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Badger
/Beekeeper report
Re
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Historical
distribution of the honey badger in
South Africa:
The
distribution of honey badgers in South Africa was last described by
Smithers (1986) in the South African Red Data Book - Terrestrial Mammals.
With the exception of the Northern Province, badgers were indicated to be
absent from large portions of all other provinces and had never been
recorded in the Free State and Lesotho. Interestingly, badgers were also
indicated to be absent from a major portion of the Western Cape’s
coastal lowlands and along the lower Orange River in the Northern Cape.
In
order to re-examine the question of honey badger distribution in South
Africa, data were drawn from seven different sources of historical
information. These were:
- Scientific literature.
- Museum records.
- Government gazettes.
- Geographical place names.
- Sightings in national
parks and provincial nature reserves.
- Annual reports of the
Director of Nature and Environmental Conservation, Cape Provincial
Administration.
- Hunt diaries of the
Suurbron Jag Klub.
- Personal communications.
A
total of 497 honey badger records were obtained from museums, literature
and personal communications. Some 84 South African honey badger specimens
exist in African museums holdings, but, of these, 9
specimens did not contain suitable locality data. 22 of these specimens
were collected during the current survey (killed by beekeepers) and
donated to the Natural History Museum in Cape Town.
Historically
there are 41 place names in South Africa that refer to “Ratel”, all of
which are located within the Cape and North West provinces (Vernon, pers.
comm.).
The
historical record also revealed that, as predators, honey badgers have
been persecuted by farming communities in South Africa since the early
1800’s. Rowe-Rowe (1992) stated that badgers were “apparently
incorrectly accused of killing livestock”. However, there are numerous
authenticated records of them killing or maiming livestock, but their
impact on livestock farming is considered to be negligible, particularly
in comparison to caracal and jackal depredation (Fourie & Stuart pers.
comm.). Honey badgers will also kill poultry when the latter are not well
protected. In addition to killing lambs and kids, Shortridge (1934) blamed
badgers for destroying ostrich chicks and farmers in the Karoo and North
West province have accused badgers of breaking ostrich eggs. (Malan and
Erasmus pers. comm.). Rowe-Rowe
(pers. comm.) says that due to the somewhat mythical reputation of honey
badgers, farmers in Natal blame them for all sorts of unexplained
livestock losses. Some farmers have
resorted to killing them because of their fierce reputation and fear that
they may be attacked whilst the animal is being released from a trap.
Honey badgers can be particularly difficult to kill compared with similar
sized animals and, when a firearm is not available, some farmers resort to
burning them or driving over them in a vehicle. Hunt clubs have also been
known to kill badgers due to the potential danger of them mauling their
hunt packs. Honey badgers continue to be killed “accidentally” by hunt
dogs (Fierrera pers. comm.).
Point
data for the Cape Provinces were extracted from Fitzsimons (1919), Millar
& Lloyd (1976), Coetzee (1977), Stuart (1972, 1980, 1981), Skead (1980
& 1987) and Lawson (1982). Stuart et. al (1978) recorded the
presence of badgers in only 5 of the 16 reserves surveyed in the Cape
Province. In all five of these reserves badgers were considered to be
uncommon or rare. Honey badgers were declared vermin in the Cape Provinces
for more than half a century, and a reward of 10 shillings was issued for
each animal killed. The historical record from 27 districts of the Cape
Province (Table 1) contains evidence to suggest that over a period of 23
years 744 badgers were killed and large numbers of badgers were killed in
the Riversdale, Humansdorp and Bredasdorp districts.
Table 1: District records of honey
badgers destroyed as vermin over the period 1892 – 1955 (Source:
Agricultural journal (1892) and Cape of Good Hope Government Gazette’s
(1931 to 1955, 1933 excluded).
