3-028-588 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

The Side-Striped Jackal in the Zoological Society's Gardens, 1870. 'The wolves, foxes, jackals, and wild dogs forming the genus canis of naturalists are among the most abundant and generally diffused of carnivorous animals. Nearly every part of the world has its peculiar species of this group. The figure shown in our Illustration represents the most recent addition made by the Zoological Society to its collection of this group of animals. It is a jackal, remarkable for the well-marked band upon its flanks and its long, white-tipped tail. It arrived by a vessel which brought it direct from the Gaboon. In West Africa it is said to be known by the native term of Mbo, and is doubtless the animal alluded to by Du Chaillu, in his well- known "Travels" under that name. Mr. Sclater, the secretary of the Zoological Society, part of whose multifarious duties it is to find names for "all the new acquisitions to the menagerie, has in vain attempted to find a scientific description of it. But it appears to have been hitherto unrecognised by naturalists, and, under these circumstances, has been appropriately called the "side-striped jackal - Canis lateralis".' From "Illustrated London News", 1870.