cooperation, so that protection statuses and population estimates become properly comparable. The wide divergence in legislation between European countries — from full protection to freely huntable outside the breeding season — currently hampers coherent continent-wide monitoring.

Experiences in South Africa with the closely related black-backed jackal illustrate what can go wrong when policy is poorly coordinated. There, the extermination of large predators triggered a jackal population explosion through ‘mesopredator release’, causing severe livestock losses. The lesson: a layered system of preventive measures, farmer compensation, and structured population monitoring outperforms reactive, ad hoc culling.

What does this mean for the Netherlands?

The arrival of the golden jackal is not a threat to be warded off — it is a natural process consistent with the broader return of wild carnivores to Europe, itself partly driven by the ecological disruptions of climate change. The species can play a valuable role in the ecosystem, provided that policy is put in place proactively and thoughtfully.

The recommendations from the research are clear:

• Establish monitoring through a standardised protocol, including active methods such as camera traps, bioacoustic monitoring, and genetic analysis of scat.
• Support preventive measures for livestock farmers in potential jackal habitat, with subsidies for predator-proof fencing and livestock guardian dogs.
• Designate protected zones for vulnerable bird species and rare small mammals, enclosed with predator-proof fencing where needed.
• Invest in communication and education aimed at citizens, farmers, and policymakers — while public awareness is still low and prejudice limited, there is a genuine opportunity to frame the discussion carefully and constructively.
• Strengthen cross-border collaboration to gain insight into migration routes, population dynamics, and the effects of the species on comparable ecosystems elsewhere.

The golden jackal is already on its way. The question is not whether it will establish itself in the Netherlands, but how we manage that process. With the right knowledge, sound policy, and a willingness to learn from experience elsewhere, the return of this native carnivore can contribute to a healthier, more resilient Dutch landscape.

This article is based on the literature review ‘De Goudjakhals’ by Noortje Looijenga, conducted as a graduation internship at The Rewilding Academy (March 2026). References are available in the full research report.