|
District
|
1892
|
1931-39
|
1940-49
|
1950-55
|
Total
|
|
Alexandria
|
3
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
3
|
|
Bedford
|
4
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
4
|
|
Bredasdorp
|
-
|
10
|
51
|
29
|
90
|
|
Caledon
|
-
|
0
|
2
|
4
|
6
|
|
Calvinia
|
-
|
0
|
18
|
19
|
37
|
|
De Aar
|
-
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
|
Fort Beaufort
|
4
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
4
|
|
Graaff Reinet
|
5
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
5
|
|
Hanover
|
3
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
3
|
|
Heidelberg
|
-
|
12
|
15
|
9
|
36
|
|
Humansdorp
|
-
|
0
|
88
|
74
|
162
|
|
Indwe
|
-
|
0
|
15
|
0
|
15
|
|
Jansenville
|
3
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
3
|
|
Lady Grey
|
1
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
1
|
|
Matatiele
|
-
|
0
|
0
|
8
|
8
|
|
Mossel Bay
|
-
|
0
|
1
|
7
|
8
|
|
Mount Currie
|
-
|
8
|
9
|
2
|
19
|
|
Riversdale
|
-
|
80
|
80
|
17
|
177
|
|
Robertson
|
10
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
10
|
|
Somerset East
|
6
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
6
|
|
Steytlerville
|
14
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
14
|
|
Sutherland
|
-
|
0
|
18
|
20
|
38
|
|
Swellendam
|
-
|
22
|
33
|
12
|
67
|
|
Uitenhage
|
3
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
3
|
|
Uniondale
|
-
|
0
|
1
|
18
|
19
|
|
Willowmore
|
4
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
4
|
|
Worcester
|
1
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
1
|
|
TOTAL
|
61
|
132
|
332
|
219
|
744
|
From
extensive farm surveys conducted by Lloyd and Millar (1976 & 1983),
comprising questionnaires from some 44 000 landowners, honey badgers were
found to be widespread through all 91 divisional council districts. The
highest concentrations were recorded in the arid Namaqualand, Calvinia and
Williston districts (Northern Cape). Relatively high concentrations were
also recorded along southern Cape coastal region, particularly the in the
vicinity of the adjoining divisions of Knysna and Uniondale. Very low
densities were reported for the West coast (e.g. Piketberg, Vredenburg,
Hopefield, Malmesbury districts) where badgers are presently considered to
be a substantial problem by beekeepers (Section 4.3). One National Park
and one provincial Nature Reserve (out of 6 and 20 surveyed respectively)
in the three Cape Provinces were reported to contain honey badgers. Stuart
(1981) described the species to be widespread, but nowhere common,
although Stuart (1980) mentions that farmers at the south of the
Riviersonderend Mountains had reported an increase in the honey badger
population. The majority of animals killed during predator control
programmes were taken in the southern coastal regions of Caledon,
Bredasdorp, Riversdale and Mosselbay. In the North-eastern Cape, Lynch (1989) found only one
unconfirmed report from the Jamestown district. Hence it is considered
noteworthy that 15 badgers were killed as vermin in the Indwe district
during the 1940’s (Table 1). In the Eastern Cape, Skead (1987)
considered badgers to occur throughout the area, but their status was
uncertain and potentially critical. In the Albany district, honey badgers
were considered “very rare”, favoring wooded habitats and noticeably
absent from open grassveld and Karoo. Traps and dogs were responsible for
the serious decline in this district (Coetzee 1977). Of interest are seven
confirmed records of albinism from the Western and Eastern Cape provinces
(Fitzsimons 1919, Stuart, Fourie, Hiseman, Martin and Radloff pers.
comm.).
Between the years
1944 to 1977 no mention was made of honey badgers in the annual reports of
the Director of Nature and Environmental Conservation (Cape Province). The
total number of badgers caught or killed by the Department’s Problem
Animal Control staff is summarized in Table 2. Unfortunately, much of the
information gathered by the problem animal control station at Vrolijheid
appears to have been lost when the station was closed in the mid 1990’s
(e.g. specimens from Stuart 1977). Mr. C.H. Radloff of the Suurbron Jag
Klub (Humansdorp district) kindly made available his hunt diaries for the
period 1959 to 1999. During the 40 year period concerned, a minimum of 82
badgers were trapped using the standard “Rooikat” foothold trap.
Approximately 6 (7%) of these badgers were considered target animals,
having killed a minimum of eight sheep. During 1990 nature conservation
authorities translocated four badgers after being specifically trapped in
cage traps. When added to the data presented in table 1, this would
account for at least 244 badgers killed in the Humansdorp district during
a 50 year period.
Table 2: The
number of honey badgers killed in the Cape provinces between 1977 and 1986
by the Department of Nature Conservation’s Problem Animal Control. The
methods used are also indicated (Source: Annual Reports of the Director of
Nature and Environmental Conservation).
| YEAR |
Hunt dogs |
Coyote getters |
Traps |
Total |
| 1977-1998 |
4 |
0 |
4 |
8 |
| 1978-1979 |
4 |
13 |
6 |
23 |
| 1979-1980 |
3 |
1 |
0 |
4 |
| 1980-1981 |
0 |
6 |
1 |
7 |
| 1981-1982 |
- |
- |
- |
No info. |
| 1982-1983 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
| 1983-1984 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| 1984-1985 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
| 1985-1986 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| TOTAL |
16 |
20 |
11 |
47 |
In
the former Transvaal (now Northern Province, Gauteng, Mpumalanga and a
portion of North West Province) distribution records have been recorded by
Pienaar (1964), Rautenbach (1978 & 1982), Henschel (1986) Grimbeek
(1992) and Bailey (1993). Records occur throughout the wooded (bushveld)
regions north of the Magaliesberg, across the Waterberg and along the
eastern Lowveld (Rautenbach 1982, Marais 1990). Pienaar (1964) recorded
badgers in all areas of the Kruger National Park and between the years
1903 and 1927 at least 87 were killed in the park (then the Sabi and
Shingwidzi Game Reserves) as part of the Government’s predator control
programme (Smuts 1982). During the 1980’s an estimated 40 badgers were
destroyed or occasionally translocated by veterinarians and rangers after
raiding fridges and dustbins inside Satara rest camp in the Kruger
National Park (Draagt & Whitfield pers. comm.). Badgers were not
recorded in the southern regions of Mpumalanga (highveld grasslands) and
were considered to be rare and/ or endangered outside of the Kruger
National Park (Rautenbach 1982). In neighbouring Swaziland, honey badgers
are at risk of stochastic
extinction (Monadjem 1998).
