---
title: "What the sources say about the Honey Badger | AnimalTracks.wiki"
description: "60 claims from the Honey Badger profile, each beside the words of the source that backs it."
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canonical: "https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/honey-badger/sources/"
---

# What the sources say about the Honey Badger (*Mellivora capensis*)

> 60 claims from the Honey Badger profile, each beside the words of the source that backs it. A "..." marks a cut in a quote and [brackets] an insertion.

Profile: [Honey Badger](https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/honey-badger/)

## Drabeck, Dean & Jansa (2015). Why the honey badger don't care: Convergent evolution of venom-targeted nicotinic acetylcholine receptors in mammals that survive venomous snake bites. Toxicon.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.toxicon.2015.03.007

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| a muscle receptor that impedes snake toxin binding | These convergent amino acid changes impede toxin binding by introducing a positively charged amino acid in place of an uncharged aromatic residue. (note: tagline; 'muscular nicotinic cholinergic receptor (nAChR), targeted by snake α-neurotoxins') |
| Venom resistance from a muscle receptor that impedes snake toxin binding | Honey badgers (Mellivora capensis) prey upon and survive bites from venomous snakes (Family: Elapidae), but the molecular basis of their venom resistance is unknown. (note: Final pass: 'venom resistance' is the paper's own term; 'toxin binding' from 'These convergent amino acid changes impede toxin binding'. 'neurotoxin' was dropped from the frontmatter because battleEngine.ts reads it as the badger being venomous.) |
| Honey badgers, hedgehogs and pigs each independently changed the toxin-binding site of a muscle receptor that snake alpha-neurotoxins target. | honey badgers, hedgehogs, and pigs have independently acquired functionally equivalent amino acid replacements in the toxin-binding site of this receptor |
| Each change puts a positively charged amino acid where an uncharged one used to sit, which impedes toxin binding. | These convergent amino acid changes impede toxin binding by introducing a positively charged amino acid in place of an uncharged aromatic residue. |
| Honey badgers prey on venomous snakes and survive their bites. | Honey badgers (Mellivora capensis) prey upon and survive bites from venomous snakes (Family: Elapidae) (note: FAQ 1) |
| Snake alpha-neurotoxins target a muscle receptor, and in honey badgers that receptor has an amino acid swap at the toxin-binding site, which impedes binding. | honey badgers, hedgehogs, and pigs have independently acquired functionally equivalent amino acid replacements in the toxin-binding site of this receptor. These convergent amino acid changes impede toxin binding (note: FAQ 1) |
| Hedgehogs and pigs evolved equivalent swaps on their own. | honey badgers, hedgehogs, and pigs have independently acquired functionally equivalent amino acid replacements (note: FAQ 1) |
| Venom-resistant mongooses use a different change at the same sites. | In venom-resistant mongooses, different replacements at these same sites are glycosylated (note: FAQ 1) |
| Three animals, one trick | honey badgers, hedgehogs, and pigs have independently acquired functionally equivalent amino acid replacements (note: lead-in) |
| a muscle receptor | The muscular nicotinic cholinergic receptor (nAChR), targeted by snake (note: receptor type, used in tagline, superpower, blockquote and FAQ 1) |
| tags: immune-tank | These convergent amino acid changes impede toxin binding by introducing a positively charged amino acid in place of an uncharged aromatic residue. (note: tag kept as a reinforced cellular defence, task #969) |

