6 min readDec 21, 2024 10:08 AM IST
First published on: Dec 21, 2024 at 10:08 AM IST
I’ve been asked umpteen times – usually by children – what my favourite animal is. I never gave the matter much thought and so probably must have noncommittally mumbled ‘tiger’ or ‘leopard’ or ‘elephant’ or maybe ‘snow leopard’. But then I suddenly realised that there was one small animal that took the pants off these much larger beasts and has got to be number one. Sadly, I haven’t seen it in the wild – but what I’ve seen of it on television documentaries was more than enough to seal the deal. It’s the ratel or the honey badger.
Ratels are members of the weasel clan but minus all the slithery, sly notoriety of typical weasels. Set very low to the ground they are handsome dudes (and dudettes – sexes are alike though the dudes are larger) about a foot long, clad in handsome black-and-white striped silvery-grey cloaks, with charcoal underparts. Small but powerfully snouted they are armed with a mouthful of sharp teeth, their ears are small and lie flat against their heads. They are thick-skinned and wear their shaggy cloaks loosely over their bodies – all of which have as we shall see survival value. They are common in Africa and found in the Middle-East and in India – though here, sadly they have been hugely neglected. We know very little of how many of them live in India – they have been reported sporadically from all parts of the country in scrub jungles and grasslands, and are considered to be pretty rare.
What drew me to them was their never-say-die, street-fighter attitude. These guys are eager to take on all comers. On one show, I watched in shock and awe, as one of the clan defiantly took on a pride of increasingly bemused and nonplussed lions who obviously thought they were on to a quick tasty snack. No chance. Yarring and snarling, the feisty little animal lunged and twisted and leapt at the kings of the jungle making them leap back in alarm and perplexity. What the heck was this pipsqueak up to – and watch it! It’ll have that shaving-brush at the tip of your tail off in a second and with it all your pride! Of course, the lions did lunge and paw at the furious little animal – but it wears its coat so loosely over its body that it is easy for it to twist itself free and in a trice launch a savage counter assault. In most cases, the lions beat a hasty – and as dignified – retreat as they could : no point tackling this clearly demented, apoplectic lunatic!
What’s worse was that it would often pursue them as if to say, ‘abbe kaha bhagta hain aake lado – main batata hoon (Where are you running away to, come and fight if you have the balls, I’ll show you)’! While being confronted by hunting dogs honey badgers reputedly scream like bear cubs! Dogs find it almost impossible to get a grip on these animals – what with their very tough and loose skins.
Interestingly, it is being posited that tiny cheetah cubs, also wear silver-grey fur cloaks on their backs like the ratels, so they would be left alone by prospective predators!
While not shredding the dignity of inquisitive lions and leopards, ratels go hunting for smaller animals with the same degree of ferocity – and are vital in keeping the number of such animals – rodents, lizards and the like under control, raking them out of their dens and keeping the ecosystem in balance. They eat pretty much everything and care a hoot about bees and their stings as they raid their hives for honey and bee larvae. Their powerful claws can take apart termite mounds with ease. Sheep, pythons, black mambas – they are all on the menu. In India they are thought to dig up and presumably consume human corpses! However, it doesn’t appear to be true that honeyguides lead honey badgers to beehives and the animal kindly leaves a bit of the hive for its benefactor! They are believed to love chicken and are considered a serious risk in chicken coops, where they kill far more than is necessary. They balance this carnivorous diet with berries, roots and bulbs.
Usually a loner (who would like to be besties with such an incandescently tempered animal?), lunging and plunging through the grasslands, the honey badger joins up with a partner during the breeding season, doubling the danger to one and all! Not much is known about its family life – except that two cubs may be born. Their lifespan in the wild is unknown though captive animals have lived up to 24 years.
What’s amazing about this little animal is its sheer fighting, never-say-die spirit – ever ready to take on all comers, no matter what their size or weight or numbers. You don’t have to be built like a gorilla to be able to intimidate others, something all those (and even nations) who have been bullied ought to think about. Just go for the jugular and keep on going until your enemy flees or is ripped apart!
Sadly, very little research has been done on these animals in India – though they probably do have their collection of open-mouthed fans. While considered of ‘least concern’ by the IUCN, they are rare in India and accorded the highest level of protection (Schedule I) by the Wildlife (Protection) Act. Hunting, poaching and habitat destruction, remain a threat to these rarely encountered spitfires and while one ought not to get too close to one, observing a ratel on a hunt, or dealing with the mighty tiger would be an experience of a lifetime!
Members of the weasel clan, ratels are small but powerfully snouted, armed with a mouthful of sharp teeth (Wikimedia Commons) 
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