Premium

Download the Honey Badger Facts & Worksheets

Click the button below to get instant access to these worksheets for use in the classroom or at a home.

Download This Worksheet

This download is exclusively for KidsKonnect Premium members!
To download this worksheet, click the button below to signup (it only takes a minute) and you'll be brought right back to this page to start the download!

Sign Me Up

Already a member? Log in to download.

Download

Edit This Worksheet

Editing resources is available exclusively for KidsKonnect Premium members.
To edit this worksheet, click the button below to signup (it only takes a minute) and you'll be brought right back to this page to start editing!

Sign Up

Already a member? Log in to download.

Edit

This worksheet can be edited by Premium members using the free Google Slides online software. Click the Edit button above to get started.

The honey badger (Mellivora capensis), also known as the ratel, is a ferocious mammal living in parts of Asia and Africa.

See the fact file below for more information on Honey Badger, or you can download our 31-page Honey Badger worksheet pack to utilize within the classroom or home environment.

Key Facts & Information

CHARACTERISTICS

• The honey badger is well-known for attacking opponents with much greater size and strength. 
• Their thick skin strengthens their defense against cobra bites, bee stings, attacks by clawed jungle animals, and unbearable natural conditions.
• Honey badgers are accomplished climbers and have been observed using tools to help them climb, make and stack mud balls.
• The creature has perseverance, determination, and a fearless reputation for doing whatever it takes to win, which helps to thwart threats and secure victories.

ANATOMY

• Honey badgers are quadrupedal, terrestrial creatures with cylindrical bodies that can reach lengths up to 70 cm. 
• They are approximately 25–30 cm high at the shoulders. 
• Their long, broad forefeet have strong claws used for climbing and digging. The claws on their back legs are smaller and more restrained. 
• The exterior is distinguished by fur with a coarse, dorsal grey mantle patch that extends from the top of the head (crown) to the tip of the tail. The black ventral fur is separated from the coarse white mantle on each side of the body by a thin white line.
• Two anal glands are located on the back of the short, bushy tail. The two glands, located across from the anus in male badgers, are surrounded by tissue close to the scrotum.
• Their thick, strong, and flexible skin can easily twist, helping them elude an attacker.
• The skull resembles a more extensive form of a marbled polecat skull than it does the skull of the European badger. 
• Adult skulls lack any trace of a separate bone structure and are very strongly constructed. The braincase is larger than a dog’s.
• The dental formula is: 3.1.3.1/ 3.1.3.1
• The teeth frequently show symptoms of abnormal development, with some being incredibly small, positioned at odd angles, or missing entirely.
• The honey badger’s cheek teeth are frequently severely worn even though it mostly eats soft material.
• The lower back winter fur measures 40–50 mm (1.6–2.0 in) in length and comprises sparse, hard, bristly hairs with little underfur. 
• Summer fur is significantly shorter and sparser than winter fur, measuring only 15 mm (0.59 in) on the back and partially bare on the belly.

SCIENTIFIC CLASSIFICATION

• Mellivora has origins in both Latin and ancient Greek. “Meli” is Greek for “honey,” and “varo” is a Latin verb that means “to eat” or “to devour.” 
• Capensis is a geographical relation to the Cape of Good Hope, where Johann Christian Daniel von Schreber initially identified the species.

TAXONOMY

• Johann Christian Daniel von Schreber described a honey badger skin from the Cape of Good Hope in 1777 and gave it Mellivora capensis. 
• Gottlieb Conrad Christian Storr proposed Mellivorae for the genus name in 1780. 
• John Edward Gray suggested the tribe name Mellivorina and subfamily Mellivorinae in 1865.
• The only member of the genus Mellivora is the honey badger. 

DEFENSE MECHANISMS

• The honey badger’s distinctive pattern may serve as a deterrent to other animals. The honey badger has thick fur to protect itself against predators.
• They can turn around and bite anything that catches hold of the back of their neck because their skin is both thick and loose.
• To prevent predators from approaching too closely, they have glands (tiny sacs) towards the back of their bodies that can release a foul-smelling substance.
• The honey badger’s large front claws are used for digging and destroying beehives.

BEHAVIOR

• Honey badgers often live alone and maintain expansive home ranges that frequently overlap. 
• They may come together at particular foraging locations, where they sniff each other and roll about to scent-mark the ground. 
• In addition to their deep, foreboding growls, honey badgers can also grunt, squeak, hiss, and whine.

FEEDING HABITS

• Having a very diverse diet, honey badgers are generally carnivores. 
• Honey badgers frequently raid wild honey bee nests and hives. During the raid, honey badgers consumed part of the honey that bees had produced and stored in the combs. 
• Despite being known as a “honey badger,” they are actually after the brood, which is the bee larvae inside the hive or nest.
• Insect larvae, beetles, scorpions, lizards, rodents, and birds are just a few of the many smaller foods that badgers consume. 
• They also eat larger creatures like springhares, polecats, young foxes, jackals, antelope, and wild cats. Honey badgers typically hunt alone.
• In addition to catching giant reptiles like leguaans, crocodiles (1 meter), and pythons (3 meters), they also eat highly toxic adders, cobras, and black mambas.  
• Honey badgers change from being primarily nocturnal in the summer to diurnal in the winter in the southern Kalahari. They only appear at night in locations where human activity impacts them.
• Due to their weak hearing and vision, honey badgers largely use their sense of smell to locate food. They frequently wander about with their noses near the ground and poke their heads into holes to get food.

