All about honey badgers
Fourways - Badger-friendly honey can be purchased at Woolworths. Get involved.
The Mellivora Capensis, commonly known as the honey badger or ratel in Afrikaans has recently become an endangered species. Derek van der Merwe from the Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT) said, “Prevention is better than cure.”
On 12 April Trappers at Fourways Crossing held an insightful evening talk about honey badgers and their conservation.
“Trappers and the Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT) established a partnership many years ago based on an alignment of core values. As an outdoor lifestyle brand, Trappers respects nature and supports EWT’s conservation efforts,” said Vanessa Marx, Trappers’ marketing manager.
Van der Merwe said although these remarkable animals are tough, honey badgers are officially in trouble.
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According to Van der Merwe, there is less and less space for these tenacious animals in South Africa, yet, we still find them in suburban areas, such as the Walter Sisulu Botanical Gardens in Roodepoort.
“Landscape is being irreversibly transformed due to human population growth and the exploitation of natural resources. Honey badgers once roamed throughout South Africa and now there are only a few small pockets of land which can sustain honey badgers,” said Van der Merwe.
Honey badgers feed on larva. Even though their name has led most people to believe that they are after the honey in beehives, they are in fact after the larva. Because of this, many beekeepers have decided to get rid of the honey badgers, in order to keep their hives safe. But EWT has raised awareness and has shown beekeepers proper ways to keep the badgers out of their bee hives, without endangering the honey badgers.
According to Van der Merwe, the community can help through purchasing badger-friendly honey in supermarkets. She emphasised that people should not feed honey badgers in national parks because ultimately the honey badgers get shot as a result of becoming aggressive towards tourists.
Badger-friendly honey can be purchased at Woolworths.
To get a better idea of how amazing these animals are, you can watch:
In the case of a sighting contact Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT): Derekv@ewt.org.za and add GPS coordinates if possible.
Have you spotted a honey badger in your area? Please share on Fourways Review Facebook Page.
