I took a small party of four guys to South Africa in January of 1998 and while there, we did a photo Safari on the 45,000 acre grounds of Mala Mala Game Reserve which is one of the reserves which abuts Kruger National Park with no fences sectioning the land. Kruger itself is the size of Belgium, to give you an idea of what we're talking about.

We came across this Black Backed Jackal while driving the roads in out Land Rover one afternoon and we all took pictures of it. This photo was taken by friend Frank Riggio, one of my party.

I took this picture of this jackal and it is actually not the same jackal as the one pictured above. This one is a younger male. I never learn. What do you think I was thinking as I was photographing this jackal? You got it. "I wanna bring a pup home!"

Here's another picture taken by me of the same jackal pictured directly above. Contrary to my desire to own a jackal pup, I fully realize that it would undoubtedly be impossible to domesticate a totally wild dog, like this. The black backed jackal is highly territorial and very independent.