Honey badger

Viverra capensis was the scientific name used by Johann Christian Daniel von Schreber in 1777 who described a honey badger skin from the Cape of Good Hope. Mellivorae was proposed as name for the genus by Gottlieb Conrad Christian Storr in 1780, while Mellivorina was proposed as a tribe name by John Edward Gray in 1865. The honey badger is the only living species of the genus Mellivora. Although in the 1860s it was assigned to the badger subfamily, the Melinae, it is now generally agreed that it bears few similarities to the Melinae. It is much more closely related to the marten subfamily, Guloninae, and furthermore is assigned its own subfamily, Mellivorinae. Subspecies In the 19th and 20th centuries, 16 zoological specimens of the honey badger were described and proposed as subspecies. Points taken into consideration in assigning different subspecies include size and the extent of whiteness or greyness on the back. , 12 subspecies are recognised as valid taxa: A number of extinct relatives are known dating back at least 7 million years to the Late Miocene. These include Mellivora benfieldi from South Africa and Italy, Promellivora from Pakistan, and Howellictis from Chad. More distant relatives include Eomellivora, which evolved into several different species in both the Old and New Worlds, and the giant, long-legged Ekorus from Kenya. == Etymology ==

The genus name, Mellivora, is derived from Latin, meaning "honey eater", while the species name, capensis, pertains to the location where the type specimen was discovered: the Cape of Good Hope. ==Description==

The honey badger has a fairly long body but is distinctly thick-set and broad across the back. Its skin is remarkably loose, and allows the animal to turn and twist freely within it. The head is small and flat, with a short muzzle. The eyes are small, and the ears are little more than ridges on the skin, The honey badger is the largest terrestrial mustelid in Africa. Adults measure in shoulder height and in body length, with the tail adding another . Females are smaller than males. However, the average weight of three wild females from Iraq was reported as , about the typical weight of male wolverines or male European badgers in late autumn, indicating that they can attain much larger than typical sizes in favourable conditions. However, an adult female and two males in India were relatively small weighing and a median of . The honey badger has two pairs of mammae. It has an eversible anal pouch, a trait shared with hyenas and mongooses. The smell of the pouch is reportedly "suffocating" and may assist in calming bees when raiding beehives. The skull greatly resembles a larger version of that of a marbled polecat. The dental formula is: . The teeth often display signs of irregular development, with some teeth being exceptionally small, set at unusual angles or absent altogether. Honey badgers of the subspecies signata have a second lower molar on the left side of their jaws, but not the right. Although it feeds predominantly on soft foods, the honey badger's cheek teeth are often extensively worn. The canine teeth are exceptionally short for carnivores. The papillae of the tongue are sharp and pointed, which assists in processing tough foods. Honey badgers of the cottoni subspecies are unique in being completely black. ==Distribution and habitat==

The honey badger ranges through most of sub-Saharan Africa, from the Western Cape, South Africa, to southern Morocco and southwestern Algeria and outside Africa through Arabia, Iran, and Western Asia to Turkmenistan and the Indian Peninsula. It is known to range from sea level to as much as in the Moroccan High Atlas and in Ethiopia's Bale Mountains. These habitats can have an annual rainfall of as low as 100 mm in dry, arid regions to as high as 2,000 mm. ==Behaviour and ecology==

