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Honey
badgers are solitary carnivores with males and females in the Kalahari
only meeting up to mate before going their separate ways again.
Honey badgers do not form pairs and Males play no role in rearing of young.
They do not have a fixed
den (unless they have a very young cub) but constantly move through their home
ranges, often sleeping in a different hole each night, or day depending on
the season. In areas where badgers are not
disturbed by man, they will forage during the day, particularly during
cool conditions. In the Kalahari they are nocturnal during summer and
diurnal during the cold winters. Kalahari badgers often dug their own refuge holes
but also adapted holes made by Aardvark, Springhare, Porcupine
and mongoose. In contrast, in the lower Zambezi Valley badgers
always appeared to use existing holes. Male
badgers have extremely large home ranges relative to their size, roaming
over areas in excess of 500 square kilometers and this large area might encompass twelve or more
females and overlaps extensively with other males. Behavioral observations
from both the Zambezi Valley and the Kalahari suggest that a
dominance hierarchy exists between male badgers and since many males can
frequent the same area, it is not uncommon to see groups of males moving
together, visiting latrines and searching for females. Dominant males
patrol their home ranges on a regular basis, constantly visiting and
scent marking at latrines, which are typically small bare areas
usually situated at a prominent landmarks. This olfactory "notice board"
is their primary method of communication and from visiting these latrines
males are able to determine which other males are in the area as well as
find receptive females. In
contrast, females have smaller home ranges of between 100 to 150 square
kilometers and on no occasion were two females seen together in the
Kalahari study. While there is some overlap between neighboring
female home ranges, they avoid each other temporally by frequently leaving their scent in foraging holes
through token urination to advertise
their presence. Observations in the Kalahari suggest that females only scent mark at latrines when they are in oestrus.
When male badgers find a female's scent at a latrine they will follow her
spoor by smell and try to find her. Female
honey badgers are thought to be induced ovulators and once they are in
oestrus require frequent copulations over an extended period to ensure
fertilization. While males do not defend their large home ranges and are
therefore not territorial, they will guard a particular female for the
short time she is in oestrus by sequestering her in a burrow and
physically prevent her from leaving for up to three days while mating
takes place. Dominant males chase younger subordinate
males away from the mating burrow and while overt aggression is rare,
ritualized interactions involving dominant and submissive postures are
common. In the image at the top of this page, the dominant individual is
standing tall, tail erect and will be vocalizing with a low rumble, growl.
The submissive male has his head low, his tail down and he will be
vocalizing with a "jaw-smacking" sound also used by females when
with males. Paternity
analysis has revealed that more than 50% of the cubs in an area are
fathered by the dominant male however sneak matings by younger and/or
subordinate males also results in cubs. |
