20 Jul 2000 CZECH REPUBLIC:
Jackal shot dead in central Moravia.
PRAGUE, July 20 (CTK) - Hunters in central Moravia today shot dead a jackal, believing they had been targeting a fox that had been trying to catch a rabbit. Expert Rudolf Novak afterwards told public Czech Radio that he was sure the killed animal was a jackal. "Unless it escaped from a zoo, this would be the northern most discovery of this type of animal species," Novak said. Workers from the Olomouc zoo told CTK that they did not know of any animals that had escaped. According to Novak, jackals are sometimes found in Hungary, southern Austria and the Southern part of Slovakia, but not in the Czech Republic. He added that he believed the presence of this new predator in the Czech Republic would cause further disruption to the ecological balance of wildlife. The jackal is a member of the dog family and is native to parts of Africa and Asia, but can also occasionally be spotted in southern Europe. It is smaller than a wolf, is an omnivore and is active in twilight and at night.