Black-backed jackals (Canis mesomelas) fighting over scraps left from a lion kill . The black-backed jackal, also called the silver-backed jackal, is a medium-sized canine native to eastern and southern Africa. These regions are separated by roughly 900 kilometres. One region includes the southernmost tip of the continent, including South Africa, Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe. Photographed in Etosha National Park, Namibia.