Figure
1: Historical
records of the honey badger in South Africa, dating from 1776 to 1989
(n=497 records).
In
Kwazulu-Natal honey badgers are unprotected outside of reserves and widely
considered to be rare. Distribution data has been published by Dixon
(1964, 1966), Bourquin et. al. (1971), Rowe-Rowe (1975 & 1978),
Pringle (1977), Bruton (1978), Rautenbach et. al. (1981) and
Whateley & Brooks (1985). The majority of records occur in the north
and honey badgers were rarely encountered south of the latitude 290
S (Smithers 1986). Rowe-Rowe (1975) and Pringle (1977) mention records
from the Drakensberg (Giants Castle and Loteni) and Oribi Gorge reserves.
During periods of prolonged drought their distribution is said to extend
into the wetter regions of the province (Rowe-Rowe pers. comm.). Vermin
records from the Mount Currie district (Table 1) confirm that badgers also
had a presence in the southern reaches of the province of Kwazulu Natal.
No
confirmed reports of honey badgers exist from the Free State. Lynch (1983)
conducted extensive surveys from 70 localities in the province and
obtained information from 5440 questionnaires distributed amongst
landowners. Records from the “vermin” control body Oranjejag were also
accumulated, but no evidence suggested that badgers ever existed in the
province. One unconfirmed report was received of a honey badger having
been seen raiding a beehive on a farm north east of Parys and an Amathole
museum record card mentions a Bushmen in 1839 with a “Ratel skin cap”
near Bethany in the Free State. Similarly, no badgers have been recorded
in neighbouring Lesotho (Lynch 1994).
Present
distribution of the honey badger in South Africa:
Few distribution records
for honey badgers have been published or lodged with museums during the
past decade (1990 to 2001). Rowe-Rowe (1992) who reviewed their status in
Kwazulu Natal, provides the sole source of such information. Consequently,
the majority of the 398 records extracted for the purposes of the present
study were accumulated from personal communications and observations
during the past six years (Figure 2).

Figure 2:
Current distribution of honey badgers in South Africa based on the
accumulation of 398 records over the period 1990 to 2001.
During the course of the
survey 28 Parks personnel from all 20 National Parks and 35 nature
conservation officials from 28 Western Cape provincial reserves were
interviewed to establish the perceived status of badgers inside national
parks and provincial nature reserves.
The results suggest
that although badgers were recorded in 15 (75%) national parks, they were
considered scarce in 4 (20%). It appeared that they are no longer present
in the Bontebok and Cape Peninsula National Parks. Badgers were well
represented in only 6 (30%) of South Africa’s National Parks (Table 3).
With respect to the Western Cape provincial nature reserves, badgers were
recorded in 17 (60%) nature reserves, but only 8 (28%) of these reserves
were considered to contain potentially viable populations (Table 4).
Table 3: Current
status of honey badgers in 20 different South African National Parks based
on information provided by ecologists, park managers, section rangers and
field staff.
|
|
S. A.
NATIONAL PARK
|
STATUS
|
COMMENTS
|
|
1
|
Addo Elephant
|
Scarce
|
1 sight record in
1997, 2 in 1992, 1 trapped - farm
|
|
2
|
Agulhas
|
Present
|
Regular records, pop.
threatened by beekeepers
|
|
3
|
Augrabies Falls
|
Absent
|
No records, 3
released, 1 trapped on border 1996
|
|
4
|
Bontebok
|
Scarce
|
1 possible record of
signs in 1996
|
|
5
|
Cape Peninsula
|
Scarce
|
1 road kill in 1995
and 1 trapped 1988
|
|
6
|
Golden Gate Highlands
|
Absent
|
No known records from
this region
|
|
7
|
Kalahari Gemsbok
|
Present
|
Large resident
population, regular sightings
|
|
8
|
Karoo
|
Scarce
|
Rare sightings and
some signs
|
|
9
|
Knysna
|
Absent
|
No suitable habitat
(estuary / wetland)
|
|
10
|
Kruger
|
Present
|
Large resident
population, regular sightings
|
|
11
|
Limpopo Valley
|
Present
|
Recent sightings and
signs
|
|
12
|
Marakele
|
Present
|
2 sightings 1999 and
1998 and regular signs
|
|
13
|
Mountain Zebra
|
Absent
|
No records from this
area for the past 60 years
|
|
14
|
Namaqua
|
Present
|
No sight records,
recent signs, farmers trapping.
