Ecology and etology of the honey badger (Mellivora capensis)

U ovom radu raspravljalo se o kararakteristikama, prehrani i ponašanju medojednog jazavca (Mellivora capensis), životinje iz porodice kuna. Medojedni jazavac je oportunistički mesojed koji se hrani najviše malim sisavcima, ali jede i beskralježnjake, zmije te manje gmazove. Vodu dobiva iz posebne vrste dinja. Izražen je spolni dimorfizam gdje su mužjaci za trećinu veći od ženke. Teritorijalan je,nema određene sezone parenja te mužjaci tijekom cijele godine aktivno traže ženku. Medojedni jazavci ne formiraju trajne parove i mužjak nema udjela u brizi za mladunca. Ženke rijetko rađaju više od jednog mladog, koje ima dug period ovisnosti o majci i izuzetno je ranjivo dok se ne osamostali. Medojedni jazavci međusobno komuniciraju uporabom mirisa i zvukova te obilježavaju svoj teritorij i putove kojima se kreću prilikom traženja hrane. Između mužjaka postoji hijerarhija dominacije ustanovljenja putem mirisa koje ostavljaju. Uz velike mesojede poput lavova i leoparda, najveći prirodni neprijatelj im je čovjek. Da bi se spriječilo polagano nestajanje vrste, nužno je pomno proučiti sve populacije i skupiti podatke kako bi se došlo do novih saznanja na tom području.This paper discusses the characteristics, behaviour and feeding habits of the honey badger (Mellivora capensis), an animal from mustelid family. Honey badger is an opportunistic carnivore who preys mostly on small mammals, but it also feeds on invertebrates, snakes and smaller reptiles. It gets moisture from a special kind of mellons. Honey badger is sexually dimorphic, with males one third larger than females. The creature is territorial and has no mating season so the males spend most of the year actively looking for females. They do not form lasting couples and males take no part in caring for the offspring. Females rarely give birth to more than one cub, wich has a very long period of dependency and is extremely vunerable until it gets independent. Honey badgers communicate with each other by scent marking and vocalization. They mark their territory, latrines and foraging paths. There is a hierarchy dominance between males established with the help of scents. Other than big carnivores as lion and leopard, their biggest natural enemy is man. To stop this species from further declining in numbers it is necessary to study all of populations and collect more data to advance our knowledge on honey badger

The Effects of Tactile and Visual Deterrents on Honey Badger Predation of Beehives

As human and elephant populations grow in Kenya so does human-elephant conflict. One of the most substantial contributors to this conflict, the crop-raiding behavior of elephants (Loxodonta africana), is alleviated through the use of Elephants and Bee Project\u27s beehive fences. A threat to these beehives are the honey badgers (Mellivora capensis) who try to obtain honey, causing damage to the hive and the hive to abscond. The objective of this study was to improve the effectiveness of these beehive fences through identifying and testing novel honey badger deterrent methods. On-farm experiments in Taita Taveta County, Kenya were conducted to determine if visual and tactile deterrents could reduce the frequency and severity of honey badger hive predation of the hives compared to a previously used method. Prior to the start of the study, 77.1% percent of hives absconded within a week following a honey badger attack. After the addition of the novel deterrents (motion activated light deterrent, cone baffle and hive cage deterrent), only 11.1% percent of the hives attacked by honey badgers absconded, suggesting the deterrents effectively reduced the amount of successful honey badger attacks. No relationship was found between deterrent type and amount of damage, nor for the duration and deterrent type. All deterrent methods are effectively preventing honey badgers from raiding hives with variance in the success rates and economic feasibility. This project complemented the Elephants and Bee Project\u27s ongoing research by providing much-needed insight into the role honey badger deterrents could play in preventing damage to the elephant deterring beehive fences. This research suggests management recommendations through these deterrents to not only reduce honey badger hive raiding but also to improve human-honey badger coexistence as well as human-elephant coexistence

Feeding Specialization of Honey Badgers in the Sahara Desert: A Trial of Life in a Hard Environment

