Cunning Honey Badger Snatches Eagle Chick
Cassy Manon
Honey badgers are sexually size-dimorphic, with males at least one-third larger than females. From the shoulder, the honey badger stands at a height of 250 mm high. The males weigh on average 9-16 kg, while females weigh 5-10 kg.
Even though they may be small in stature, honey badgers are built for battle. They have loose-fitting skin, which is 6mm thick around the neck, that protects their vital organs during a brawl and allows them to wriggle out of any grasp and even twist around to bite any assailant silly enough to grab them. They have short, sturdy legs, with five toes on each foot, armed with powerful claws of up to 40mm in length! Their low-slung frame and short legs make them animals of stamina, not speed, and their distinctive jog-trot allows them to relentlessly pursue their prey until it has collapsed with exhaustion.
The honey badger (Mellivora capensis) is the only species of the genus Mellivora and belongs to the diverse Mustelid family, which includes eight other badger species, otters, weasels and the wolverine. The name badger was given to the honey badger because of its superficial resemblance to the Eurasian badger, but the two species are not closely related, and the honey badger is the only representative species of a separate subfamily.
While known as being affectionate, protective and involved mothers, honey badgers eke out most of their existence alone. As solitary carnivores, males and females only meet up to mate before again going their separate ways. The males play no part in rearing the young.
In southern Africa, honey badgers do not have a fixed breeding season and kits are born year-round. Honey badgers usually only have one or two kits at a time after a six-month gestation period. Kits are born blind and will stay with their mother for roughly 14 months before going off on their own.
Although ground-dwelling, honey badgers are also accomplished climbers and can scamper up a tree to raid bird nests or beehives. Honey badgers have immensely strong jaws, and in sparse regions such as the Karoo they provide for themselves by cracking open tortoise shells and feasting on the meat inside.
There is anecdotal evidence that the honeyguide bird species guide the honey badger to wild beehives by calling and leading the way, so that the honey badger can break open the hive to feast on the honey and bee brood (the eggs, larvae and pupae of honeybees). This symbiotic relationship has been witnessed frequently in the wild, although no scientific study has been conducted to confirm or explain the behaviour.
Another obstacle to the conservation of this unique species is the sheer size of their home range, with males occupying roughly 638 km, and females 138 km. This would mean that the majority of protected reserves are too small to serve as a safe haven for a viable population of honey badgers.
While on safari in Linyanti, Botswana a few years ago, I met an Australian couple who were keen to see a honey badger. They had seen lions, leopards, elephants and so many other awesome species, but hilarious YouTube memes about this fantastic survivor had created a strong desire to see one. They spoke of little else during the two days that we shared a game drive vehicle. Alas, they saw no honey badgers during that safari, but in a twist of fate, we saw one on the drive back from the airstrip after having dropped them off for their journey home! Hopefully, they have since had better luck.
Honey badgers have the well-earned reputation of being fierce, feisty little mammals. Also known as a ratel, the honey badger belongs to the Mustelidae family of mammals, which also includes weasels, otters, ferrets, wolverines and other badger species. However, the honey badger is classified in its own subfamily, mellivorinae, and is the only species in the genus Mellivora, according to the Encyclopedia Britannica.
The honey badger (Mellivora capensis) is about as big as a small- to medium-size dog, weighing between 13 and 30 lbs. (6 and 14 kilograms) and reaching 9 to 11 inches (23 to 28 centimeters) tall at the shoulder, according to National Geographic (opens in new tab).
The stocky creatures have a short, thick coat of fur that's black on the face, legs and bottom half of the body, with a broad white stripe running from the top of the head down the back and tail. Underneath the fur is a layer of loose, thick skin around its muscular neck, which protects the animal during fights, and allows it to wriggle around and defend itself when in the grasp of hungry predators, according to Africa Geographic. Porcupine quills, bee stings and dog bites rarely penetrate the honey badgers' thick-skinned neck, according to Ronald Nowak's book "Walker's Carnivores of the World (opens in new tab)" (The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2005).
