These hyenas bit off more than they could chew when they attempted to harass a honey badger but immediately regret taking on the feisty creature! This amazing interaction played out on the road S127 near Satara in the Kruger National Park.
Honey badgers are well known for their “no-nonsense” attitudes and this particular badger lived up to its reputation. Spotted hyenas are a common sight in the Kruger National Park, whereas honey badgers are harder to find. These animals are rarely seen together making this an incredible sighting to have witnessed. Most animals don’t mess with honey badgers because they are aggressive and tenacious – despite their size!
65-Year-old retiree Neil Rosewall was lucky enough to view this amazing interaction and shared the photographs and story with LatestSightings.com:
“We made our way onto the S127 to see wild dogs had been around for a few days. After spending time with them, we proceeded toward the Timbavati picnic site. About a kilometer from the wild dogs we spotted a honey badger foraging near the road. While we were observing it two hyenas emerged from the bush and went straight up to the badger and started to harass it.”
“The honey badger was confident all the while and seemed in control of the situation all the time.”
“It tried to continue foraging, but they continued approaching and it looked as though they wanted to grab hold of it. The badger lost its temper and started snarling and growling at the hyenas. They seemed surprised and backed off a little. The badger then went on a full-out attack and chased both hyenas around. Getting in a bite here and there.”
“The hyenas learned their lesson due to the badger’s aggression and wandered off back into the bush, and the badger continued in the opposite direction. It is always good to drive slowly if you want to see the smaller and more interesting things in the Park.”
“Always have your camera at the ready, sightings appear quickly and disappear even faster. This was very rare for us, as in over 60 years of visiting Kruger we had never seen such interaction.”