, South Africa The honey badger is mostly solitary but has also been seen in Africa hunting in pairs. It also uses old burrows of aardvark, warthog and termite mounds. In the Serengeti National Park, the activity levels of the honey badger was largely dependent on the time of year; in the dry season, it was mostly nocturnal, in contrast to the wet season, when it remained active throughout the day, reaching its zenith during crepuscular hours. In the Sariska Tiger Reserve in India, a study concluded that the honey badger was highly nocturnal; a study in the Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary yielded similar results. The honey badger is a skilled digger, able to dig tunnels into hard ground in 10 minutes. These burrows usually have only one entry, are usually only long with a nesting chamber that is not lined with any bedding. Adults control a patch of land known as a home range. Females establish a large home range that changes in size depending foremost on the abundance of food, and particularly when rearing young, while males' considerably larger home ranges depend on the availability of females in heat; this often leads to males' home ranges intersecting with that of about 13 females. The honey badger is famous for its strength, ferocity and toughness. It is known to savagely and fearlessly attack almost any other species when escape is impossible, reportedly even repelling much larger predators such as lion and hyena. In some instances, honey badgers deter large predators by unleashing a pungent yellow liquid produced by the anal glands. They accompany this with a threat display characterized by rattling noises, goosebumps, a straight, upward-facing tail, and general charging behaviour while also holding their heads up high. and Southern African rock python. The voice of the honey badger is a hoarse "khrya-ya-ya-ya" sound. When mating, males emit loud grunting sounds. Cubs vocalise through plaintive whines, Diet The honey badger has the least specialised diet of the weasel family next to the wolverine. It also feeds on insects, frogs, tortoises, turtles, lizards, rodents, snakes, birds and eggs. It also eats berries, roots and bulbs. It feeds on a wide range of animals and seems to subsist primarily on small vertebrates. Honey badgers studied in Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park preyed largely on geckos and skinks (47.9% of prey species), gerbils and mice (39.7% of prey). The bulk of its prey comprised species weighing more than such as cobras, young African rock python and South African springhare. The study also found that males and females caught similar-sized prey, despite their disparity in size. In the Kalahari, honey badgers were also observed to attack domestic sheep and goats, as well as kill and eat black mambas. A honey badger was suspected to have broken up the shells of tent tortoises in the Nama Karoo. In India, honey badgers are said to dig up buried human corpses. Despite popular belief, there is no evidence that honeyguides guide the honey badger. In a 2022 study in the southern Kalahari Desert, it was found that black-backed jackals fed in such a way that took food away from the honey badger, leading to a 5% decline in total food intake above ground. The honey badgers were preyed upon by larger predators such as spotted hyenas, leopards, and lions. Reproduction The honey badger does not have a specific mating period, and instead breeds at any time of the year. Females have an estimated oestrus period of about 14 days. Their gestation period is thought to last 50–70 days, Parasites that infect honey badgers include flatworms such as Strongyloides akbari, Uncinaria stenocephala, Artyfechinostomum sufrartyfex, Trichostrongylidae, Physaloptera, Ancylostoma, and Rictulariidae. There have also been cases of parasitic worm infections. Blood-sucking parasites known to infect this species include Haemaphysalis indica, Amblyomma javanensis and Rhipicephalus microplus. ==Status==

As of 2016, the honey badger is listed as least concern on the IUCN Red List due to its extensive range. In Kenya, the honey badger is a major reservoir of rabies and is suspected to be a significant contributor to the sylvatic cycle of the disease. == Conservation==

The honey badger is protected in numerous range countries, such as Algeria, Morocco, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan. It also occurs in protected areas in many countries, such as the Kruger National Park in South Africa, and the Ustyurt Nature Reserve in Kazakhstan. In Ghana and Botswana, the populations are included under CITES Appendix III. The Indian population is protected under Schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. In captivity Honey badgers are kept in captivity as pets and to be exhibited in zoos. They are said to be easy to tame, with some reportedly ceasing the utilization of their anal glands. Despite this, when in contact with a handler, honey badgers often release anal gland secretions. ==In culture==

The native people of Somalia believe that a man becomes infertile after being bitten by a honey badger, hence the wide berth they give to the species. A British army spokesperson said that the badgers were "native to the region but rare in Iraq" and "are usually only dangerous to humans if provoked". In popular media, the honey badger has garnered a reputation for being an intelligent, fearless animal with nicknames or titles given to it include "pound for pound, the most powerful creature in Africa", "most fearless animal in the world", "bravest animal in the world" and "meanest animal in the world". These names stem from the honey badger's ability to repel larger predators, which has been highlighted in such a way as to give the public audience the impression of invincibility. The noises made when performing the threat display are cited as another component of the honey badger's invincible image. Due to its ability of using tools, the honey badger is considered an intelligent creature and according to a BBC documentary titled Honey Badgers: Masters of Mayhem, captive individuals may work with others as a cohesive unit to help unlock gates or enclosures with the use of tools. The species' supposed fearless attitude is highlighted in the popular comic book ''Randall's Guide to Nastyass Animals: Honey Badger Don't Care''. Reflecting this reputation, the honey badger has also been adopted as a symbol of Bitcoin, whose advocates liken the currency’s uncontrollability to the animal’s renowned toughness. ==References==