The honey badger also has a secret weapon to defend itself. Hidden at the base of its tail are two anal glands that squirt out a foul-smelling liquid that can be detected 130 feet (40 meters) away, according to the South African National Biodiversity Institute. The animals generally expel the substance to mark their territory, but they will also release a "stink bomb" when threatened or frightened. Jonathan Kingdon, a zoologist at the University of Oxford, said in his book "East African Mammals (opens in new tab)" (The University of Chicago Press, 1977) that this liquid may have a calming effect on bees, allowing honey badgers to more safely raid beehives.
Honey badgers are omnivores, feasting on a wide range of food, including birds, reptiles, rodents, berries, roots and fruits. Their keen sense of smell helps them sniff out food hidden underground, while their long, strong claws help them dig for or catch that food, then rip their meal into pieces. They aren't picky eaters and will scavenge whatever they can; three honey badgers have been seen chasing seven adult lions away from their kill, according to the BBC documentary.
Honey badgers are ferocious hunters, known to take on powerful animals, such as the South African oryx, a large, horned antelope that's more than 10 times the size of a honey badger. They're also persistent hunters, willing to travel 20 miles (32 kilometers) in their pursuit of a meal, the BBC documentary reported.
As fearless predators, honey badgers won't hesitate to take down scorpions or venomous snakes for dinner. However, those meals fight back, and the honey badger may receive a mean bite or sting from its prey, such as the highly venomous Cape cobra (Naja nivea), whose venom can temporarily knock out a honey badger. But after a couple of hours, the honey badger wakes up and continues its meal (if the meal hasn't already left).
Snakes, including venomous ones, are an "excellent source of meat" for honey badgers, making up to 25% of the animals' diet, Danielle Drabeck, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Minnesota, told Slate Magazine. And in order to dine on venomous snakes, which would be an otherwise deadly meal option for most carnivores, honey badgers have evolved a special kind of immunity to the toxins in snake venom. In their 2015 study published in the journal Toxicon, Drabeck and her colleagues found that honey badgers have evolved a series of genetic mutations that prohibit snake venom toxin from binding to cellular receptors that would signal their nervous system to shut down. A similar venom-defense mechanism has evolved in other mammals that share habitat with venomous snakes, including mongooses, hedgehogs and even wild pigs.
Honey badgers have few natural predators, but they are occasionally hunted by leopards, lions and hyenas, Slate Magazine reported. However, the honey badger's aggressive nature does not make them an easy meal, and given the honey badger's small size, predators' efforts are often better spent catching an easier meal with more meat.
Honey badgers are native to sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East and India. These incredibly tough and hardy creatures adapt well to a variety of habitats and can live just as well in a rainforest as they can in the mountains. Typically, honey badgers have large home ranges of about 193 square miles (500 square km), according to National Geographic (opens in new tab).
Honey badgers are territorial creatures and will use their scent glands to mark their territory. Male honey badgers have larger territories than females, and their territories can overlap with female territories, according to the South African National Biodiversity Institute.
Honey badgers don't typically settle in the same spot at the end of each night, but instead will make a new bed in a tree, rock crevice or hole dug into the ground. The creatures are expert diggers and can build a burrow in hard ground in just 10 minutes. But the honey badger will just as happily make itself at home in an abandoned aardvark or mongoose burrow. They sleep for most of the day, hopefully in a spot that's safe from predators. Honey badgers are mostly nocturnal, but they may come out during the day depending on weather conditions and the presence of predators, according to Africa Geographic.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List classifies honey badgers as a species of least concern, meaning their populations are stable in the majority of their native habitats. Some populations, however, are decreasing to the point where there are so few honey badgers left that they are considered endangered in that area. In some places, such as Morocco, Israel and Kazakhstan, they are a legally protected species in an effort to prevent their population from declining, according to the IUCN.
Though honey badgers can take down venomous snakes and confront lions, they are no match for humans. Honey badgers are hunted for bushmeat in certain areas, including Zambia and Guinea, and for use in traditional medicines as some believe that the creature's reputation as being fearless and tenacious will somehow transfer to people, according to the IUCN Red List.
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