Species profile
About the honey badger
The honey badger's reputation is deserved. Loose, exceptionally thick skin lets it twist and bite while held, its claws will open a bee hive or a tortoise, and it has a tolerance for venom that allows it to eat snakes other predators avoid. Adults have been recorded seeing off lions from a carcass.
It is widespread across Tanzania but thinly spread and mainly nocturnal, so sightings are unpredictable and always memorable. Watch for one trotting head-down along a track at dusk, often with a pale grey mantle showing clearly in low light.
Life in the wild
Behavior & relationships
Behavior
Restless and constantly digging. Mostly nocturnal where people are present, more diurnal in undisturbed country. Excavates prey rather than chasing it.
Social life
Usually solitary; a female with a single large cub may travel together for over a year. Sometimes forages alongside pale chanting goshawks or jackals that take what it flushes.
What makes it remarkable
Special features
Skin thick and loose enough to turn bee stings and porcupine quills, and a partial resistance to snake venom.
