Trivia question for Sep-23-2011

Carter picked this animal for his trivia because it looks simular to one of our dogs which is a basenji.  This is a slender and stealthy relative of a wolf that lives an opportunistic life on Africa’s Savannah’s.

These guys tend to be less carnivorous than others of their species, and is a highly adaptable omnivore whose dietary preferences change in accordance to seasonal and local variation. It tends to forage solitarily, though family groups of up to twelve have been observed to feed together in western Zimbabwe. In the wild, it feeds largely on invertebrates during the wet season and small mammals such as the springhare in the dry months.

So here are Carter’s questions: Tell us what this animal is and how it got its name?  Also, these guys play an important role in tribal medicine and folklore where it is believed that boiling the hart of this canine can cure _______?  Please fill in the blank.

Thanks for playing along 😉

Answer:

Congratulations goes out to our friend Carmel Severson from Florida for being the first to identify the canine we featured. This is the Side-Striped Jackal. The side-striped jackal is a species of jackal, native to central and southern Africa. Unlike its cousin, the smaller black-backed jackal, which dwells in open plains, the side-striped jackal primarily dwells in woodland and scrub areas. It’s name comes from the obvious horizontal strip which runs along the side of it’s body.

These guys play an important role in tribal medicine and folklore where it is believed that boiling the hart of the Side-Striped Jackal can cure epilepsy and its nails and skin ward off evil spirits. The side-striped jackal tends to be comparatively less threatening to game and livestock when compared to other jackal species. It typically does not target game exceeding the size of neonatal antelopes, and one specimen was recorded to have entered a duck’s pen in order to eat their feed, whilst ignoring the birds themselves.  Here is more on these crafty canines: Side-Striped Jackal

Thanks for playing along 😉