A young female honey badger (Mellivora capensis) has arrived at Prague Zoo in the Czech Republic, where she is settling into the Afrika zblízka pavilion and its outdoor habitat.
Born at Olomouc Zoo in 2025, the female was selected to help renew the population of honey badgers maintained at Prague Zoo.
The institution has kept the species since 2001 and has considerable experience in its management and reproduction.
In 2004, Prague Zoo recorded what it describes as the first naturally bred honey badger offspring in Europe.
The new arrival therefore represents an important step towards continuing its breeding programme.
A resourceful female already unscrewing fittings
Honey badgers are known for their exploratory behaviour and ability to overcome complex obstacles.
The new female at Prague Zoo has already demonstrated these characteristics during her first weeks at the institution.
“After a month in quarantine, she proved to be very skilful. Not only did she learn to enter her transport crate, but she even managed to close it herself,” explained Pavel Brandl, Curator of Mammals at Prague Zoo.
Her abilities became even more apparent after she moved into her new habitat.
According to Brandl, the female managed to unscrew fittings that keepers had not even realised were there.
Her behaviour also prompted particular attention to the preparation of the outdoor enclosure.
Before she entered the area, the zoo installed several additional rows of electric fencing, including a new power supply.
Despite these precautions, staff closely monitored her first explorations, as she immediately began investigating the enclosure boundaries.
Renewing Prague Zoo’s honey badger population
Until recently, Prague Zoo housed two honey badgers, both of advanced age.
The older female died in 2025, prompting the institution to begin searching for new animals.
The choice eventually fell on a young female born at Olomouc Zoo, partly because of her genetic background.
“Last year, several European zoos successfully bred honey badgers, which is not particularly common,” explained Pavel Brandl.
“We eventually selected a female born in Olomouc who is completely unrelated to the other European breeding lines, many of which include descendants of our original Prague animals acquired around twenty-five years ago.”
The absence of close genetic relationships with established European lines is an important consideration for future breeding management.
If everything goes according to plan, a male from Safari Park Dvůr Králové is expected to arrive at Prague Zoo in 2027.
The prospective partner is a grandson of the first honey badgers kept at Prague Zoo.
Honey badgers: small carnivores with powerful defences
The honey badger (Mellivora capensis), also known as the ratel, is a carnivorous mammal belonging to the mustelid family.
The species occurs across parts of Africa and Asia, inhabiting a range of environments including deserts, semi-deserts and savannas.
Despite its relatively small size, the honey badger has a robust body and several adaptations that provide effective protection.
Its skin is thick, tough and unusually loose, allowing the animal to twist and move when grasped by a predator.
It also possesses strong teeth, powerful claws and anal glands capable of producing a pungent secretion used in defence.
Honey badgers are known for their willingness to confront threats and defend themselves against much larger animals.
Their reputation for fearlessness reflects a combination of physical adaptations, strength and defensive behaviour.
A highly varied diet
Honey badgers are opportunistic carnivores capable of exploiting a wide variety of food sources.
Their diet includes insect larvae, eggs, small vertebrates, soft fruits and carrion.
They are also skilled diggers, using their powerful claws to search for food.
Among the resources they exploit are beehives, which they can open to access their contents.
This dietary flexibility contributes to their ability to inhabit very different environments, from arid regions to savannas.
A new chapter for honey badgers at Prague Zoo
The arrival of the young female marks a new phase in Prague Zoo’s history with honey badgers.
After twenty-five years of experience with the species, the institution is working to renew its population while taking genetic diversity into account.
For now, the female continues to explore and settle into the Afrika zblízka pavilion and its outdoor habitat.
The planned arrival of a male in 2027 could allow Prague Zoo to continue the breeding work that began following the arrival of its first honey badgers in 2001.
