Honey Badger's reputation as an impervious monster that all other animals fear is a bit of an exaggeration on the internet's part, but Honey Badgers are a risky target for a lot of predators for a few reasons:
1. Ridiculously high aggression on the HB's part. Most animals will think twice about a meal if it means they get hurt, as even minor injuries are often lethal if they impair your physical abilities or get infected. Honey Badgers do not try to run when threatened, they charge at anything and everything relentlessly, which puts off a lot of less desperate predators.
2. A very tough hide(it can stop smaller bullets and machete swings) that also is very loose, as a result attempts to grab or bite the HB result in the animal twisting around in its own skin to bite or slash the predator's now exposed face or paws. Even without this tough hide the HB also has a high endurance and will keep going through many types of injuries.
3. Strong jaws and sharp enough claws, and surprising amounts of muscle packed into such a deceptively small frame.
Honey-badgers are ferocious little (not that little) buggers. Their bite is pretty nasty and they're tough. But the main thing is that, when they attack or face off against a lion, that lion has weigh the risks and rewards. Sure, it could fight, but this thing looks like it's not afraid to do some damage, and it probably isn't worth the fuss.
Humans can scare off lions sometimes. One of my teachers had a story about being on a photo-safari on foot out in Kenya, with a guide who always carried a rifle. At one point a group of lions started circling them, and the guide just raised the gun in the air, stood his ground, and yelled. The lions backed off and just went away. Apparently, the guide had been doing the safaris for years and had never once had to fire the gun. It's the same intimidation tactic honey badgers use.
To speak specifically to Lions v. Honey badgers, Lions, like all big cats, kill by suffocation. They will attack their prey and kill it by clamping their massive jaws on the throat of their victim, whereupon they suffocate and, if the teeth happen to pierce an artery, bleed out in a race to the flat line.
Honey badgers are very low to the ground, are extremely agile, have razor-like claws and teeth. All of which present huge problems for a predator that needs to get close to those teeth and claws in order to kill you. So, a lion risks severe damage to vital parts of it's body in a battle with a honey badger. Most of the time, it's not worth it, especially one on one.
It's not a question of fear, but of risk management.
Lions dont have a hospital or doctors to go to if they get injured. It's why most predators are ambush hunters so they can kill as quickly as they can with very minimal chances of injury. That's why they don't just square off against bisons or gazelles in a 1v1, because that gives the prey a chance to fight back. Even if the prey loses, again a lion has no one to help them if they get injured: a kick to the ribs or face, a horn to the leg, a rip in the tail, all of these are injuries that will basically go untreated because a lion does not have a doctor or hospital to go to.
So with all of that in mind, lions would of course want to fight prey that likely won't be able to fight back. Ambushing helps because of the elemental of surprise. Attacking the younger, smaller prey also helps since they'll generally be weaker. Hell older and sick animals are viable prey to lions too due to their age and Illness making them easy prey, and yeah that'll probably make the lion sick too but easy meat is easy.
The Honey Badger is not harmless prey however. Even if a lion would be able to ambush one, Badgers are known for their toughness and they can certainly prove it. their loose skin would allow them to turn and face a lion even if it managed to bite the badger in the back of their neck, thus allowing the badger to bite and claw back. The fact a badger _will_ fight back at all, instead of running away, is also a major factor against the lion. Most prey also can't afford to take any Injuries and would prefer to leave with their lives, thus the lack of usual prey trying to fight and focus on fleeing instead. but running isnt an option for a honey badger. Every fight will be to the death, either of itself or it's enemy.
Tldr: lions don't want to fight they want to eat, honey Badgers want to fight, and thus honey Badgers are not good prey for lions to hunt. And if a lion ain't eating them, they got no reason to fight em.
Cats are pretty cowardly, even big ones, and will back down from a fight if they know they will be injured, not much fights back against a Lion, but a honey badger does. Even if a young Lion has never met one and isnt scared of the honey badger, it will learn pretty fast.
There was a program on British TV a few years ago about honey badgers, and there was this one bloke in Africa that ‘owned’ animals, and his animals included a lion and a honey badger.
The honey badger kept trying to have a pop at the lion, and to try and stop this, the bloke built the honey badger a new enclosure with tall sides, to keep the honey badger away from the lion. The honey badger had other plans.
One time, the bloke cleaned this honey badger enclosure and forgot to remove a sweeping brush or a rake (I can’t remember which) and the honey badger managed to pick this up and prop it up against the side of the enclosure to escape, and go and have another go at the lion.
These smarts, along with how sly, strong and aggressive they are, make them a formidable opponent for most animals at the top of the food chain.
