Chordata, class Mammalia, order Carnivora and family Mustelidae. It genus and
species name is Mellivora capensis.
Despite it's name it looks more like a weasel than a badger. It has a black underbelly
and side but a grey-white top.Males weigh 9-16 kg and females weigh 5-10
kilograms. An adult male can grow up to 90cm with the tail included. It has four legs
and five toes per foot. It also has short claws on the hind legs and long claws on the
fore-limbs. It has a broad body and very thick skin, about 6 mm thick.
It is found in most of Africa below the Sahara, from the Cape of Good Hope to
Morocco. A young honey badger is called a kit, while females are sows and males
boars. A collection of honey badgers is a cete, colony, set or company although they
are mostly solitary animals.
Honey badgers are very fearless animals, even being named the bravest animal in
the world by the Guinness book of records. They appear to have developed a form of
immunity to snake venoms. It is known to fend of large predators such as lions. They
even are known to chase away lion cubs and take their kills. They have a very ranged
diet eating anything from insects, frogs, turtles, tortoises, rodents, lizards, snakes,
eggs, birds, berries, roots and bulbs. But of course they eat honey, often searching into
behaves for it, which earned the honey badger it's name. They are also very smart.
To see a video of a very cunning honey badger go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c36UNSoJen1 or www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01x412l
By Luke.D
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