Wildlife enthusiast captures untamed life of jackals in short flick

A pack of jackals spotted by Abhijith S. Babu during the shoot of his documentary at Chenoli in Perambra.
| Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT 

A 27-year-old wildlife enthusiast’s passion for observing wild animals that demonstrate adaptability and resilience has led him to produce a 24-minute documentary on golden jackals, often mistaken for foxes, to encourage potential conservation efforts and prevent their extinction.

Perambra native Abhijith S. Babu’s award-winning documentary, Follow the Howl: Jackal – the Real Story, reveals fascinating insights about these clever canids, often called “opportunistic foragers” by researchers.

“It took two years to complete this challenging project, which was released on my YouTube channel, ‘Earth Echoes’, on October 8. After winning the State award from the Forest department for the best short film during the recent Wildlife Week observance, it has received encouraging feedback from viewers,” said Abhijith, who handled the camera and post-production. He added that the entire story of the film unfolds around a granite quarry near his home at Chenoli, Perambra.

A postgraduate in journalism, Abhijith has long been a keen observer of the mysterious world of jackals, known as ‘Kurunari’ in local parlance, with their distinctive golden rust coats and bushy tails. His passion for wildlife photography has played a key role in capturing exclusive visuals of jackals, showcasing their food habits, unique habitat features, survival tactics, and traits of harmonious living.

Through exclusive visuals, Abhijith also reveals that jackals instinctively place their scat where the pack has trained them. The footage also highlights their self-cleaning methods, such as rubbing their bottom against rocks, and their tactics for marking territory. The documentary gives due attention to the vocal range of jackals and their unique communication methods.

While emphasising the need for a better conservation strategy for jackals and addressing the treatment of parasitic and contagious infections within the group, this 24-minute film urges authorities to conduct more focused research on the interspecific hybridisation of this canid species. Since jackals play a valuable role in controlling the rodent population for farmers, Abhijith believes it would be a rewarding initiative to protect the spectacle of Indian wilderness in our own land.