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General appearance

Honey badgers are similar in size and build to the European badger, Meles meles. They are heavily built, and have a broad head with small eyes, no external ears, and a relatively blunt snout.

The legs are short, but the forelegs are well-developed, and the fore feet are equipped with strong claws which can be up to 40mm long.

Picture © Tim Davis / Photo Researchers, Inc. Used with the permission of the Northern Ohio Ferret Association. See the Photo File.

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Measurements

The head-and-body length ranges from 60 to 102 cm, plus a tail of 16 to 30 cm. The animal's height at the shoulder can be from 23 to 30 cm. Adult body weights vary from 5.5 to 14 kg. There is a considerable difference between the sizes of males and females, with males sometimes weighing up to twice as much as females. The weight range for females is 5.5 to 10 kg, while males range from 9 to 14 kg.

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Colouration

The body colouration is a striking combination of silvery grey or whitish upperparts (from the top of the head across the back to the base of the tail), and black or dark brown sides and underparts. The grey upperparts (or mantle) are often whiter on the crown and around the edges, such that there is a white stripe separating the mantle from the black body (see photo). The mantle is often darker in older animals.

Totally black individuals have been reported from the forests of west Africa and the Ituri Forest of northern Zaire. An albino honey badger was found in South Africa in 2000.

Picture used with the kind permission of Wildwatch (www.wildwatch.com).

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References

b001, b003-01, b004, w178-01, w195.

Additional picture credits

The honey badger photo used at the head of this Article is © Tim Davis / Photo Researchers, Inc. Used with the permission of the Northern Ohio Ferret Association. Credits for the photos used in the right-hand margin of this page for site navigation can be found on the Credits page.

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