Honey Badger aka bush legend
It is a very rare sighting indeed and a few days ago very lucky guests staying at Sausage Tree Safari Camp here on Olifants West Nature Reserve had a very close up view of an unusually relaxed mother and cub.
Why does the honey badger enjoy such a legendary status?
Its all about its toughness and aggression. From its gangster walk to its David (weighing in at an average of 16kgs) and Goliath fearless tactic of best defence is attack by sinking its teeth into the scrotum of a male lion or buffalo which is not exactly cricket but is entirely effective.
They have vice like jaws, very powerful claws and an elastic loose very thick skin that enables them if they find themselves in the jaws of a major predator to turn the tables on it by turning and striking and biting the predator’s face until it lets go.
Add a very noxious gas it can emit from its anal gland and you get the picture. This gland also serves to disorientate bees when a badger attacks a hive to forage for its favourite food, honey.
It has a unique helper in its perpetual quest for honey, the greater honeyguide bird. This bird can uniquely digest beeswax and will by calling and making displays lead honeybadgers and humans to beehives and then consume the leftover beeswax.
Famously, if it tangles with a cobra and gets envenomated in the act of killing it , the honey badger will lapse into unconsciousness for one or two hours and then wake up as if nothing had happened and proceed to consume the dead cobra.
One of the main reasons that they are such a rare sighting in these parts is because they are largely nocturnally active. Their black and white coat combined with bristling and lifting of its tail when feeling threatened leaves the would be predator in no doubt of its identity at night .
They are very intelligent and long lived , 20 years or more. If you are interested in being sure of seeing a honey badger during your stay at Sausage Tree Safari Camp then we recommend you book a visit through us to the Moholoholo animal rehabilitation centre nearby and meet the world famous honey badger , Stoffel.
