Honey Badger vs Hyena: A Battle of Wits and Strength

Honey Badgers and Hyenas are highly dangerous wild animals. These animals are notorious for various ferocious and cold-blooded acts. In this article, we are going to compare them based on their various features and in the end, we will let you know who will win the fight if they encounter each other anywhere in the wilderness.

Honey badger’s aggressive and challenging nature

Honey badgers are small but ruthlessly aggressive animals. These animals are also known as the most fearless animals in the world. Fearlessness is due to their challenging nature as they can even fight off very big animals like leopards, lions, tigers, and hyenas. They also like to steal the kill of other animals like leopards, tigers, and hyenas.

Sometimes, honey badgers also steal these things right in front of these big animals. These big animals don’t like to mess with honey badgers due to badger’s ridiculously durable nature. It takes a lot of effort to kill honey badgers due to their thick and highly flexible body. Big animals like hyenas don’t consider it worthy enough to take this kind of risk.

Honey badgers have very resilient skin which could easily withstand bites, quills, bee stings, and bullets as well. Honey badgers have also killed many large animals by targeting their groin areas like chewing off their testicles or straight ripping off their body by the sudden attack.

Smartness and intelligence: Honey Badger vs Hyena

Hyenas are very ferocious and aggressive animals. They are very well known for their devastating bone-crushing jaws. Still, they find it extremely difficult to kill a small mustelid family member. Honey badgers are extraordinarily smart and more intelligent mammals than hyenas. Hyena is also known for their great senses but these are not good enough as compared to honey badger. Usually, hyenas become injured while targeting honey badgers.

In this regard, a Stoffel honey badger is very much famous for its extraordinary cognitive intelligence. It has been reported several times that these animals have escaped from their enclosure by unlatching the locks. Most of the time, they do it for fun and come back after some time.

Also read: Groundhog vs Badger

Honey badger vs hyena: who would be the ultimate winner?

If we answer this question in simple words, then the hyena would be the ultimate winner of this contest. But it also depends upon the circumstances in which they fight with each other. Honey badgers are also not easily hunted down. If honey badger has the capability of scaring off big animals like lions, tigers, and big cats, then it could also be very much challenging for Hyena. If Honey badger could not kill the hyena, then they might severely injure them and force them to retreat.

On the other hand, if a hyena is very much hungry and in search of food, it would attack very fiercely. In this case, the hyena would not let the honey badger go easily. It would kill honey badger and eat it on the spot. Honey badger also has no chance against hyenas if they attack a group. Usually, hyenas work in groups and could easily tear down very large and dangerous animals let alone honey badgers.

Moreover, if a honey badger by chance attacks the testicles of hyenas then there is no chance of the hyena for a win against the honey badger. Honey badger would rip it apart. In short, we can say if hyenas win 9 times in this contest then honey badgers could also win 1 time.

Could a honey badger beat a spotted hyena?

No, honey badger could not beat or kill a spotted hyena. Honey badger injured it enough that hyenas have to leave it alone. This injury might produce some infection in the hyenas and latterly kill the hyena. Hyena is a very big animal with powerful jaws and a single badger could kill it. However, hyenas might have to back off from a very small angry animal like a honey badger if they adopt a threatening posture.

Would a hyena mess with a honey badger?

Normally, a hyena would not mess with honey badger. It would only happen if the hyena is very much hungry and there is no other thing available as a source of food. It also depends upon under what situation the hyena finds honey badger. Hyenas usually attack honey badgers if hyenas are in a group or a whole cackle and they have found a single honey badger on their way. In this case, hyenas would immediately attack the honey badger and kill it.

What are the predators of honey badgers?

Honey badger doesn’t have any regular predators. There is nothing much you can get by killing honey badger. However, animals might get injured while hunting honey badgers. Moreover, honey badgers are also very aggressive, nasty, and tough and they could easily withstand arrowheads, spears, and even bullets. But they got killed by very dangerous animals like hyenas, lions, pythons, etc. Sometimes, they are also hunted down by humans for various reasons but mainly for commercial reasons.

Frequently asked questions

Conclusion

Badgers and hyenas are very strong, dangerous, and vicious animals. They attack each other whenever they encounter each other in the wilderness. Usually, it is not worth enough to attack honey badgers because they have very tough and flexible skin and you could also not get much meal after killing honey badgers. That’s why hyenas don’t attack honey badgers under normal circumstances unless they are fully hungry and don’t have anything else to eat or if they are in a whole group and find honey badgers alone in the wilderness.