The honey badger (Mellivora capensis) is a medium-sized carnivore distributed throughout Africa to the Arabian Peninsula, Iran, Turkmenistan, and India. However, available information on its ecology is very scarce. We studied its feeding ecology in the remote north-western Sahara Desert, based on the contents of 125 fecal samples collected during large scale surveys. Samples were confirmed to belong to honey badgers by camera trapping and genetic analyses. Barely 18 prey species were detected. The diet primarily consisted of spiny-tailed lizards Uromastyx nigriventris and U. dispar (72% of volume in scats). Secondary prey items were arthropods (14%), small mammals (8%), other reptiles (4%), and eggs (0.8%). Some small geographic and temporal differences were related to the consumption of beetle larvae and rodents as alternative prey. Camera trapping and distance sampling surveys showed that diel activities did not overlap between honey badgers and spiny-tailed lizards, suggesting that badgers primarily dig lizards out of their burrows when inactive. Consumption of spiny lizards by other sympatric meso-carnivores was < 6.1% of occurrence (223 analyzed scats); the honey badger behaved as a trophic specialist in the Sahara, probably thanks to exclusive anatomical adaptations for digging. We discuss the role of this circumstance minimizing the exploitative competition, which could allow the survival of this large mustelid in this low productive and highly competitive environment.This research was partially funded by Fundación Barcelona Zoo grant number PRIC 2017

Multigene phylogeny of the Mustelidae: Resolving relationships, tempo and biogeographic history of a mammalian adaptive radiation

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Adaptive radiation, the evolution of ecological and phenotypic diversity from a common ancestor, is a central concept in evolutionary biology and characterizes the evolutionary histories of many groups of organisms. One such group is the Mustelidae, the most species-rich family within the mammalian order Carnivora, encompassing 59 species classified into 22 genera. Extant mustelids display extensive ecomorphological diversity, with different lineages having evolved into an array of adaptive zones, from fossorial badgers to semi-aquatic otters. Mustelids are also widely distributed, with multiple genera found on different continents. As with other groups that have undergone adaptive radiation, resolving the phylogenetic history of mustelids presents a number of challenges because ecomorphological convergence may potentially confound morphologically based phylogenetic inferences, and because adaptive radiations often include one or more periods of rapid cladogenesis that require a large amount of data to resolve.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We constructed a nearly complete generic-level phylogeny of the Mustelidae using a data matrix comprising 22 gene segments (~12,000 base pairs) analyzed with maximum parsimony, maximum likelihood and Bayesian inference methods. We show that mustelids are consistently resolved with high nodal support into four major clades and three monotypic lineages. Using Bayesian dating techniques, we provide evidence that mustelids underwent two bursts of diversification that coincide with major paleoenvironmental and biotic changes that occurred during the Neogene and correspond with similar bursts of cladogenesis in other vertebrate groups. Biogeographical analyses indicate that most of the extant diversity of mustelids originated in Eurasia and mustelids have colonized Africa, North America and South America on multiple occasions.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Combined with information from the fossil record, our phylogenetic and dating analyses suggest that mustelid diversification may have been spurred by a combination of faunal turnover events and diversification at lower trophic levels, ultimately caused by climatically driven environmental changes. Our biogeographic analyses show Eurasia as the center of origin of mustelid diversity and that mustelids in Africa, North America and South America have been assembled over time largely via dispersal, which has important implications for understanding the ecology of mustelid communities.</p

Mustelid and viverrid remains from the Pleistocene site of Cooper’s D, Gauteng, South Africa

Fossil mustelids and viverrids are rare in the African Pleistocene fossil record. The careful examination of sieved sediments from the well-dated Cooper’s D locality in Gauteng has revealed six new mustelid and viverrid specimens. These represent three uncommon genera – two mustelids, Propoecilogale bolti and Mellivora capensis, and a viverrid, Civettictis cf. civetta. We describe and figure these six specimens here. Cooper’sD is only the fourth African locality at which P. bolti has been identified, and it is the first of the Witwatersrand sites to contain remains of the African civet.Palaeontological Scientific Trust NRF/DST Centre of Excellence in Palaeosciences South African National Research Foundation University of the Witwatersrand Postgraduate Merit Award Liverpool John Moores University Early Career Researcher Awar