Brandon Danks was camping along Namibia’s Skeleton Coast, just south of the Kunene River Mouth in February 2020 when a black-backed jackal surprised him.
He was cleaning up the remnants of the previous night’s dinner and found a bottle of alcohol. He was not sure who it belonged to, so he set it aside while he continued to clean up. ‘The next moment the jackal decided to pinch it,’ says Danks.
An opportunistic black-backed jackal trots into camp and quickly steals an unattended bottle of brandy. Image credit: Brandon Danks/ Let’s get lost South Africa
He managed to snap a sequence of photos of the scavenger and commented on his Facebook post to the page ‘Let’s get lost – South Africa‘ that the ‘opportunistic creatures did not hesitate to try take it, very impressive jaw strength to not only lift up that bottle but also hold it like that, with virtually nothing to bite down on other than the rounded glass.
‘An important reminder to be aware of where you place things on camping trips.’
Black-backed jackals both hunt and scavenge. They are adaptable and can live in dry regions and are known for their cunning, vocal nature, for being territorial and for having lifelong mates.
Image: Brandon Danks/ Let’s get lost South Africa
