Scale‐free dynamics in the movement patterns of jackals

Abstract

Using conventional radio‐tracking techniques employed by field ecologists, evidence for scale‐free (fractal) behaviour in the foraging trajectories of a species of African jackal is presented. It is believed that the particular form of foraging strategy observed here is a response by the jackal to its need to locate resources in an unpredictable environment. The methods used in this study are completely general and can be applied to other radio‐tracked species, thus beginning a systematic investigation of foraging strategies in mammals.