[7] It is a fox-like animal[8] with a reddish brown to tan coat and a black saddle that extends from the shoulders to the base of the tail.

[10] The black-backed jackal has a wide array of food sources, feeding on small to medium-sized animals, as well as plant matter and human refuse.

Specimens from fossil sites in Transvaal are almost identical to their modern counterparts, but have slightly different nasal bones.

[11] The black-backed jackal is relatively unspecialised, and can thrive in a wide variety of habitats, including deserts, as its kidneys are well adapted for water deprivation.

It is, however, more adapted to a carnivorous diet than the other jackals, as shown by its well-developed carnassial shear and the longer cutting blade of the premolars.

[14] Studies on allozyme divergence within the Canidae indicate that the black-backed jackal and other members of the genus Canis are separated by a considerable degree of genetic distance.

[7][17] Because of this deep divergence between the black-backed jackal and the rest of the "wolf-like" canids, one author has proposed to change the species' generic name from Canis to Lupulella.

The explanation proposed is that mitochondrial DNA introgression occurred from an ancient ancestor of Canis into the lineage that led to the black-backed jackal around 6.2–5.2 million years ago.

[2] These subspecies are geographically separated by a gap which extends northwards from Zambia to Tanzania:[9] The black-backed jackal is a fox-like canid[8] with a slender body, long legs, and large ears.

[9] A long, black stripe extending along the flanks separates the saddle from the rest of the body, and can be used to differentiate individuals.

[10] The basic social unit is a monogamous mated pair which defends its territory through laying faeces and urine on range boundaries.

In areas where the black-backed jackal is sympatric with the African golden wolf, the species does not howl, instead relying more on yelps.

For the first three weeks of their lives, the pups are kept under constant surveillance by their dam, while the sire and elder offspring provide food.

[10] In South Africa, black-backed jackals frequently prey on antelopes (primarily impala and springbok and occasionally duiker, reedbuck, and steenbok), carrion, hares, hoofed livestock, insects, and rodents.

[22] Adult dik-diks and Thomson's gazelles seem to be the upper limit of their killing capacity, though they target larger species if those are sick, with one pair having been observed to harass a crippled bull rhinoceros.

[10] The jackals sniff out the ripe melon fruits of the ǃnaras, a leafless, spined drought resilient plant using their jaws to bite through their tough skins.

Although oral vaccinations are effective in jackals, the long-term control of rabies continues to be a problem in areas where stray dogs are not given the same immunisation.

[9] Jackals may also carry trematodes such as Athesmia, cestodes such as Dipylidium caninum, Echinococcus granulosus, Joyeuxialla echinorhyncoides, J. pasqualei, Mesocestoides lineatus, Taenia erythraea, T. hydatigena, T. jackhalsi, T. multiceps, T. pungutchui, and T. serialis.

Tick species include Amblyomma hebraeum, A. marmoreum, A. nymphs, A. variegatum, Boophilus decoloratus, Haemaphysalis leachii, H. silacea, H. spinulosa, Hyelomma spp., Ixodes pilosus, I. rubicundus, Rhipicephalus appendiculatus, R. evertsi, R. sanguineus, and R. simus.

[9] Black-backed jackals feature prominently in the folklore of the Khoikhoi, where it is often paired with the lion, whom it frequently outsmarts or betrays with its superior intelligence.

One story explains that the black-backed jackal gained its dark saddle when it offered to carry the Sun on its back.

[28] An alternative account comes from the ǃKung people, whose folklore tells that the jackal received the burn on its back as a punishment for its scavenging habits.

Black-backed jackals have never been successfully eradicated in hunting areas, despite strenuous attempts to do so with dogs, poison, and gas.

Consequently, many jackals learned to regurgitate poisoned baits, thus inciting wildlife managers to use the less detectable crystal strychnine rather than liquid.

The poison was usually placed within sheep carcasses or in balls of fat, with great care being taken to avoid leaving any human scent on them.

By the turn of the century, jackals became increasingly popular quarry as they encroached upon human habitations after sheep farming and veld burning diminished their natural food sources.