By Christopher Justin Tan Ong
THE HONEY BADGER A.K.A. RATEL
INTRODUCTION
How their names came about…..
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Honey badgers - love honey and look somewhat like a
Eurasian badger.
Ratels - Afrikaans word for “rattle” and make a rattle-like
noise when growling.
CLASSIFICATION
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Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Family: Mustelidae
Subfamily: Mellivorinae
Genus: Mellivora
Species: capensis
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Closely related to weasels.
Have their own subfamily.
Not closely related to
badgers.
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
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White-gray top with black
under parts
White mantle darkens
through age
Muscular, sharp long
claws, and bushy tail
Strong immune system
Loose tough skin
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
MALE
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Average male length: 39 inches
Average male shoulder height:
15.5 inches
Average male weight: 20-31 lbs
FEMALE
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Average female length: 31
inches
Average female shoulder
height: 14 inches
Average female weight;10-22lbs
MALE AND FEMALE DIFFERENCES
DISTRIBUTION AND HABITAT
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They can live in
almost all conditions.
BIG FOOD
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Large reptiles
Large mammals
SMALL FOOD
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Small animals such as
bugs and birds
Eats fruits, roots, and
HONEY!
Ratels have sharp strong
claws because 80% of its food
is from digging.
DIET
BAD RELATIONSHIPS
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Attack humans when
frightened
Raid barns
Dig under foundations to eat
at livestock
Humans kill these creatures
with traps, guns, and poison.
GOOD RELATIONSHIPS
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Protected in some countries
Reserved by some people
HUMAN RELATIONSHIPS
CONSERVATION STATUS
IUCN least concern
 Decreasing
 Main threat is humans
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Female with cub
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Female and Male
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Ratels mate year round.
Male home ranges may
have thirteen female home
ranges in it and may mate
with all of them.
Babies born in a burrow,
blind and naked.
Mom has 1-4 babies.
REPRODUCTIVE CHARACTERISTICS
PARENTAL CARE
Male will protect female in estrus but will leave
when the baby comes out
 Mother will change dens frequently
 8 month male ratel is as big as the mom.
 14 month ratel is let go.
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LONGEVITY AND MORTALITY
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Lives 26.4 years in the wild
Lives 26.5 years in captivity
SEASONAL PATTERNS
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Nocturnal in the summer
Diurnal in the winter.
Usually nocturnal if affected
by human activity.
LONGEVITY, MORTALITY, SEASONAL PATTERNS
ASSOCIATIONS
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Animals follow ratels
because 40% of the food it
digs goes above ground.
Honey guide leads ratel to
honey. Ratel eats honey
and the bird eats larvae.
DEFENSES
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Farts when hurt.
Rips of testicles then
goes for everything else.
Sometimes attack
humans in the same
way.
ASSOCIATIONS AND DEFENSES
FUN EXUBERATING FACTS
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1972, a honey badger killed a lion.
Top speed 15 mph
most fearless animal in Guinness Book of World
Records.
Skin can stop machetes, some arrows, and some
bullets.
Skull can ‘lock’. Sometimes the ratel won’t let go until
the enemy is dead or itself is dead.
Females’ territories sometimes overlap. They pee on
the ground to signify their presence.
CONCLUSION
 They
can eat almost anything.
 They have genius defense mechanisms.
 They’re skin can stop a machete.
 They can live in all climates.
 They’re fearless and carefree.
Works Cited
Firestone, Matthew D., Mary Fitzpatrick, Nana Luckham, Kate Thomas, Luke Hunter, Susan Rhind, and David
Andrew. "Honey Badger." Watching Wildlife: Southern Africa ; South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe,
Malawi, Zambia. Footscray, Vic.: Lonely Planet, 2009. 213. Print.
Hearst, Michael, and Jelmer Noordeman. "Honey Badger." Unusual Creatures: A Mostly Accurate Account of
Some of the Earth's Strangest Animals. San Francisco: Chronicle, 2012. 54-55. Print.
"The Honey Badger - Mellivora Capensis." The Honey Badger - Mellivora Capensis. Cool Web Disignz, 2012.
Web. 22 Feb. 2013. <http://www.honeybadger.com/>.
"Honey Badger (Mellivora Capensis)." Honey Badger Videos, Photos and Facts. Wildscreen, n.d. Web. 22 Feb.
2013. <http://www.arkive.org/honey-badger/mellivora-capensis/>.
"Honey Badgers @ National Geographic Magazine." Honey Badgers @ National Geographic Magazine. National
Geographic Society, 2005. Web. 22 Feb. 2013.
<http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0409/feature6/index.html>.
"Mellivora Capensis." Animal Diversity Web. Hiller, 1999. Web. 22 Feb. 2013.
<http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Mellivora_capensis//accounts/Mellivora_capensis/>.
"Mellivora Capensis." IUCN Redlist. International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources., n.d.
Web. 22 Feb. 2013. <http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/41629/0>.
N.d.
YouTube. Dir. Navimaru. Perf. Navimaru. YouTube. YouTube, 24 Mar. 2009. Web. 22 Feb. 2013.
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPKlryXwmXk>.
YouTube. Dir. Vlogbrothers. Perf. Vlogbrothers. YouTube. YouTube, 30 Nov. 2011. Web. 22 Feb. 2013.
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9Jr9JKpsX8>.
THANK YOU TRULY FOR LISTENING
TO MY PRESENTATION.