REPRODUCTION AND LIFESPAN

• The hot, dry season, which lasts from September to December, is when honey badgers most frequently mate, though they do so throughout the year. 
• Since they only gather to mate for a short time, they are described as solitary animals. 
• The female honey badger is left alone to give birth in a burrow, where she nurtures her offspring. The expectant mother digs up a nursery chamber and lines it with grass.
• It is unknown how long honey badgers live in the wild. They are known to live for 24 years in captivity.

OFFSPRING DEVELOPMENT

• One cub (rarely two) is born after a 7–10 week gestation period. 
• The cub has pink skin, no hair, and is blind. Its skin starts to turn gray at one week old, and fine gray hair starts to appear two weeks after that. About a week later, the familiar white stripe starts to show.
• The cub develops into a replica of its parents by the time it is close to three months old. 
• It grows to adult size at 6–8 months but is not ready to leave the nest until it is between 14 months and 2 years old because it needs time to learn critical hunting abilities.

HABITAT

• The species are found in a wide range of environments. However, it tends to avoid the more central and open areas of the grassland and Nama Karoo biomes. Although it can be found in grasslands and forests, its preferred habitat is primarily in dry places. 
• They can dig burrows up to 3 meters long and 1.5 meters deep using their long-clawed forefeet. They use these tunnels or chambers as resting places.

DISTRIBUTION

• The majority of Sub-Saharan Africa is covered by the honey badger’s range, which extends from South Africa‘s Western Cape to southern Morocco and southwestern Algeria. Outside of Africa, it can be found in Arabia, Iran, and Western Asia, as well as Turkmenistan and the Indian Peninsula.

CONSERVATION AND THREATS

• Despite being rare throughout its range and seeing a reduction in population size, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) rates the honey badger as having the “least concern” for its conservation. 
• Parts of the honey badger’s range are under protection, although poisoning operations have caused the species to become extinct in other regions.
• The biggest threat to honey badgers is humans. Most animals are killed by apiculturists and livestock farmers. However, others are hunted for bushmeat and utilized in traditional medicine. Control methods meant to protect other species also result in their deaths.

PREDATORS

• Honey badgers have few predators, but they are occasionally hunted by lions, tigers, African spotted hyenas, African leopards, African rock pythons, and Nile crocodiles.
• Due to their aggressive attitude and small size, honey badgers are not a simple meal, and the efforts of their predators are better used to grab more uncomplicated prey that contains more flesh.
• They can move around in their loose, thick skin, making it more difficult for potential predators to grasp them.

ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE

• Honey badgers provide a useful ecosystem service in agriculture because they feed extensively on rodents and arthropods, which are considered agricultural pests.
• As a result of the honey badgers’ excellent rodent and insect population control, some diseases caused by pests have significantly decreased. 
• They are especially helpful to apiculturists since they serve as honeyguides to discover potential areas for bee colonies. 
• However, a lot of beekeepers also view them as a pest. Beekeeping production is seriously threatened by honey badger damage to hives.
• Humans used their organs, skin, and other parts in traditional medicine because they believed that they represented ferocity and perseverance.

RELATIONSHIP TO HUMANS

• Honey badgers are not violent when unprovoked, however, there have been instances where they have attacked kids.
• It has been proven that honey badgers have eaten human bodies that they have dug up. 
• Various illnesses, including rabies, that can affect humans are carried by animals.
• They have a history of spreading rabies, which is dangerous for humans and nearby wildlife.

Honey Badger Worksheets

This is a fantastic bundle that includes everything you need to know about Honey Badger across 31 in-depth pages. These are ready-to-use worksheets that are perfect for teaching kids about Honey Badger, which is also known as the ratel, is a ferocious mammal living in parts of Asia and Africa.

Complete List of Included Worksheets

Below is a list of all the worksheets included in this document.

1. Honey Badger Facts 
2. Hidden Picture
3. Discovery Summary
4. Adding Details
5. Meal Riddle
6. Small Steps
7. Locate the Range
8. Featuring Home
9. Ready, Fight!
10. Who’s the King?
11. News Alert!

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a honey badger known for?

The honey badger is a brave and robust animal. It is famous for defending itself against larger opponents, like lions and hyenas. Plus, the honey badger’s skin is callous. This protects it from being hurt by things like bee stings and porcupine quills that would kill most other animals.

How fast can a honey badger run?

Honey badgers are known for chasing down their prey, but they can only run as fast as 19mph. This might be faster than some humans can sprint, but humans can keep running longer than honey badgers.

How strong is a honey badger’s bite?

Badgers have a clear advantage over other large animals when it comes to sheer strength. They can apply impressive force with their jaws – 108 BFQ compared to 64 for American black bears and 78 for brown bears.

Link/cite this page

If you reference any of the content on this page on your own website, please use the code below to cite this page as the original source.

Link will appear as Honey Badger Facts & Worksheets: https://kidskonnect.com - KidsKonnect, October 26, 2022