Page 12 - World of Animals - Deadly Predators

Honey badger confrontation, but if needs
Honey badgers don’t seek

be they’ll take on much
larger animals
Famed for its hard-as-nails approach to life, other
predators could learn a thing or two from this critter

Having garnered internet fame for a hilariously stings and is also perfect for wriggling out of tricky
overdubbed National Geographic video, many of us situations when the badger itself has become prey.
are now aware that honey badgers just don’t care. Then there’s the incredible evolutionary adaptation
And while they sort of do care really, there’s also that allows the honey badger to withstand snake
some truth in the fact that this little member of the venom on a molecular level. This means that
weasel family has one of the feistiest attitudes in the there’s plenty of nutritious snake meat to go
animal kingdom and hunts like an absolute maniac. around, so honey badgers are free to feast
Native to Africa, India and the Middle East, honey encumbered by nothing
badgers are pretty unfussy when it comes to diet. but a few
They’ll track down their own meals and also happily pesky
scavenge from others. Using an acute sense of fangs.
smell, long, strong claws and sharp teeth, these
badgers seek out anything from small insects, lizards,
scorpions, birds and snakes to larger prey like small
foxes, antelope or wild cats.
This crazy critter also isn’t scared to take on prey
that would usually be off-menu for most. A simple
example of this is where it got its name: the honey
badger loves honey and loves to raid a bee hive in
order to feast on the sweet gooey treat, as well
as the nutritious larvae within. But for a honey
badger, a hive full of bee stings is a small trade-
off for a tasty meal. Indeed, a puff adder bite
to the face is also just a minor inconvenience.
This bite would kill a human almost instantly,
but only causes a small coma for the badger
and nothing to worry about long-term.
This amazing ability to deal with stings
and bites that would usually spell the
absolute demise for other species is down to
two factors. Honey badgers have super-thick
skin that’s loose and stretchy – this helps with bee

Chimpanzee Chimps will work
together to hunt and
then share the rewards

These omnivores are not very
picky eaters

As many primate species like gorillas
and orangutans are vegetarian, it
can be quite surprising to learn that
chimpanzees are predators. These great
apes are omnivorous, and will just as
happily tuck into fruit and leaves as well
as bark, eggs, insects and small animals
such as monkeys, bush pigs and rodents.
Primatologist Jane Goodall was one of
the first to witness chimps hunting for
meat in the wild. Although meat only
makes up a small percentage of their
diet, it’s now known that small groups
will hunt together, working as a team
in order to catch prey. Some groups of
chimps are such effective predators that
in one area of Uganda they have hunted
their favourite prey – the red colobus
monkey – almost to local extinction.

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