The honey badger is distributed throughout most of Africa and western and south Asian areas of Baluchistan (eastern Iran), southern Iraq, Pakistan and Rajasthan (western India). It is the only species in the genus Mellivora and the subfamily Mellivorinae. The underparts, sides of its body and face are usually dark brown or black in color, while the top of its head, neck and back are light gray or white. This coloration makes the honey badger particularly conspicuous in daylight. Some honey badgers, especially in the Ituri Forest of the Democratic Republic Of Congo, are wholly black. The badgers have been named the most fearless animal in the Guinness Book of World Records. The badger is among the fiercest hunters in its range, with prey including earthworms, insects, scorpions, porcupines, hares, ground squirrels, meerkats, mongooses, and larger prey such as tortoises, crocodiles up to one metre in size, young gazelle and snakes (including pythons and venomous species). They also take lizards, small rodents, birds and fruit. The badger's ferocious reputation reflects its tendency to attack animals larger than itself; it is seldom preyed upon. In a 2002 National Geographic documentary titled "Snake killers: Honey badgers of the Kalahari", a badger named Kleinman was documented stealing a meal out of a puff adder's mouth and casually eating the meal in front of the hissing snake. After the meal, Kleinman began to hunt the puff adder, the species being one of the badger's preferred venomous snakes. He managed to kill the snake and began eating it, but then collapsed on the dead snake as he had been bitten during the struggle. After about two hours he surprisingly awoke. Once his paralysis had subsided, the badger continued with his meal and then resumed his journey. Honey badgers will dig into burrows of small rodents and flush them out for a small meal. The badger's large front claws make it adept at digging, and it is usually successful at capturing rodents. Birds of prey and jackals, aware of the honey badger's successful hunting strategies, tend to follow badgers and attempt to steal their kills. Adult honey badgers rarely serve as prey for pythons, wolves, bears, lions, tigers and leopards; their ferocity and thick, loose skin makes it difficult to grip or suffocate them. It is able to twist inside its own skin and bite whatever is holding it. Last year in South Africa, there were accounts of a mother lion and her lone cub with a honey badger. The lioness was carrying a honey badger in its mouth. The honey badger turned around in its tough loose skin and severely bit the lioness. She dropped the honey badger, which trotted away unharmed. However the lioness was badly injured. No one knows if she survived the honey badger's bite or not. [READ THE REST OF THIS ARTICLE]
wikisnaps.com is not affiliated with or endorsed by wikipedia. wikipedia and the wikipedia globe are registered trademarks of wikipedia.org. article content reproduced in compliance with wikepedia's copyright policy and gnu free documentation license