Another day, another video of a honey badger acting downright fearless. Filmed near &Beyond Kirkman’s Kamp in South Africa’s Greater Kruger Park recently, the latest showcase of badger backbone features one of these two-toned omnivores fending off an attack from a leopard and her two cubs.
After a significant scuffle with the big cats, the honey badger casually sauntered off, seemingly unharmed in the altercation. Field guide Dan Fiser and business consultant Paola Murguia were there to capture the incident on camera.
Fiser and Murguia came across a female leopard and her two cubs sitting on a bank of the Sand River and decided to follow the trio as they moved upstream. After the cubs disappeared into the dense reeds lining the river a commotion broke out and mama leopard quickly sprung into action. When all three of the cats emerged they were wrestling with a honey badger.
“Our initial reaction was that they had caught something, but we didn’t know what,” Fiser and Murguia explained to Latest Sightings. “We were shocked when we realized it was a honey badger because they are well known for being fearless and tough animals.”
The leopards took turns trying to dispatch their feisty prey, but the badger was up for the task, repeatedly charging at the cats with intimidating snarls. Honey badgers are renowned for their aggressive nature and stout-hearted confidence – characteristics that have been showcased many times before in videos of the plucky animals taking on pythons or stealing dessert from campers. The leopards eventually abandoned their hunt and the badger trotted off as though nothing had happened.
“We are utterly privileged to witness sightings like these in nature,” Fiser and Murguia added. “This was a once-in-a-lifetime sighting.”