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PREDATORS While
the honey badger is listed in the Guinness Book of records as the
"Most fearless animal in the world" (2004), they are not
invincible and adults are frequently killed by leopard and lion. Their
black & white colouration is thought to provide a warning to
other predators of their strength and tenacity. Their display
consists of the emission of a strong smelling smell from the anal scent
glands and a loud, rattling vocalization. This display is accompanied by
rushing movements towards the predator and is frequently successful
in driving large predators away. There are numerous stories of honey
badgers chasing lions and leopards off kills. In Kalahari we twice saw
honey badgers chase off leopards that stalked them. Young
cubs are particularly vulnerable, and cub mortality in the southern
Kalahari was 47% with only half the cubs born reaching independence. The
cause of death included starvation, infanticide (killed by other males)
and predation. It is likely that black-backed jackals kill
badger cubs and there is also a record of a cub being killed by two golden
jackals Canis aureus in Northern Niger (Dragesco-Joffe 1993). VENOMS Honey
badgers do appear to have some immunity to snake venoms. A honey badger
bitten on the face by the highly cytotoxic pufadder showed signs of severe
pain but recovered fully within five hours (Begg & Begg pers. obs.).
This immunity may develop over the life time of the honey badgers due to
regular contact with small amounts of venom in snakes, scorpions and bees.
Young cubs are prevented from catching poisonous snakes by their mothers
until they have the necessary skills and coordination. While honey badgers
also appear to have some immunity to bee stings, they have been found
stung to death in hives, particularly in commercial apiaries. DISEASE Honey
badgers are affected by rabies, with a recent case (April 2002) in South
Africa where a honey badger had to be shot because it had contracted
rabies and was acting aggressively towards people in a parking lot.
Analysis of a faecal sample from the Kalahari indicated infection
with a sub group of feline parvo-virus (Steinal et al. 2000) and canine distemper
has also been implicated in honey badger deaths. |
