How jackals' taste for melons helps fruit flourish in Namibian desert

Black-backed jackals in Namibia urinate on sweet melons that grow in the Namib Desert to prevent other jackals stealing their favourite fruit, new research has revealed. The finding sheds new light on how the plants have populated the harsh environment, providing other species with a crucial source of food and moisture. Namibian scientist Saima Shikesho made the discovery while studying the role the jackals played in distributing the seeds of the nara plant – a desert shrub only found in Namibia that produces large, round, sweet melons encased in tough, spiny skin. Shikesho was surprised, when she reviewed images obtained via camera traps, that the small fox-like animals occasionally squatted or cocked their legs to urinate on the fruit. “It could work as territorial marking, but another question that came in my mind was: 'Are they trying to hide the scent of ripe melons, or like, it's about to ripen but it's not really there and therefore, if I mark it, maybe other animals will ...