Honey Badger Video Download

The honey badger (Mellivora capensis), also known as the ratel (/rtl/ or /retl/), is a mammal widely distributed in Africa, Southwest Asia, and the Indian subcontinent. Because of its wide range and occurrence in a variety of habitats, it is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List.

It is the only living species in the genus Mellivora and in the mustelid subfamily Mellivorinae. Despite its name, the honey badger does not closely resemble other badger species; instead, it bears more anatomical similarities to weasels. It is primarily a carnivorous species and has few natural predators because of its thick skin, strength and ferocious defensive abilities.

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Viverra capensis was the scientific name used by Johann Christian Daniel von Schreber in 1777 who described a honey badger skin from the Cape of Good Hope.[2] Mellivorae was proposed as name for the genus by Gottlieb Conrad Christian Storr in 1780.[3]Mellivorina was proposed as a tribe name by John Edward Gray in 1865.[4]

The honey badger is the only species of the genus Mellivora. Although in the 1860s it was assigned to the badger subfamily, the Melinae, it is now generally agreed that it bears few similarities to the Melinae. It is much more closely related to the marten subfamily, Guloninae, and furthermore is assigned its own subfamily, Mellivorinae.[5] Differences between Mellivorinae and Guloninae include differences in their dentition formulae. Though not in the same subfamily as the wolverines, which are a genus of large-sized and atypical Guloninae, the honey badger can be regarded as another, analogous, form of outsized weasel or polecat.

In the 19th and 20th centuries, 16 zoological specimens of the honey badger were described and proposed as subspecies.[8]As of 2005[update], 12 subspecies are recognised as valid taxa.[9] Points taken into consideration in assigning different subspecies include size and the extent of whiteness or greyness on the back.[10]

The honey badger has a fairly long body, but is distinctly thick-set and broad across the back. Its skin is remarkably loose, and allows the animal to turn and twist freely within it.[16] The skin around the neck is 6 mm (0.24 in) thick, an adaptation to fighting conspecifics.[17] The head is small and flat, with a short muzzle. The eyes are small, and the ears are little more than ridges on the skin,[16] another possible adaptation to avoiding damage while fighting.[17]

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. It is a partially plantigrade animal whose soles are thickly padded and naked up to the wrists. The tail is short and is covered in long hairs, save for below the base.

There are two pairs of mammae.[25] The honey badger possesses an anal pouch which, unusual among mustelids, is eversible,[26] a trait shared with hyenas and mongooses. The smell of the pouch is reportedly "suffocating", and may assist in calming bees when raiding beehives.[27]

The skull greatly resembles a larger version of that of a marbled polecat.[28]The dental formula is: 3.1.3.13.1.3.1. The teeth often display signs of irregular development, with some teeth being exceptionally small, set at unusual angles or absent altogether. Honey badgers of the subspecies signata have a second lower molar on the left side of their jaws, but not the right. Although it feeds predominantly on soft foods, the honey badger's cheek teeth are often extensively worn. The canine teeth are exceptionally short for carnivores.[29] The papillae of the tongue are sharp and pointed, which assists in processing tough foods.[30]

The honey badger ranges through most of 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 known to range from sea level to as much as 2,600 m (8,500 ft) in the Moroccan High Atlas and 4,000 m (13,000 ft) in Ethiopia's Bale Mountains.[1]

The honey badger is famous for its strength, ferocity and toughness. It is known to savagely and fearlessly attack almost any other species when escape is impossible, reportedly even repelling much larger predators such as lion and hyena.[33] Bee stings, porcupine quills, and animal bites rarely penetrate their skin. If horses, cattle, or Cape buffalos intrude upon a honey badger's burrow, it will attack them.[29] In the Cape Province it is a potential prey species of the African leopard[34][35] and African rock pythons.[8][36]

