The jackal (Canis aureus) in Ukraine east of the Dnipro: analysis of data of the first 10 years of expansion

The article presents information on the earliest stages of the jackal's expansion in the territory of left-bank Ukraine (east of the Dnipro, but actually east of the Cherkasy–Mykolaiv line). The dataset is limited to findings from the pre-war period, i.e. from 2000 to 2010, during which the first wave of colonisation of the eastern territories of Ukraine took place. The initial territory of expansion was the northern Azov region, where jackals entered from the lower reaches of the Don River; data on the Crimea and the expansion channel through the Kerch Strait are contradictory. All known findings of the first 10 years of expansion are summarised with details. The map of expansion was constructed with the definition of three expansion isolines corresponding to the periods of 2000–2004, 2005–2009, and 2010–2014.