We all know that honey badgers think they are the boss of the bush… Well, this mother honey badger surely is! She had no second thoughts about charging in on a hungry leopard to save her baby.
This incredible and unusual interaction was filmed by Sahara Wulfsohn, 28-year-old guide at Kirkmans Kamp in the Sabi Sands Game Reserve in the Greater Kruger National Park.
Sahara tells LatestSightings.com about the sighting: “Sabi Sands is an incredible reserve with excellent sightings of leopard.”
“On our drive, we had seen a few elephants but I was really looking forward to showing my group of 5 guests a leopard. When Joel, one of the other rangers called in that he had found a female leopard not far from the lodge, I quickly responded to the sighting.”
“At the time, I joked with my guests that we needn’t have driven so far from the lodge. We could have simply sat on the tea deck to view animals from there”
“When we arrived at the scene, Joel pointed out the leopard. It was moving slowly through a tamboti thicket towards us. At this point, I was very excited and grateful at having been given this excellent opportunity to show my guests a real-life leopard.”
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“I didn’t notice initially, but there was a young honey badger a few meters away from us, and about 10 meters away from the leopard. When I realized what was about to happen I could hardly believe my eyes!”
“The leopard stalked closer and closer till its nose was practically touching the rear end of the honey badger. The badger turned around, and I’m sure got the surprise of its life! The leopard launched its attack in a fury of claw and tooth with the small badger fighting bravely and valiantly. However, it was not really a match for the leopard. I was filming at this point and then noticed the mother badger running at quite a speed towards her baby and rapidly displaced the startled leopard.”
“The sighting ended with the mother badger dragging her large cub by the scruff of the neck into a convenient and nearby hole in a termite mound. The young badger had probably broken its front right leg. Thankfully it will almost certainly survive thanks to the strength and protection of its mother.”
The honey badger rescued her baby from the leopard!
“A leopard alone, even sleeping, is a rare and wonderful sighting, but this was beyond belief. When I got back to the lodge, the other guides were all amazed at the sighting. The video and pictures which I paraded around the ranger’s room (Some jealousy I’m sure!)”
“For someone else who finds themselves at a sighting like this, it’s a good idea to start filming early. Get a nice and stable rest/mounting arrangement for the camera.”
—WATCH—
“It was easily the sighting of a lifetime! I cannot imagine having another opportunity like this, as both honey badgers and leopards are very rare to see!”
“Just to see one or the other would have been a great sighting but this was incredible. Honey badgers do not normally form part of the diet of leopards, as they are renowned for their fierce temperament and savage fighting ability. Badgers are even known to displace other larger predators like lions. The reason this leopard attempted to take on the honey badger was due to her young age (2 years) and lack of experience. The honey badger taught the leopard a lesson she wouldn’t soon forget!”
