Camera traps reveal coat colour variation in an isolated population of golden jackals

Long-term monitoring of golden jackals along the coastline of the southern Western Ghats, India, provi­ded interesting results. We observed various coat colour patterns such as leucism, melanism, semi-melanism and rusty coats among jackals resembling dogs. The melanistic variation and rust colour expression may be due to the acquired genetic properties during cross­breeding with the free-ranging dogs, as the associated mutations have been previously documented in dogs and not in jackals. Genetic studies can assist us in under­standing the causes and consequences of coat colour variation.