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"Every
biologist has an obligation and responsibility to help
protect
and preserve the species he or she studies
by
going beyond the collection of data to finding solutions
to
problems at the local level, as well as nationally
and
internationally at policy
level"
George
Schaller, 1995
While
some studies have been made of honey badgers in captivity, until recently
there was little research conducted on badgers in the wild.
A list of suggested reading can be found in Further reading.
Please follow the links for more indepth information. If you are
interested in doing research on badgers or are currently involved in
badger research please let us know the details so that we can update the
website.
ONGOING
PROJECTS
a)
Badgers
-Beekeeper Extension Programme, South
Africa, 2000 -present
Aside
from man, honey badgers are the most significant mammalian predators of
bees and they can and do cause substantial losses to both traditional and
commercial beekeepers. In particular, beekeepers
in the Western Cape and Mpumalanga provinces of South Africa
experience heavy losses when unprotected beehives are kept in or near
indigenous vegetation where honey badgers still occur. Because of this
some beekeepers have resorted to killing badgers, using illegal, inhumane
and indiscriminate methods such as gin traps. Fortunately the
badger-beekeeper conflict differs from many other conflict situations
between farmers and “problem” animals, in that a simple cost-effective
solution to the problem exists. Various successful ways of protecting
hives from badgers are being used by the majority of beekeepers.
In
May 2002, following a year of intensive discussions with stakeholders, the
South African Bee Industry Organisation (SABIO) officially adopted a
procedure, which specifically supports “badger-friendly” beekeeping.
At the same time, a Badger / Beekeeper Extension Programme was put in
place funded
by The Green Trust, an associated trust of WWF-SA made possible by Nedbank
Green, the Carnivore Conservation Group of the Endangered Wildlife Trust
and Leisure Kitchens. This initiative is also supported by the Wildlife
And Environment Society of South Africa and The Western Cape Nature
Conservation Board.
Joan Isham was appointed as a full time extension officer and coordinator
of this Programme, which aims to inform and assist beekeepers on a one-to
one basis with hive protection methods, to educate the public about honey
badgers and to provide positive incentives for badger-friendly beekeeping
through the Badger-Friendly Initiative. The project leaders are Keith and
Colleen Begg and Prof Gerhard Verdoorn (Endangered Wildlife Trust).
Visit
the Badger
Friendly Initiative
to find out more.
b)
Honey badger research project in Niassa Reserve, northern Mozambique
2003-present
Colleen
& Keith Begg are currently studying honey badgers in Niassa Reserve in
northern Mozambique. Their aim is to do a comparative study of honey
badger in a different environment to rthe southern Kalahari. In particular
they are interested in looking at home range size, diet and litter sizes
of honey badgers in a wetter environment. In addition they are
investigating the relationship between the honey badgers and traditional
honey gatherers and beekeepers. Results will be posted.
Colleen
is a research fellow of the Mammal Research Institute, University of
Pretoria, South Africa
c)
Genetics study
Supervised by Dr Conrad Matthee,
Stellenbosch University.
James Rhodes ( a masters student)
is currently conducting a population genetic study on the African honey
badger.
Several populations throughout the range of the species will be
included. Our aims of this
study are to determine the phylogeographic structure of the honey badger
and to investigate whether there is any genetic evidence to support the
current subspecies taxonomic descriptions. Analyses will be based on
microsatellite and mtDNA control region sequences. This study should be completed by the end of the year.
d)
Collation of available
information and assessment of current distribution .
Keith
& Colleen are currently trying to assess the current
distribution and status of honey badgers throughout their range and are
collating all available information. If you
have any information on honey badgers, please send info on your sightings
(date, area, habitat, activity) to rateldotcom@hotmail.com In particular information from West Africa, Asia and Russia is crucially
needed.
