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A
documentary film "Snake-killers: honey badgers of the Kalahari
(available as video and DVD) was made about this research
Extracts
from an article the Begg's, published in Endangered Wildlife (2000)
Journal
of the Endangered
Wildlife Trust
Honey
badgers of the Kalahari
Fleeting glimpses of a dark shape trotting
amongst the “Swarthaak” bushes, or the spray of red sand above
“Bushman” grass watched by an intent Goshawk are what most people see
of Honey badgers, even in the open expanses of the Kalahari where a
visitor has one of the best chances of spotting these solitary carnivores.
In the tradition of previous carnivore
research in the Kalahari, the invaluable skills of a Khumani San tracker,
the late Klaas Kruiper, were employed to help locate and follow the spoor
of badgers through the dunes. Literally hundreds of kilometers of spoor
tracking provided the first unobtrusive insight into badger movements and
foraging behaviour, however our primary intention was to directly observe
the many facets of badger ecology by habituating wild individuals. Klaas
quickly became an expert in leading us up to badgers (an animal the
bushman had in the past always given a wide berth!), where they could be
caught with hand nets and briefly immobilized for further study and
attachment of radio collars. In this manner some 51 individuals where
studied in the central dunes between the Nossob and Aoub rivers.
From this community of badgers nine
selected adults (five females with five cubs and four males) were
implanted with radio transmitters (a method that improved the longevity of
radios as their athletic lifestyle often lead to the collars breaking). In all, more than 2000 hours were spent gradually
acquainting the badgers to the presence of a Land Rover, until we were
accepted and the badgers became oblivious to us following behind them by
day or night
These nine habituated badgers were followed
for an additional 5831 hours through all seasons over the course of three
years, which afforded a unique opportunity to record in detail their
movement patterns, hunting techniques, success and consumption rates,
activity schedules and social behaviour. This approach also proved
successful in observing the various fascinating foraging associations
between badgers, Black-backed jackals, Pale chanting goshawks, and other
bird species that have been reported since the 1970’s but never recorded
in much detail. Many of these other species took their cue from the
badger’s lack of concern for the vehicle and relaxed in our company. In
addition to following the habituated badgers, the movements of 14 other
radio-collared badgers were monitored by locating their positions using
both aerial and ground based radio tracking.
Honey badgers proved to be great
opportunists, eating a range of 61 different species from 3491 recorded
food items. Food as small as social and solitary bee larvae, geckoes,
scorpions, rodents and snakes to larger prey including Springhares,
Striped polecats, birds and the juveniles of jackals, African wildcat,
Cape and Bat eared fox were eaten. Tsama melons were the only vegetable
matter eaten by the badgers, consistent with other Kalahari carnivores,
which also obtain moisture from the Tsama’s high water content. In
addition to visual observations 910 scats were collected for dietary
analysis.
In the Kalahari badgers were not
monogamous, as often suggested in the literature and most sightings of
“pairs” frequently comprised of a mother and her offspring. Only one
cub was reared at a time, and 18 were reared during the study. Cubs were
born throughout the year and for the first year juveniles were entirely
dependant on their mothers for food. In the late stages before dispersal
male offspring could become almost twice the size of their mothers. Adult
females were never seen interacting and although they occupied overlapping
home ranges of some150 square kilometers, they avoided each other
temporally. Female offspring dispersed widely, on one occasion a young
female traveled more than 50 kilometers from her mother within the first
three weeks of independence.
Male badgers proved to be significantly
larger than females and roamed over vast areas, some individuals using in
excess of 500 square kilometers. Males were capable of moving as much as
forty kilometers within a twelve-hour period. In contrast to females,
groups of as many as 5 males were seen moving together on 12 occasions, as
had been initially reported in the Mana Pools study. A dominance hierarchy
appeared to exist amongst males, and fighting was observed when particular
rival males both found a female in oestrus, or an important food source.
While many species in the Mustelid family are known to use latrines, the
use of latrines by Honey badgers had never previously been reported.
During the study 97 Honey badger latrines were located, and dominant males
spent a great deal of their time patrolling from one latrine to the next,
where they were seen to perform elaborate scent-marking behavior.
In the past very little information was
available on some of the most fundamental aspects of the Honey badger’s
natural history. The information collected during this study is presently
being collated and we hope that the results of this research will make a
significant contribution to the conservation and future management of this
and associated species. |