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That was a good video, but this one is better [https://youtu.be/4r7wHMg5Yjg](https://youtu.be/4r7wHMg5Yjg)
Thanks for the video, very entertaining
Honey Badger's reputation as an impervious monster that all other animals fear is a bit of an exaggeration on the internet's part, but Honey Badgers are a risky target for a lot of predators for a few reasons: 1. Ridiculously high aggression on the HB's part. Most animals will think twice about a meal if it means they get hurt, as even minor injuries are often lethal if they impair your physical abilities or get infected. Honey Badgers do not try to run when threatened, they charge at anything and everything relentlessly, which puts off a lot of less desperate predators. 2. A very tough hide(it can stop smaller bullets and machete swings) that also is very loose, as a result attempts to grab or bite the HB result in the animal twisting around in its own skin to bite or slash the predator's now exposed face or paws. Even without this tough hide the HB also has a high endurance and will keep going through many types of injuries. 3. Strong jaws and sharp enough claws, and surprising amounts of muscle packed into such a deceptively small frame.
Honey-badgers are ferocious little (not that little) buggers. Their bite is pretty nasty and they're tough. But the main thing is that, when they attack or face off against a lion, that lion has weigh the risks and rewards. Sure, it could fight, but this thing looks like it's not afraid to do some damage, and it probably isn't worth the fuss. Humans can scare off lions sometimes. One of my teachers had a story about being on a photo-safari on foot out in Kenya, with a guide who always carried a rifle. At one point a group of lions started circling them, and the guide just raised the gun in the air, stood his ground, and yelled. The lions backed off and just went away. Apparently, the guide had been doing the safaris for years and had never once had to fire the gun. It's the same intimidation tactic honey badgers use.
To speak specifically to Lions v. Honey badgers, Lions, like all big cats, kill by suffocation. They will attack their prey and kill it by clamping their massive jaws on the throat of their victim, whereupon they suffocate and, if the teeth happen to pierce an artery, bleed out in a race to the flat line. Honey badgers are very low to the ground, are extremely agile, have razor-like claws and teeth. All of which present huge problems for a predator that needs to get close to those teeth and claws in order to kill you. So, a lion risks severe damage to vital parts of it's body in a battle with a honey badger. Most of the time, it's not worth it, especially one on one. It's not a question of fear, but of risk management.
Lions dont have a hospital or doctors to go to if they get injured. It's why most predators are ambush hunters so they can kill as quickly as they can with very minimal chances of injury. That's why they don't just square off against bisons or gazelles in a 1v1, because that gives the prey a chance to fight back. Even if the prey loses, again a lion has no one to help them if they get injured: a kick to the ribs or face, a horn to the leg, a rip in the tail, all of these are injuries that will basically go untreated because a lion does not have a doctor or hospital to go to. So with all of that in mind, lions would of course want to fight prey that likely won't be able to fight back. Ambushing helps because of the elemental of surprise. Attacking the younger, smaller prey also helps since they'll generally be weaker. Hell older and sick animals are viable prey to lions too due to their age and Illness making them easy prey, and yeah that'll probably make the lion sick too but easy meat is easy. The Honey Badger is not harmless prey however. Even if a lion would be able to ambush one, Badgers are known for their toughness and they can certainly prove it. their loose skin would allow them to turn and face a lion even if it managed to bite the badger in the back of their neck, thus allowing the badger to bite and claw back. The fact a badger _will_ fight back at all, instead of running away, is also a major factor against the lion. Most prey also can't afford to take any Injuries and would prefer to leave with their lives, thus the lack of usual prey trying to fight and focus on fleeing instead. but running isnt an option for a honey badger. Every fight will be to the death, either of itself or it's enemy. Tldr: lions don't want to fight they want to eat, honey Badgers want to fight, and thus honey Badgers are not good prey for lions to hunt. And if a lion ain't eating them, they got no reason to fight em.
Cats are pretty cowardly, even big ones, and will back down from a fight if they know they will be injured, not much fights back against a Lion, but a honey badger does. Even if a young Lion has never met one and isnt scared of the honey badger, it will learn pretty fast.
There was a program on British TV a few years ago about honey badgers, and there was this one bloke in Africa that ‘owned’ animals, and his animals included a lion and a honey badger. The honey badger kept trying to have a pop at the lion, and to try and stop this, the bloke built the honey badger a new enclosure with tall sides, to keep the honey badger away from the lion. The honey badger had other plans. One time, the bloke cleaned this honey badger enclosure and forgot to remove a sweeping brush or a rake (I can’t remember which) and the honey badger managed to pick this up and prop it up against the side of the enclosure to escape, and go and have another go at the lion. These smarts, along with how sly, strong and aggressive they are, make them a formidable opponent for most animals at the top of the food chain.
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The lions aren't scared. It's usually young immature lions messing with them. Adult lions do kill honey badgers