Getting a grip on jackals: Net-gunning as an efficient and cost-effective approach to capturing Black-backed jackals (Canidae: Lupulella mesomelas).

Wildlife research and management often depend on safe and efficient capture methods. The inability to effectively capture elusive species can limit research and inhibit the ability to make informed management recommendations. Therefore, adapting established capture techniques to novel species and environments is essential in wildlife conservation. The Black-backed jackal Lupulella mesomelas is associated with substantial stock losses throughout southern Africa. Furthermore, this is a species that is both elusive and difficult to capture alive, especially in areas where they have been persecuted. Despite its notoriety as a damage-causing animal, data on this species are relatively sparse, primarily due to researchers' inability to capture a meaningful number of animals as a research sample. Helicopter net-gunning has been a successful tool for capturing several species of canids worldwide, but there are no practical records of its viability or utility for capturing Black-backed jackals. We attempted to capture jackals using helicopter-based net-gunning in a small stock farming area in South Africa. Our single-day pilot study in the southern Free State located four jackals and resulted in one capture. The more extensive primary investigation in the Eastern Cape located 20 animals of which 12 were captured. We compared capture efficacy and cost per unit animal using net-gunning to a padded leghold approach for the same area. Capture time per individual and time to catch the target study sample was lower than that for leghold trapping. The cost per unit animal was also lower compared to leghold trapping. Furthermore, under our study circumstances net-gunning was more cost effective and the study animals were subjected to restraint and the associated stress for a relatively shorter time than during leghold trapping. Therefore, net-gunning may be beneficial where synchrony of data collection for multiple jackals is important. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]