Diet and food niche breadth of Golden Jackal (Canis aureus Linnaeus) in kouh chenar area in Arsanjan county, Fars province

Diet composition of the golden jackal (Canis aureus, L.) has been studied by scat analysis. Trophic niche breadth was calculated in accordance with Levin's standardized, Shannon-Wiener and Smith's Measure. The study was carried out by analyzing 32 scats collected during late spring and summer 2009. Altogether 37 categories were identified. The main food source of the jackal in the study area were Poultry (frequency 50%, biomass 41.55%), mammals (frequency 43.75%, biomass 24.99%), Ficus carica (frequency 37.5%, biomass 38.68%), herbaceous species (frequency 34.37%, biomass 15.52%). Furthermore, insects, Pistacia atlantica, Common tomato (Lycopersicum esculentum), Punica granatum were found in the diet of jackals. The results of Levins Standardized niche breadth, Shannon-Wiener Evenness Measure and Smith FT Measure respectively are 0.451, 0.872 and 0.887 (0.794-0.953). Number of frequently used resourcesequal to 7. The findings of the study shows predation, scavengering, herbivorous behaviors that support the opportunistic behavior of jackals to exploitation any available food source. In the study area, probability two factors of habitat diversity and availabity to sttlements area, gardens, agricultural areas and animal husbandry are responsible to diet diversity and extensive niche breadth of jackals.