Habitat and range:
Honey badgers can be found throughout most of sub-Saharan Africa, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and western Asia. They can adapt to a variety of conditions, from warm rain forests to cool mountains. Their home ranges can be as vast as about 193 square miles (500 square kilometers).
Honey badger homes:
Most honey badgers are active throughout the day, though near human settlements they may prefer the cover of darkness. They are often seen alone, though it’s not uncommon to spot mating pairs. Honey badgers mate all year and often have just one cub at a time. Honey badgers can also make homes in the abandoned dens of other animals like porcupines and yellow mongooses.
Threats:
Though honey badgers are wide spread and considered abundant, they are hunted or persecuted in certain regions, especially when they come into conflict with farmers and beekeepers. They’re also eaten as bush meat and harvested for the traditional medicine trade; a reputation for bravery and tenacity make honey badgers popular for traditional medicine.
Preventing the loss of honey badgers from those areas requires vigilance from local populations.
Strength:
Because of the toughness and looseness of their skin, honey badgers are very difficult to kill with dogs. Their skin is hard to penetrate, and its looseness allows them to twist and turn on their attackers when held. The only safe grip on a honey badger is on the back of the neck.
As fearless predators, honey badgers won't hesitate to take down scorpions or venomous snakes for dinner. However, those meals fight back, and the honey badger may receive a mean bite or sting from its prey, such as the highly venomous Cape cobra (Naja nivea), whose venom can temporarily knock out a honey badger
And speaking of bites, the honey badger can survive the bites of some very dangerous creatures. They eat scorpions and snakes, and they have an unusually strong immunity to venom.
ACT OF GIVING BIRTH:
Honey badgers usually give birth to one baby at a time. Their babies are called cubs.
Young badgers are called badger cubs and can be born as early as late December, although peak period is the beginning of February and cubs can be born as late as April. Litters range from one to five cubs, but two or three cubs are most common.
GESTATION PERIOD:
The gestation period of honey-badger is usually 181 days
The female honey badger is left alone to give birth and raise her young. The expectant mother digs a nursery chamber and lines it with grass for her baby. After a gestation period of 7 to 10 weeks, one cub (rarely two) is born. The newborn is hairless with pink skin and closed eyes.
The female name for honey badger is sow
A male European badger is a boar, a female is a sow, and a young badger is a cub.
summary:
COMMON NAME:
Honey Badger
SCIENTIFIC NAME:
Mellivora capensis
TYPE:
Mammals
DIET:
Omnivore
GROUP NAME:
Cete or Clan
AVERAGE LIFE SPAN IN THE WILD:
Up to 7 years
SIZE:
9 to 11 inches high at shoulder
WEIGHT:
13 to 30 pounds