PAST
RESEARCH PROJECTS
a)
Kalahari,
South Africa 1982 : Hans Kruuk & Gus Mills
The first
field study of honey badgers was conducted by Hans Kruuk and Gus Mills
in the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park, South Africa. The study lasted six
weeks, and involved following the spoor of eight badgers for 220km using a
Khomeni San tracker. One young female was tagged with a radio collar and
badgers were observed on 17 occasions for a total of 13 hours.
b)
Zambezi
Valley, Zimbabwe 1994 : Keith Begg
A
six month pilot study was initiated by Keith Begg to investigate
the potential for a long term study in the Mana
Pools National
Park, Zimbabwe. Three male honey badgers were tagged, one having an
implantable transmitter inserted into the abdominal cavity, the remaining
two radio collars were unfortunately damaged. The implanted badger was located on 38
occasions and followed for 179 hours. During August 1995 a further two
males were implanted, unfortunately the study came to an abrupt end one
month later, caused by Zimbabwean politics and policy within the
Department of National Parks and Wildlife Management.
c)
Kalahari,
South Africa 1996-1999: Colleen & Keith Begg
In
1996 Keith and Colleen Begg started a 42 month long study in the Kalahari
Gemsbok National Park
((now called the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park). The study formed the basis
for a Phd thesis (by C. Begg, Mammal Research Institute, University of Pretoria) on
the feeding ecology and socail ogranistion of the honey badger in the
southern Kalahari, and a National Geographic documentary ('Snake
killers, honey badgers of the Kalahari"). A total of 51 badgers were studied of which 23 were radio
marked. Nine individuals were habituated to the presence of a vehicle,
from which they were followed for more than 5500 hours. The research
was supervised by Prof J.T Du Toit and Dr M.G.L. Mills and
supported by the Carnivore Conservation Group of the Endangered Wildlife
Trust and other sponsors.
d)
Laikipia,
Kenya 1999: John Ruggieri
John
Ruggieri radio marked a female badger on Segera ranch, located in
Kenya's Laikipia district. This female's movements were studied for
two months on a regular basis.
e)
Genetics Project -2002
Ronelle
Verwey, an Honours student at Stellenbosch used microsatellite
markers to investigate the paternity of honey badger cubs in the
Kalahari population studied by Colleen & Keith Begg. This
project was completed in 2002 and a paper is currently in press in African
Zoology. During the
three-year behavioural study by Begg (2001) a total of nine males were
potentially in contact with ten receptive females.
Tissue/hair samples are available for these animals, as well as for
the 10 cubs that resulted from the matings.
The aim of this molecular study was to use microsatellite markers to
assign paternity in the honey badger.
The data obtained allowed us to assess whether the brief mating
opportunities afforded to subordinate males lead to fertilization.
Questions that were addressed are: Did only the dominant male
father cubs? What percentage
of cubs was fathered by subordinate males?
e)
Survey
for honey badgers in Zambia, Mozambique, Tanzania & Kenya
and work with traditional beekeepers.
Keith
& Colleen have recently returned from a trip through East Africa
and Zambia (May - September 2002). The aims of this trip were to collect
genetic samples, investigate the relationship between traditional
beekeepers and honey badgers and survey for honey badgers in these areas.
In addition the presence of honey badgers in the traditional markets was
investigated. Genetic samples from honey badgers in Mozambique (from
traditional markets), Zambia (from hunters and beekeepers) and from Kenya
(from Nairobi Museum) were collected. Beekeepers are remarkably fatalistic
about the damage they receive from honey badgers (2 - 7%) during the year.
Hives are generally protected by hanging them from high branches (Kenya,
Tanzania, Zambia), or suspended from a wire attached between two trees
(Malawi). In Zambia honey badgers are being killed not because of the
damage they cause to beehives but for bush meat and traditional
medicine All agree that they don't make good eating, "the meat
is sweet", perhaps because of the anal scent glands, but in north
western Zambia there is little else left to hunt in the miombo woodland.
Dogs are used to hunt the badgers and they are then killed by a blow to
the nose with an axe. Flesh from the nose, tail and heart are mixed with
roots from a particular tree and ingested. This is said to be powerful
medicine, providing protection against injury and stab wounds.
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