Our Honey Badger has a daughter! Honey badgers are notoriously aggressive and incredibly clever and “Mrs Stoffel”(our mummy honey badger) gave birth on the 16th of January this year. We had to have minimal contact with mum and daughter so she could nurture her baby in peace and quiet. Our pair are currently one of only two pairs in the UK and as a species they have only been bred once before at Howletts Wildlife Park over 20 years ago. A single youngster is looked after by just mum for sometimes over 15 months!
The recent relocation of our male out of the exhibit (dad would not get on with the baby) meant that mum has become more open to taking her baby out and about in their outside enclosure. She is now encouraging her daughter to investigate and not stay in the “sett”. It also means you’ll get an opportunity to see mum and daughter now. But just remember, they do prefer to come out at night! The best times to see them here at the Exmoor Zoo are just after breakfast 10am and supper time after 3pm. If you have issues trying to find them, the zookeepers are always on hand to help you try and locate them.
The keepers are over the moon with her birth and often remarked she resembled a Pokémon when first born! Like any badger though, they are very strong and in the wild live in African and parts of Asia. They also have a few special features that help them survive. For instance, when they dig up and clawi open honey hives, they have long hard claws and thickened skin which prevents them from being stung. Their pugnacious nature can often scare off other animals such as lions away from their kills. Their extra tough skin around their neck is very loose. This means that if they are ever caught and swung about, their neck will not be pierced by fangs! A formidable, pugnacious & resilient species!
Our baby girl has just started this month trying different types of meat as they are true scavengers eating any insects or food they find on the ground. She has been introduced to mice, quail, bits of chicken, even steak, locusts and of course some of her meals have been covered in a honey drizzle!
The Zoo Director stated: ‘We’ve kept her birth secret because often parents if they feel pressured by potential threats may kill their offspring. So, we’ve very much taken a back seat and minimised our keeper interactions with mum in their enclosure. We wanted them to feel safe and protected. Now we are confident enough to tell everyone about our precious baby honey badger’.
Our senior carnivore keeper Tina Rowtcliff said: ‘We’d really love to give her a name, but we think letting the public come up with a name would be amazing. I suggested ‘Zuma’, as the Disney’s lion guard had its own honey badger”. The zoo will run a competition on our social media platforms to find a name for her so keep a look out or just send in your suggestion to us!’
If you are wondering the alternative name for this badger which many people know it as is “ratel”. Short in Afrikaans (from the settling Dutch in South Africa) for rattle as this is the noise they make as a warning before fighting….