In Läänemaa, hunters caught and killed an unknown animal. According to eyewitnesses, they have not seen such an animal yet; its origin causes a lot of controversy. One of the versions is inclined in favor of the fact that this is a jackal brought from the African savannah, according to another it is a fox disfigured by a mutation. And this is not a complete list of options.
“I don't know what kind of animal it is. I haven’t seen it with my own eyes,”admits Veiko Laev, head of the local Hunting Society.
Unlike the leader of local hunters, the head of the parish Arno Peksar could see the animal up close: “The hunters do not know what kind of animal it is. It looked like a jackal. Or as a mixture of a fox with a raccoon dog."
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The head of the parish said that the paws of the animal were as long as that of a fox, but the color was more like a raccoon dog. Of greatest interest is the short tail of the animal - it resembles the tail of a jackal, which is shorter than a fox: 20-25 cm versus 40-50 cm.
Photo: Margus Viipsi / rus.delfi.ee
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And the Society of Theriology discusses the origin of the animal. Some assume that the animal is a cross between a fox and a wolf, others that it is a cub of a fox and a raccoon dog. According to the elder, this is not the first time that hunters have met an unknown beast: “This was great news for me. There is nothing left but to do a DNA analysis."
Tallinn Zoo Director Mati Kaal believes that the animal is a mutant: “This is some incredible mutant. We need to do genetic research."
“Considering how often people travel around the world today and what strange animals they try to keep at home, I would not be surprised that this is some kind of jackal brought in and released into the wild,” said Alex Lotman, representative of the Estonian Nature Fund. He also does not exclude that the animal could have turned out as a result of crossing a wolf and some small dog, or it could be an exceptional case of fox mutation.
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Jackals live in southern latitudes. They can be found in Central Africa, the Indian subcontinent, Mongolia, Central Asia and the Caucasus. Animals live in steppes, savannahs, mountains and forests.
Four years ago, in the same Läänemaa parish, Taebla, an unusual wolf litter was discovered: eight out of ten puppies had an unusual color. DNA analysis confirmed that the animals were the result of crossing a dog and a wolf. This was the first confirmed case of a wolf dog.
On March 11, the body of the animal was delivered to the Tartu laboratory, and Estonian mammalian researchers got acquainted with it.