The honey badger has the least specialised diet of the weasel family next to the wolverine.[17] It accesses a large part of its food by digging it out of burrows.[8]It often raids beehives in search of both bee larvae and honey.[37] It also feeds on insects, frogs, tortoises, turtles, lizards, rodents, snakes, birds and eggs. It also eats berries, roots and bulbs.[8] When foraging for vegetables, it lifts stones or tears bark from trees. Some individuals have even been observed to chase away lion cubs from kills.[30] It devours all parts of its prey, including skin, hair, feathers, flesh and bones, holding its food down with its forepaws.[38] It feeds on a wide range of vertebrates and seems to subsist primarily on small vertebrates. Honey badgers studied in Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park preyed largely on geckos and skinks (47.9% of prey species), gerbils and mice (39.7% of prey). The bulk of its prey comprised species weighing more than 100 g (3.5 oz) such as cobras, young African rock python and South African springhare.[39]In the Kalahari, honey badgers were also observed to attack domestic sheep and goats, as well as kill and eat black mambas.[36][40] A honey badger was suspected to have broken up the shells of tent tortoises in the Nama Karoo.[41] In India, honey badgers are said to dig up human corpses.[42]

Little is known of the honey badger's breeding habits. Its gestation period is thought to last six months, usually resulting in two cubs, which are born blind. Its lifespan in the wild is unknown, though captive individuals have been known to live for approximately 24 years.[10] The voice of the honey badger is a hoarse "khrya-ya-ya-ya" sound. When mating, males emit loud grunting sounds.[44] Cubs vocalise through plaintive whines.[10] When confronting dogs, honey badgers scream like bear cubs.[45]

Honey badgers often become serious poultry predators. Because of their strength and persistence, they are difficult to deter. They are known to rip thick planks from hen-houses or burrow underneath stone foundations. Surplus killing is common during these events, with one incident resulting in the death of 17 Muscovy ducks and 36 chickens.[30]

Because of the toughness and looseness of their skin, honey badgers are very difficult to hunt with dogs. Their skin is hard to penetrate, and its looseness allows them to twist and turn on their attackers when held. The only safe grip on a honey badger is on the back of the neck.[46]

During the British occupation of Basra in 2007, rumours of "man-eating badgers" emerged from the local population, including allegations that these beasts were released by the British troops, something that the British categorically denied.[47][48] A British army spokesperson said that the badgers were "native to the region but rare in Iraq" and "are usually only dangerous to humans if provoked".[49]

The honey badger has also been reported to dig up human corpses in India.[11]In Kenya, the honey badger is a major reservoir of rabies[50][51] and is suspected to be a significant contributor to the sylvatic cycle of the disease.[52]

Honey (badger), is that you? The honey badger is part of the weasel family, related to skunks, otters, ferrets, and other badgers. Its proper name is ratel, but it gets the common name honey badger from what seems to be its favorite food: honey. Yet what they are actually looking to eat are the bee larvae found in the honey!

This tough little critter has a stocky, flattened body with short, strong legs, along with long claws on the front feet for digging and defense. The honey badger's hair is thick and coarse, mostly black, with a wide gray-white stripe that stretches across its back from the top of the head to the tip of the tail.

What's on the menu? Everything! The honey badger has an appetite for food ranging from small mammals and the young of large mammals to birds, reptiles, insects, carrion, and even a little vegetation, including juicy fruits.

In zoos, honey badgers eat a commercial meat diet for zoo carnivores, mice, mealworms, and crickets. They get a bone to chew on once a week and are offered some fruit, mostly as enrichment on hot days; honeydew is a favorite. And, of course, a scoop of honey is always appreciated!

Mostly solitary, honey badgers maintain loose home ranges that often overlap. They may meet up at favorite foraging areas, where they sniff each other and roll around to scent mark the ground. Honey badgers can grunt, squeak, hiss, and whine, and are known for their deep and ominous growl.

The female honey badger is left alone to give birth and raise her young. The expectant mother digs a nursery chamber and lines it with grass for her baby. After a gestation period of 7 to 10 weeks, one cub (rarely two) is born. The newborn is hairless with pink skin and closed eyes. At one week of age, its skin begins to change from pink to gray; two weeks later, fine gray hair begins to grow. The familiar white stripe appears about a week after that.

Honey badgers do appear to have some immunity to snake venoms. A honey badger bitten on the face by the highly cytotoxic puff adder showed signs of severe pain but recovered fully within five hours (Begg & Begg pers. obs.). This immunity may develop over the life time of the honey badgers due to regular contact with small amounts of venom in snakes, scorpions and bees. Young cubs are prevented from catching poisonous snakes by their mothers until they have the necessary skills and coordination. 17dc91bb1f