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 Badger Friendly Label BFL , which aimed to assist the beekeepers in ways to elevating the apiaries above the ground and using non-lethal control methods on the apiaries thereby preventing honey badgers from destroying the honey bee apiaries. The badger friendly label on packaging also allow consumers the choice to support beekeepers who use badger friendly beekeeping methods. Report on the conflict between beekeepers and honey badgers, Mellivora capensis , with reference to their conservation status and distribution in South Africa.
The conflict between beekeepers and honey badgers in South Africa; a Western Cape perspective. Open Country, 4, pp. Begg, C. Scent-marking behaviour of the honey badger, Mellivora capensis Mustelidae , in the southern Kalahari. Sexual and seasonal variation in the diet and foraging behaviour of a sexually dimorphic carnivore, the honey badger Mellivora capensis.
Journal of Zoology 3 : — Spatial organization of the honey badger, Mellivora capensis , in the southern Kalahari: home-range size and movement patterns. Journal of Zoology , 1 : 23— Feeding ecology and social organisation of honey badgers Mellivora capensis in the southern Kalahari.
Doctoral dissertation, University of Pretoria. Carter, S. 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.
It takes about a month for the cub to develop its gray skin, fur and the characteristic wide, white stripe down its back, according to San Diego Zoo. It takes about two months for the cubs' eyes to open, according to the North African Big Carnivore Foundation.
Cubs reach their adult size by about 6 months old, but will stay with their mother for up to two years, according to San Diego Zoo. During that time, the cub learns to master the art of digging, hunting and climbing trees — skills they need before they can venture out on their own. Honey badgers can live for up to 26 years in captivity, according to the San Diego Zoo, and up to seven years in the wild, according to National Geographic.
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