Infrared camera has captured video footage of wild golden jackals in the shrubland area of Zhaosu County, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, marking an extension of the species' known distribution range within China.
Previously, golden jackals were confirmed only in the southern part of the Xizang Autonomous Region in southwest China.
The footage was obtained by a research team from the Xinjiang Academy of Forestry Sciences, which deployed infrared cameras in the shrubland last September to monitor local wildlife.
The images provide clear views of golden jackals, whose physical traits distinguish them from other medium to large canids found in Xinjiang, such as wolves and dholes.
The golden jackal is larger than a red fox yet slightly smaller than a wolf. It features a narrower and longer muzzle, a lower tail-to-body length ratio, and long, pointed ears that set it apart from the dhole, which has semicircular ears.
Following the announcement of the discovery, the wildlife protection department in Zhaosu County has stepped up monitoring and patrols around the golden jackals' activity areas to safeguard their habitat and foraging environment.
Wild golden jackals caught on camera in Xinjiang
As the United States adopts more conservative immigration and talent policies, Nobel laureate Thomas J. Sargent has warned that the country is undermining its scientific edge, which was built by welcoming scientists from Europe during the World War II.
Speaking in an interview with China Media Group in Shanghai, Sargent, who won the 2011 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences, recalled the important lesson from history.
"History teaches a lot of lessons about good things and bad things that happened in history. Things you've got to remember. So one lesson my country should learn is, if you ask why American science in the last 70 or 80 years has been leading in the world, it's because we imported scientists from Europe during World War II when the Europeans, that the Nazis, and they drove them out. And if you look in one field after another, including economics, it came from Austria, Germany. They were driven out. And [for] the United States, they have in physics, chemistry. The United States has jumped up. We built up universities," he said in the interview aired on Friday.
With tighter immigration policies and increased scrutiny of foreign talents, he said many scientists who were not born in the U.S. are now considering leaving.
"Right now, the United States is not, because of what happened last year in terms of universities. You see, all sorts of scientists who maybe weren't born in the U.S. want to leave the United States. That's ignoring a huge lesson in history," he said.
Nobel laureate warns U.S. risks losing scientific edge amid tighter immigration policies
