蜜獾
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 蜜獾
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| Mellivora capensis (Schreber, 1776) |
蜜獾（Mellivora capensis）係一種鼬科動物，再細分成「蜜獾亞科」同「蜜獾屬」。非洲嘅大部分地區、亞洲嘅伊朗東部、伊拉克南部、巴基斯坦同印度西部都有蜜獾分佈。咁多年嚟，佢哋一路喼著健力士世界紀錄嘅「最大膽動物」紀錄[2]。出名咁膽大，搞到好少動物園願意收養佢哋。
解剖學
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蜜獾體型較獾（Meles meles）細。全長60至102厘米，尾長16至30厘米。公比較重，達9至14公斤之間；乸比較輕，由5至10公斤不等。佢哋無外耳殼，頭頂連背脊由白色毛包住。
行為
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蜜獾係一種幾惡嘅動物，食性廣泛，嗅覺極靈敏，食物包括蜂蜜（中文名嘅來源），白蟻、蠍子、箭豬、野兔、龜、大到一公尺咁上下嘅鱷魚等。主要生活喺草原至撒哈拉沙漠地帶。
2002年國家地理頻道拍咗部紀錄片，個名叫做「蛇嘅殺手：喀拉哈里沙漠嘅蜜獾」。呢部片入便，一隻叫「奇離文（Kleinman）」嘅蜜獾同蛇掙食。佢響蛇個口入便搶走食物，就響嘶嘶聲叫緊嘅蛇面前好隨便噉慢慢食咗落去。跟著佢又去捉嗰條蛇嚟食。條叫做「鼓腹噝蝰（Bitis arietans）」嘅毒蛇係佢最鍾意食嘅毒蛇之一。佢咬死咗條蛇，開始食。同蛇搏鬥嗰陣，佢亦都畀條蛇咬嚫。奇離文響條死蛇側邊暈到...兩粒鐘之後，佢又醒返，爬起身，等麻痹過咗之後，繼續食嗰條蛇，跟著再去捕食[3]。呢挺兇殘大膽嘅天性令到蜜獾獲得超強敵手嘅形象。
蜜獾仲識掘啲小型囓齒動物嘅洞穴，㧸佢哋出嚟，捉住打下牙祭。蜜獾嘅前爪好大，掘洞穴相當有效。啲洞穴入便有囓齒動物嘅話，一般嚟講佢哋都會成功。不過都蜜獾都仲係有麻煩嘢，就係，第啲動物驚佢，知到佢呢招犀利，所以啲肉食鳥同豺就乾脆經常響蜜獾掘嗰陣時喺佢側邊及住，搵時機偷蜜獾㧸出洞穴驚到四位亂咁踵嘅囓齒動物。
捕食
[編輯]成年蜜獾比較兇猛，皮膚又厚而鬆弛，令佢哋好難被捉住或者窒息，所以好少成為獅子同豹嘅獵物。老弱嘅蜜獾較容易俾獅子、豹同埋蟒蛇捕獵，不過老嘅蜜獾都會極力保衞自己。例如喺Animal Planet一個節目[未記出處或冇根據]，一隻差唔多冇牙、而且盲咗一隻眼嘅老蜜獾乸，都花咗一隻豹成個鐘頭先至獵殺到。
繁殖
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Once a female honey badger comes into heat, courtship is very energetic. After days of deliberation, a male is accepted as a mating partner, and the honey badgers will remain in a burrow for 3-4 days of mating. The female badger will give birth to a cub 2 months later. A honey badger cub is almost a complete replica of its mother, and as it grows, it learns to be aggressive to any other creature (e.g., curious jackals) as it travels across the desert. It relies on its mother for food and shelter as they regularly move and she digs new burrows. Cubs can handicap a honey badger's hunting; therefore, they are usually left back at the den, where they can be vulnerable. It has been documented that other honey badgers will drag cubs from their dens and eat them. Due in part to cannibalistic threats such as this, only half of honey badger cubs will live to adulthood.
As the cub grows up, its ability to navigate the tough terrain of the desert improves by learning from its mother to not only walk, but to also climb trees and to chase snakes. The honey badger is not born with these vital skills for survival, they must be learned.
Once a mother comes back into heat and is ready to rear another cub, the other cub is old enough and skilled enough to survive alone, so it makes its own way in the world, leaving its mother behind. This happens a few months after the cub has been born.
保護
[編輯]Regardless of its fierce temperament, the honey badger's low birth rate makes it extremely vulnerable to hunting and habitat destruction. They are often scorned and hunted by farmers who own commercial beehives and believe this animal to be a threat to their livelihoods. Many honey badgers are killed by farmers or stung to death by bees after becoming snared in a hive trap. [4]
Urban legend
[編輯]The Killer badger is a creature found in a number of modern urban myths from Basra (Al Basrah) province, Iraq, where it was said to have attacked both people and livestock. It has since been identified as the honey badger, inflated by rumor. [5][6][7][8]
引用
[編輯]- ↑ Begg, K., Begg, C. & Abramov, A. (2008). Mellivora capensis. In: IUCN 2008. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 21 March 2009. Database entry includes a brief justification of why this species is of least concern
- ↑ Most fearless animal on Animal of the Day
- ↑ "More info on the documentary Snake killers: Honey badgers of the Kalahari". 原著喺2010年1月31號歸檔. 喺2009年3月23號搵到.
- ↑ Piper, Ross (2007), Extraordinary Animals: An Encyclopedia of Curious and Unusual Animals, Greenwood Press.
- ↑ Weaver, Matthew (2007-07-12), "Basra badger rumour mill", The Guardian (2007-07-16)
- ↑ Philp, Catherine (2007-07-12), "Bombs, guns, gangs - now Basra falls prey to the monster badger 互聯網檔案館嘅歸檔，歸檔日期2011年9月17號，.", The Times (2007-07-16)
- ↑ Baker, Graeme (2007-07-13), "British troops blamed for badger plague 互聯網檔案館嘅歸檔，歸檔日期2008年1月13號，." The Telegraph (2007-07-16)
- ↑ BBC News (2007-07-12) "British blamed for Basra badgers", BBC (2007-07-16)
Gallery
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睇埋
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