or golden jackal? I assume dhole but it looks weird. I cannot find any photos (in a quick search) of golden jackals which are actually golden though, they are all grizzled.
Really? I thought they may have been a bit more closely related than other members of canidae? Guess I was way out on that one then!?
Just found this on Wikipedia (not the most reliable of sources admittedly!) :-
Members of the dog genus Canis: wolves, dogs (both common dogs and dingoes), Ethiopian Wolves,[2] coyotes, and golden jackals cannot interbreed with members of the wider dog family: the Canidae, such as South American canids, foxes, African wild dogs, bat-eared foxes or raccoon dogs; or, if they could, their offspring would be infertile.
So it appears that they may be able to interbreed but their offspring will be infertile; only if they can interbreed in the first place. So that clears that up then!
It is a bit funny-looking, but I think it's a funny-looking Red Fox. Certainly, if I'd only seen the head I'd say fox immediately. The back half of the body looks a little bulky but it's not helping that the animal has lined itself up with the crest of the little hill in front so it's hard to judge.
Based on my world reknowned google skills, I'm inclined to lean golden jackal on this animal. It seems this color is within their range of variation unlike dholes which appear up be uniformly darker red than this. Golden jackals also have rather petite features which combined with the photo angle may be what is giving everyone the red fox vibe.
so to sum up: probably not a dhole although maybe it is; maybe a red fox; potentially a hybrid between something and something; perhaps a golden jackal.....
The main thing for me was the size, noticeably larger than a golden jackal (in the same enclosure) which goes against red fox although it is very foxy-looking. At the time I didn't perceive it as a fox at all because they were too large and I have seen red foxes several times before in the wild (in Mongolia and China, as well as Australia).
so to sum up: probably not a dhole although maybe it is; maybe a red fox; potentially a hybrid between something and something; perhaps a golden jackal.....
The main thing for me was the size, noticeably larger than a golden jackal (in the same enclosure) which goes against red fox although it is very foxy-looking. At the time I didn't perceive it as a fox at all because they were too large and I have seen red foxes several times before in the wild (in Mongolia and China, as well as Australia).
If it was larger than a definite Golden Jackal then I think that rules out my funny-looking Red Fox, and makes a funny-looking Golden Jackal or some sort of Canis hybrid (domestic x jackal, maybe?) more likely.
it does look very foxy. But there were two in the enclosure and they were both larger than a golden jackal in the same enclosure. Hence my thinking dhole. But it just does not look right.
first look at this... To me it looks rather like the more Golden one in your other shot. Definately not a Dhole- wrong ears, wrong colour, too tall/rangy.
Too large/tall for a Fox?
My guess would be a Golden Jackal with some hybrid(dog) blood along the lines of the one in the foreground in your other photo.
