Common Name: Honey Badger. Scientific Name: Mellivora capensis. Type: Mammals. Diet: Omnivore. Group Name: Cete or Clan.
Size: 9 to 11 inches high at shoulder. Weight: 13 to 30 pounds. Least concern. Least Concern Extinct. Current Population Trend: Decreasing. Share Tweet Email. Go Further. Animals Wild Cities This wild African cat has adapted to life in a big city.
Animals This frog mysteriously re-evolved a full set of teeth. Animals Wild Cities Wild parakeets have taken a liking to London. Animals Wild Cities Morocco has 3 million stray dogs. They search for prey in previously marked scent trails, within burrows and smell by lifting their noses up in the air, in the direction of the scent Begg Using their long fore claws they trap their prey inside the burrows by barricading the entrance and digging with its hind paws another entrance to catch the prey.
They demonstrate high levels of polygamy having more than one mate , which usually lasts for about two weeks and males are highly systematic in their approach. They maximise their breeding frequency by sharing the same movement range with the females and by moving faster than females as they cover larger areas, having at least 13 female mates in their area of occupancy.
Similarly, females are also polygamous as they can mate with multiple males when they are receptive, but they do not reproduce each year. Competing for receptive females occurs within the burrows, their encounters consisting of scent-marking demonstrating their hierarchical social structures usually between sexually mature males.
Unlike mature males, young males are mainly influenced by availability of food and then by the frequency of receptive females. Sexual maturity is not well known, but experts suggests that for males it is approximately two to three years of age, and for females it is 12—16 months; indicating that male sexual maturity is reached at a later stage when they are fully independent whereas females disperse immediately upon independence Begg et al.
Females usually carry one or two young per term. Honey badgers are uniparental, the female is the only parent responsible for the young cubs.
When the young den cubs are born, they are reared in the females burrow and when the mother forages for prey they usually carry their young in the mouth Rosevear Claws are fully formed within four weeks and eyes are fully opened at approximately 33 days. Teeth start appearing around 36 days and are fully developed at approximately three months Kingdon Cubs remain with their mother for a period of 12—16 months before they reach maturity and have well developed hunting, climbing as well as proficient digging skills.
Honey badgers provide a useful ecosystem service in agriculture because they feed extensively on rodents and arthropods who are considered to be agricultural pests Smithers ; Begg et al. However, they are also considered to be a pest by many beekeepers. Beehive damage by honey badgers is a significant threat to beekeeping productivity. Persecution of honey badgers by beekeepers has been recorded since the early s. Begg b found that the honey badgers caused damage with a monetary value of about R per annum in the Western Cape and Mpumalanga alone.
Beekeepers retaliate by shooting, poisoning and gin trapping honey badgers, accelerating the rate of population decline. Since honey badgers are scavengers, they are also indirectly killed through poisoning. Furthermore, honey badgers are also indirectly killed by control programmes targeting other species such as black-backed jackals and caracal. The killing of the honey badgers and reduction to the population size was also influenced by harvest for use in traditional medicine.
The species is used in the preparation of remedies used as protective charm for possessors and hunting dogs. Honey badgers are equipped with large scent glands that play a role in territorial marking and also used a defence mechanism Carter Females rarely interact with each other, thus demonstrate unrestrained terrestrial behaviour in protecting their territory by urinating in previously foraged area.
Males, having a larger area of occupancy or home range, signify inter-sexual territory since they share overlapping ranges with females. Honey badgers have tough, loose skin allowing them to free themselves from predators and to also manoeuvre through small spaces. Honey badgers contribute a provisioning service to the environment in that they help regulate agricultural pests such as rodents and arthropods by being generalist feeders Smithers ; Begg et al.
Threats that are facing the species included persecution by beekeepers, unintentional poisoning and hunting for both bush meat and traditional medicine use Carter Increasingly, honey badgers are being hunted as trophies. The lack of legislation enforcement for the protection of the species and high number of honey badgers reported to have been killed by beekeepers in particular has led to Botswana and Ghana, the only two countries, to list the honey badgers as an Appendix III species on the CITES list making it mandatory to have a permit for export and import of the species.
The combination of a single offspring, late sexual maturity and long birthing interval affects population propagation and the survival of honey badgers by having a special significance in the success of conservation programmes Begg The honey badger belongs to the weasel family Scientific name: Mustelidae , related to species such as skunks Genus: Mephitis , otters Genus: Ictonyx , ferrets Genus: Mustela , and other badgers.
Skip to content. Home » Animal of the week » Honey badger. Jan 22, Common names : Honey badger Eng. Pic: Kathy McAleese Getting around Due to their short limbs and long fore claws, honey badgers are not fast runners.
Distribution The honey badger has a wide, extensive historical distribution range, which extends through most of sub-Saharan Africa. Habitat The species lives in a wide variety of habitats type, but they are generally absent from more open and central parts of the grassland and Nama Karoo biomes.
Family life: Honey badgers are uniparental, the female is the only parent responsible for the young cubs. Pic: Simon Gorta Smart Strategies Honey badgers are equipped with large scent glands that play a role in territorial marking and also used a defence mechanism Carter Poorer world without me Honey badgers contribute a provisioning service to the environment in that they help regulate agricultural pests such as rodents and arthropods by being generalist feeders Smithers ; Begg et al.
The listing has influenced two successful programmes: The Badger-Beekeeper Extension Programme BBEP , which aimed to educate beekeepers on taking operative measures for the protection of beehives, honey badgers thereby creating public awareness Isham et al. The small mammals love bee larvae so much that they'll tolerate hundreds of stings from angry bees to get their claws on the sweet stuff.
But not all raids are successful — desperate honey badgers have been found stung to death in large beehives, according to National Geographic. Related: Honey badger takes on an antelope, and it doesn't go well. 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.
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 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.
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 square miles square km , according to National Geographic. 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.
Honey badgers breed all year round, with the female normally giving birth to one cub about seven to 10 weeks after mating. Honey badger cubs, or kits, are born with their eyes closed, hairless and with pink skin.
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