Jackals have long been victim of superstition, and even today, they have a reputation as skulking scavengers. In reality, they are 50 per cent vegetarians suffering from a bad case of mistaken identity, as WWF Greece is setting out to prove.

They're sly, cunning and swift. But in Greece that's not enough to save the golden jackal.

In the past 30 years the animal's population has plummeted from thousands around the country to a few hundred in isolated populations primarily in the Peloponnese and the island of Samos.

Recovering populations

Nearly three years ago, Greece's chapter of the WWF launched the golden jackal project to figure out why and to try to help the animal's population stabilize and recover.

Fieldwork slated to end in the summer has set out to determine the reasons the jackal population has diminished in some areas and become extinct in others. While a report is expected around June, some of the causes for a decline in the jackal population already have been identified as prey abundance, inbreeding problems, urbanization and a reduction of food resources.

But the jackal's most dangerous enemies remain human beings.

Hunting jackals was legal until 1990. The WWF reports that nearly 4,000 animals were killed between 1974 and 1980 in two Peloponnesian prefectures. The organization also reports that jackals have increasingly become victims of road accidents, baiting and - what is now - illegal hunting.

Bad rep

According to the WWF, jackals have a reputation for being "sneaky, skulking scavengers and nuisance animals" that steal sheep.

"That is the basic reason they are hunted," said Alexandra Chaini, head of communications at WWF-Greece. But sheep are generally not attacked by the jackals. It is becoming more and more rare.

Actually, jackals are nearly 50 percent vegetarian with the other half of their diet coming from carrion and small animals like rodents and reptiles, according to the organization.

That is only one of the misconceptions about the jackal, the WWF says.

But the animal has an even greater negative public image, especially where the remaining isolated populations are.

Part of the golden jackal project includes an awareness campaign, an effort to improve the public's perception of the misunderstood animal.

Raising awareness

"Basically it is aimed at changing people's point of view where the jackals are concerned," Chaini said. "It's a questionnaire on what they know and don't know. The next step is to draft a leaflet with information about the jackal."

Lectures and presentations are also part of the image-improving informational process the organization hopes will eventually contribute to rejuvenating the number of jackals around the country.

But changing the minds of people who have been affected by jackals isn't the easiest thing.

Chaini said the public is pretty split on whether or not the animal should be saved.

The organization reports one farmer in Fokida was outraged at conservation efforts because nearly 100 of his sheep were killed by jackals.

But the WWF also says there are people whose perception has changed as a result of the campaign. Some not only have changed their minds, they actively campaign to save the animals.

Chaini said that after the field research ends in the summer, the organisation may continue it in some way, perhaps in other parts of the country.

The projects future goals include expanding the public awareness campaign, involving locals in conservation efforts and working with neighbouring countries to monitor transborder jackal populations.