## Mellivora capensis (ratel). Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan.

https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Mellivora_capensis/

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| cobras among its prey | Cape cobras (
Naja nivea
) (note: tagline; ADW lists Cape cobras among prey eaten in Kgalagadi) |
| Small rodents, snakes, eggs, birds, bee larvae and scorpions | frequently dining on eggs, small rodents, snakes, birds, and frogs. (note: stats.diet; bee larvae and scorpions claims below) |
| is a stocky member of the mustelid family | This species is characterized by having a stocky body |
| It has a body 60 to 70 cm long and weighs 8 to 12 kg | with a body length of 60 to 70 cm and a mass ranging from 8 to 12 kg |
| It lives across most of sub-Saharan Africa | spanning most of sub-Saharan Africa as well as the Arabian peninsula |
| Wild honey badgers tend to live 7 to 8 years | Honey badgers in the wild tend to live between 7 and 8 years |
| Lions, leopards and spotted hyenas are among its known predators | Known Predators
lions (
Panthera leo
)
leopards (
Panthera pardus
)
spotted hyaenas (
Crocuta crocuta
) |
| but lions and leopards tend to kill only older and weaker ones | Lions
and
leopards
tend to kill only older and weaker honey badgers |
| A threatened badger typically raises its hair, holds its tail up, makes a rattling sound and frequently charges. | This is typically accompanied by a threat display where the honey badger's hair stands on end, the tail is held erect, a loud "rattling" sound
is made. Honey badgers also frequently charge attackers. |
| Honey badgers eat eggs, rodents, birds, frogs and scorpions, and they raid beehives for the larvae and honey inside. | frequently dining on eggs, small rodents, snakes, birds, and frogs. (note: scorpions and bee larvae from the ADW prey list and hive sentence; see next entries) |
| frogs and scorpions | yellow scorpions (
Opistophthalmus wahlbergii
) |
| they raid beehives for the larvae and honey inside | Bee hives are preyed upon because the honey badger also likes to devour the bee larvae and honey
inside. |
| In the Kgalagadi Transfrontier National Park, in southern Africa, they have been seen eating Cape cobras and puff adders. | Honey badgers in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier National Park have been observed consuming
the following prey species: |
| Cape cobras and puff adders | puff adders (
Bitis arientans
), Cape cobras (
Naja nivea
) |
| Yes. Their skin may give them some protection from bees, but they are not immune. | While their skin may offer them some protection from bees, they are
certainly not immune to the effects of bee stings (note: FAQ 2) |
| Some badgers caught in apiary traps have died from numerous stings. | honey badgers have occasionally been caught
in apiary traps and have subsequently died as a result of numerous bee stings (note: FAQ 2) |
| Hives are still a target, because the badgers like to devour the bee larvae and honey inside. | Bee hives are preyed upon because the honey badger also likes to devour the bee larvae and honey
inside. (note: FAQ 2) |
| In the wild they tend to live 7 to 8 years, because of predation and the risk of injury. | Honey badgers in the wild tend to live between 7 and 8 years due to predation and risk of injury (note: FAQ 4; 'because of' paraphrases 'due to') |
| Badgers bred in captivity live significantly longer. | honey badgers bred in captivity live significantly longer (note: FAQ 4) |
| A Skin Hard to Grasp | the thick, loose skin makes
younger badgers difficult to grasp (note: heading) |
| Snake Eaters | puff adders (
Bitis arientans
), Cape cobras (
Naja nivea
) (note: heading) |
| the group that holds weasels and otters | Mustelidae
badgers, otters, weasels, and relatives |
| in southern Africa | the Kgalagadi Transfrontier National Park in southern Africa |
| dangerLevel: High | Honey badgers can be quite fierce if startled by a human, thus making them a danger. (note: stats.dangerLevel, task #993: Chaotic is a reputation; read as a capability this is High ('Dangerous when cornered or provoked')) |