|
|
15
|
Richtersveld
|
Scarce
|
1 sight record and
signs from 1997
|
|
16
|
Tankwa Karoo
|
Absent
|
No known records
|
|
17
|
Tsitsikamma
|
Present
|
Regular sightings and
signs recorded
|
|
18
|
Vaalbos
|
Present
|
1 sighting 1999, road
kill park border 2000
|
|
19
|
West Coast
|
Present
|
1 trapped 1989, 1
sighting of 3, raiding bins 1999
|
|
20
|
Wilderness
|
Present
|
Regular sightings, 1
released into park 2000
|
Absent
= no records
Scarce = < 2 records since 1998
Present
= regularly recorded
|
Table 4: Current
status of honey badgers in 28 Western Cape Nature Reserves, as reported by
reserve managers and field staff.
|
|
NATURE
RESERVE
|
STATUS
|
COMMENTS
|
|
1
|
Cederberg
|
Present
|
Regular
sightings and signs
|
|
2
|
Matjiesrivier
|
Absent
|
No
known records
|
|
3
|
Verlorenvlei
|
Absent
|
No
known records, 1 released in 1995
|
|
4
|
Rocherpan
|
Absent
|
No
known records
|
|
5
|
Grootwinterhoek
|
Present
|
Regular
sightings and signs
|
|
6
|
Kogelberg
|
Present
|
Regular
sightings and signs, beekeeper complaints
|
|
7
|
Jonkershoek
|
Present
|
No
recent records, 1 road kill in 1974, raiding hives
|
|
8
|
Assegaaibosch
|
Present
|
No
recent records, raiding hives
|
|
9
|
Limietberg
|
Absent
|
No
known records
|
|
10
|
Hottentots
Holland
|
Present
|
2
recent sightings near main gate
|
|
11
|
Walker
Bay
|
Present
|
Regular
sightings and signs
|
|
12
|
Salmonsdam
|
Absent
|
No
known records
|
|
13
|
De
Mond
|
Present
|
Regular
sightings and signs
|
|
14
|
De
Hoop
|
Present
|
Regular
sightings and signs
|
|
15
|
Vrolijheid
|
Absent
|
1
trapped on border 1998 and in 1987
|
|
16
|
Marloth
|
Absent
|
No
known records
|
|
17
|
Grootvadersbosch
|
Absent
|
No
known records
|
|
18
|
Boosmansbos
|
Absent
|
No
known records
|
|
19
|
Anysberg
|
Present
|
1
sighting 1995, 1 trapped 1986, albino 1989
|
|
20
|
Towerkop
|
Absent
|
No
known records, farmer complaints
|
|
21
|
Gamkapoort
|
Present
|
No
sightings, signs reported
|
|
22
|
Gamkaberg
|
Present
|
No
recent signs, 2 specimens, 1 released 1990
|
|
23
|
Swartberg
|
Present
|
No
sightings, signs reported
|
|
24
|
Outeniqua
|
Absent
|
No
known records, but presumed present?
|
|
25
|
Goukamma
|
Present
|
1
sighting, 3 road-kills, Albino trapped, 2 released
|
|
26
|
Kammanassie
|
Present
|
No
sightings, signs reported
|
|
27
|
Keurbooms
River
|
Present
|
Recent
sightings and signs recorded
|
|
28
|
Robberg
|
Present
|
Recent
sightings and signs recorded
|
Absent = no records
Present = regularly recorded
Whilst acknowledging the limited scope
of the present study and the obvious collecting bias that exists for the
Western Cape, it was concluded that
badgers still occur throughout most of their former range. The populations
in the eastern Lowveld (Mpumalanga and Northern Provinces), the Kalahari
(Northern Cape) and the Cape coastal lowlands appear to support the
largest and most important remaining concentrations of honey badgers in
South Africa.
It is worth noting that the
data on honey badger distribution, as shown in figure 2, reflect a wider
distribution than that indicated in the South African Red Data book
(Smithers 1986). This is likely to be the result of increased sampling
effort rather than an expansion of the species range. There is little
doubt that their densities are lower, particularly in the central regions
of the country (e.g. the Karoo). Habitat loss and persecution,
particularly from small livestock farmers during the past two centuries
have contributed significantly to this decline. While honey badgers are
seldom a specific target species, they are susceptible to baited traps
(e.g. Coyote getters) and, as carnivores, are routinely killed
(Comrie-Grieg 1985, Smithers 1986).
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