FASCINATING FACTS ABOUT HONEY BADGER
The honey badger (Mellivora capensis), also known as
the ratel is found in
sub-Saharan Africa, from the Western Cape, South Africa, to southern Morocco
and southwestern Algeria and outside Africa through Arabia, Iran and western
Asia to Turkmenistan and the Indian Peninsula. It is the only species in
the mustelid subfamily Mellivorinae and its only
genus Mellivora.
Despite its name, the honey badger does not closely resemble other badger species; instead, it bears more anatomical
similarities to weasels.
The conservation status is least concern according to IUCN
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order:
Family: Mustelidae
Subfamily: Mellivorinae
Genus: Mellivora
Species: capensis
The species first appeared during
the middle Pliocene in Asia.
Honey badger has few natural
predators (lions, leopards and humans) because of its thick skin and ferocious
defensive abilities.
Its skin is remarkably loose, and
allows it to turn and twist freely within it to escape predator.
The honey badger has short and sturdy
legs, with five toes on each foot. The feet are armed with very strong claws,
which are short on the hind legs and remarkably long on the forelimbs. Females
are smaller than males.
The honey badger possesses an anal
pouch which produces smell that is "suffocating", and assist in
calming bees when raiding beehives.
The skull is very solidly built,
with that of adults having no trace of an independent bone structure. The
braincase is broader than that of dogs.
The
dental formula is:
3.1.3.1
3.1.3.1
The tongue has sharp,
backward-pointing papillae which assist it in processing tough foods.
Honey badger is active both during
the day and night.
Honey badger is territorial and
solitary animal. Male occupies territory of 200 square miles that overlaps with
smaller territories (50 square miles) of 13 nearby females.
Honey badgers live alone in self-dug
holes. They are skilled diggers, able to dig tunnels into hard ground in 10
minutes, they may take over disused aardvark and warthog holes or termite
mounds.
Honey badgers are intelligent
animals and are capable of using tools.
When seeking vegetable food, they
lift stones or tear bark from trees.
They kill and eat snakes, even
highly venomous or large ones, such as cobras and can easily process snake
venom to anti-venom if bitten by snake.
Honey badgers will often search for
beehives to get it, which earns them their name.
Honey badgers are notorious for
their strength, ferocity and toughness. They have been known to savagely and
fearlessly attack almost any kind of animal when escape is impossible, even
repelling much larger predators such as lions.
Bee stings, porcupine quills, and
animal bites rarely penetrate their skin. If horses, cattle, or Cape buffalos
intrude upon a ratel's burrow, it will attack them.
They are virtually tireless in
combat and can wear out much larger animals in physical confrontations.
The voice of the honey badger is a
hoarse "khrya-ya-ya-ya" sound. When mating, males emit loud grunting
sounds. When confronting dogs, honey badgers scream like bear cubs.
They are omnivorous but primarily carnivorous
and will eat insects, frogs, tortoises with its shell, rodents, turtles,
lizards, snakes, eggs, and birds. Honey badgers have even been known to chase
away young lions and take their kills. They will eat fruit and vegetables, such
as berries, roots and bulbs.
They may hunt frogs and rodents,
such as gerbils and ground squirrels, by digging them out of their burrows.
Honey badgers are able to feed on tortoises without difficulty, due to their
powerful jaws. They devour all parts of their prey, including skin, hair,
feathers, flesh and bones, holding their food down with their forepaws.
Honey
badgers can mate throughout the whole year, but they prefer September and
October. Its gestation period is 180 day and 1-2 cubs are born blind.
Its
lifespan in the wild is 8 years and can live 24 years captivity.