## Mellivora Capensis. Mammalian Species, 2003.

https://doi.org/10.1644/0.721.1

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| A roughly 9 kg mustelid | Mellivora capensis (Fig. 1) is a large mustelid (ca. 9 kg) (note: tagline) |
| loose skin | Skin is tough, thick, and loose, preventing a predator from firmly grasping it and allowing honey badgers to turn in their skin and bite the attacker (note: tagline) |
| Most of sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, and eastward to India and Nepal | Honey badgers occur throughout the Middle East as far north as Turkmenistan and southwest Kazakhstan, then eastward to India and Nepal (note: stats.habitat; 'most' is ADW's 'spanning most of sub-Saharan Africa' (body claim)) |
| Venom resistance from a muscle receptor that impedes snake toxin binding, and thick, loose skin that stops a predator getting a firm grip and lets it turn and bite | Skin is tough, thick, and loose, preventing a predator from firmly grasping it and allowing honey badgers to turn in their skin and bite the attacker (note: stats.superpower; 'lets' paraphrases 'allowing'; receptor half in the tagline and 'a muscle receptor' entries) |
| throughout the Middle East, and eastward to India and Nepal | Honey badgers occur throughout the Middle East as far north as Turkmenistan and southwest Kazakhstan, then eastward to India and Nepal |
| in captivity, one lived 26 years and 5 months | In captivity, the oldest honey badger lived 26 years 5 months |
| A honey badger's skin is thick and loose. It prevents a predator from getting a firm grasp, and the badger can turn around inside its own skin and bite back. | Skin is tough, thick, and loose, preventing a predator from firmly grasping it and allowing honey badgers to turn in their skin and bite the attacker |
| Near the throat the skin is 6 mm thick. | the throat, skin is 6 mm thick (Kingdon 1977) (note: page header 'Near 4 MAMMALIAN SPECIES 721' splits the sentence after 'Near') |
| weightKg: 9 | Mellivora capensis (Fig. 1) is a large mustelid (ca. 9 kg) (note: battleStats.weightKg, task #969) |
| tags: desert | They tolerate habitats with a rainfall of >2,000 mm annually as well as arid areas with <100 mm annual rainfall (note: tag kept, task #969) |
| tough, thick, loose skin keeps a predator from getting a firm grasp and lets it turn in its skin and bite the attacker | Skin is tough, thick, and loose, preventing a predator from firmly grasping it and allowing honey badgers to turn in their skin and bite the attacker (note: vibe.reason, task #969) |

## Honey badger. South African National Biodiversity Institute, Animal of the Week.

https://www.sanbi.org/animal-of-the-week/honey-badger/

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| The 2002 edition of the Guinness Book of World Records named it the "most fearless animal in the world." | was named the ‘most fearless animal in the world’ in the 2002 edition of the Guinness Book of World Records |
| Officially Fearless | was named the ‘most fearless animal in the world’ in the 2002 edition of the Guinness Book of World Records (note: heading) |

## The Honey Badger - F.A.Q. honeybadger.com.

https://www.honeybadger.com/faq.html

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| one badger bitten on the cheek by a puff adder reacted to the bite and the site swelled up substantially, but it survived and was active again 5 hours later | A badger bitten on the cheek by a pufadder, reacted to the bit and the site swelled up substantially but the badger survived and was active again 5 hours later. |
| there are a number of records of honey badgers killed by lions and leopards, and on one occasion by an African rock python. | there are a number of records of them being killed by lion, leopard and on one occasion an African rock python (note: FAQ 3) |
| They are often considered to have no enemies apart from people | they are often considered to have no enemies, apart from man (note: FAQ 3) |

## It's time to figure out just how smart honey badgers really are. Earth Touch News Network.

https://www.earthtouchnews.com/natural-world/animal-behaviour/its-time-to-figure-out-just-how-smart-honey-badgers-really-are/

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| A captive badger named Stoffel was filmed at a South African rehabilitation centre using rakes and logs to climb his enclosure walls. | Stoffel the honey badger escaping his enclosure at the Moholoholo Rehabilitation Centre in South Africa (note: rakes/logs: 'the way Stoffel manipulates the rakes or logs he uses to escape'; 'using various objects as ladders to climb over walls') |
| rakes and logs | the way Stoffel manipulates the rakes or logs he uses to escape |
| Cambridge primatologist William McGrew called it astonishing | "It is astonishing," says William McGrew , Emeritus Professor of Evolutionary Primatology at the University of Cambridge |
| that either honey badgers have been under-estimated, Stoffel is a one-off genius, or it is a hoax | Either honey badgers have been under-estimated, or this is a one-off genius honey badger, or it is a hoax. |
| science writer Justin Gregg wrote that there are no studies of honey badger cognition in the scientific literature | There are simply no studies of honey badger cognition anywhere in the scientific literature. |
| tool use in honey badgers appears only in documentaries and campfire stories | Examples of tool use in honey badgers appear only in the form of documentaries  or campfire stories. |
| In 2014, | By
Justin Gregg
May 08 2014 |
| Clever, or Just Famous? | Their reputation for being a smart species is based solely on anecdote, not scientific study. (note: heading) |

## Do Linh San et al. (2016). Mellivora capensis. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016: e.T41629A45210107.

https://doi.org/10.2305/iucn.uk.2016-1.rlts.t41629a45210107.en

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| Least Concern | IUCN Red List category: Least Concern (LC). (note: stats.conservationStatus) |