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The honey badger, also known as the ratel, is a mammal widely distributed across Africa, Southwest Asia, and the Indian subcontinent. It is the sole living representative of the Mellivorinae subfamily of the Mustelidae
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00:12It's the toughest vehicle in the South African army, 20 tons of thick-skinned, all-terrain fighting machine.
00:26And it's named after a badger.
00:31Meet the rattle, better known as the honey badger.
00:41The honey badger is a fighter.
00:44He goes, and he goes, and he goes.
00:51If I had to use one word, it would be tenacious.
00:57Heavy claws, strong jaws, big teeth.
01:03For such a small animal, they really do pack a punch.
01:13There's nothing, nothing that he's scared of.
01:18According to the Guinness Book of Records, it is the world's most fearless animal.
01:24They do have big attitudes.
01:28But does the honey badger really deserve its ferocious tag?
01:34Or is the hype bigger than its bite?
01:49In South Africa's Limpopo province, zoologist Lo de Vries is on the trail of a pint-sized animal with a
01:57massive reputation.
02:03I've been fascinated by these guys from a very young age, from eight to nine years old.
02:09In Afrikaans, we say,
02:11, which means as tough as a honey badger.
02:14And that's what I love.
02:15I love that attitude.
02:19Lo is keen to get beyond the legend and find out what the honey badger is really like.
02:33For a start, it isn't really a badger at all.
02:38Built for strength and stamina rather than speed, it's more like a souped-up weasel.
02:49Though reasonably common, honey badgers are mostly nocturnal and rarely seen.
02:57They're still relatively unknown to science.
03:04Even their special ability to sleep off snake bites and wake up unharmed remains a mystery.
03:13Up to a quarter of their diet is made up of venomous snakes.
03:21And we don't know why the young stay with their mothers for so long.
03:25Nearly twice as long as true badgers.
03:31But it's tales of the honey badger's sheer audacity that have become the stuff of legend.
03:38There's all these myths about them.
03:40How many of those are true?
03:45Following a tip-off, Lo and his field assistant Becky are heading to a safari lodge,
03:50where these normally elusive animals are reported to be turning up every night.
04:11Tucked away on the outskirts of Kruger National Park, the lodge could be the perfect place for Lo to set
04:17up a new research project.
04:23Honey badgers are scavengers as well as hunters.
04:29At the safari lodge, they've learned that there's a regular supply of leftovers at the rubbish dump.
04:39According to maintenance manager Alfred, the dump has become a magnet, not just for badgers, but for other animals too.
04:48So they go underneath the legs and bite them from behind.
04:48Yesterday I saw a hunter and a hyena.
04:51Oh, with hyena?
04:52Yeah.
04:53Have you seen them fight yet?
04:54Yeah.
04:54What happens when they fight?
04:55Hyena is coming, coming, coming, coming.
04:57She wants her food.
04:58It's a hunter.
04:59She goes, oh, oh, oh.
05:02She goes straight through.
05:04She goes like that.
05:06Yes, quick.
05:07Yeah.
05:07She drives quick.
05:12So they go underneath the legs and bite them from behind.
05:16I don't know.
05:17There's a honey badger in front.
05:21It might not be pretty, but the rubbish dump offers Lo the perfect opportunity to see where honey badgers rank
05:28in the pecking order.
05:30So this is where you dump all the rubbish then?
05:32Yes, all the rubbish.
05:33I put it here.
05:36Can a badger, as Alfred claims, actually see off an animal five times its own weight?
05:46From which direction do they normally come?
05:48They come to that side.
05:49From that side.
05:49And you see that road here.
05:51Oh, this little trail here.
05:52Yeah.
05:54So what time do they normally come in?
05:57Half past five.
05:59Okay.
06:01Thank you very much, Alfred.
06:03Okay.
06:04Appreciate it.
06:04Thanks.
06:05Lo will be back at dusk to see for himself if the honey badger really is top dog.
06:16Though badgers are tolerated at the lodge, they can be a persistent problem for local farmers.
06:25I'm trying to make a living out of three-range pigs.
06:29Around me is the big five.
06:31But my problem is not the big five.
06:34The real problem is the honey badger.
06:38That's the big problem.
06:41As well as raiding his pig food, badgers have attacked and even killed his dogs.
06:48If you push him in a corner, then he will go for you.
06:51He'll go for your balls and you'll get all your balls out one time as quick as that.
06:57The week ago I catch two on one night.
07:01They do a lot of damage.
07:04Some farmers shoot the badgers.
07:06This one's lucky to be getting a second chance.
07:13Hello, Meneer.
07:14Hello.
07:17The farmer has called in Brian Jones, a wildlife conservationist with a soft spot for honey badgers.
07:24It's wonderful that you're prepared to save the animals like this.
07:26They're after the foot of my pigs.
07:28Okay.
07:29Okay, open up.
07:32Then get it to me.
07:33Ryan looks after all kinds of unwanted animals.
07:37But despite its rough reputation, the honey badger is his favourite.
07:44He's rescued around 50 so far.
07:48Okay, Brian.
07:49Thank you very much.
07:50Bye, donkey.
07:51Go well.
07:55The badger will be set free later, as far from the farmer as possible.
08:01They do get hurt in their traps.
08:03If we see it's quite serious, we will treat them accordingly.
08:07When that's healed, we'll let them go again.
08:12Hopefully they don't go back to that man,
08:14because that man might now decide to start killing them.
08:17Brian is heading back to base,
08:20to the place that's been his home for the last 22 years.
08:24Set in its own 500 hectare game reserve,
08:28Maholo Hollow is a privately run animal rehabilitation centre.
08:34As well as providing a temporary refuge for injured wildlife,
08:38it also houses a few longer-term residents,
08:42including a honey badger, Stoffel, and his girlfriend, Hammy.
08:50I've had in my house hippo, rhino, brown hyena, spotted hyena,
08:55leopards, cheetah, lion.
08:57I've had the whole lot.
08:58But the honey badger, there's nothing near the honey badger.
09:04The first honey badger I took in was Stoffel.
09:08He caused chaos in the house.
09:10He damaged everything.
09:15I mean, he'd come and break through the window,
09:17go to the kitchen.
09:21Knock the dog biscuits over, go to the fridge, light his back,
09:24kick the fridge open.
09:26Don't smell what's on the menu today.
09:33Get the frozen bacon, sit on his back and eat it.
09:39And you don't dare stop him.
09:40You just let him do what he wants to.
09:47Stoffel?
09:48Stoffel?
09:50Come on, let's go.
09:57I don't want to leave it.
09:58I don't want to leave it.
10:04I don't want to leave it.
10:05Stoffel came here 20 years ago,
10:08as someone else's unwanted pet,
10:10and is too tame ever to be released into the wild.
10:16Though happy at first to look after him,
10:18Brian soon discovered that the badger was a menace to his other animals.
10:28Doesn't matter how big or small he attacked it.
10:31Nothing will save from him.
10:37He grabbed the rhino from underneath and wouldn't it go?
10:48He grabbed one of my tawny eagles.
10:51He killed the servals.
10:54He wiped out 30, 40 guinea pigs one shot.
11:00He was extremely destructive.
11:06When he flies into you, it's not a joke.
11:12He really rips you to pieces.
11:14Stoffel was becoming the pet from hell.
11:19Stoffel, come on my way.
11:21Alas for Brian,
11:22this was just the start of a long and challenging relationship.
11:38Honey badgers, as their name suggests, are fond of honey.
11:44But the mayhem they cause trying to get it,
11:47makes them a scourge to beekeepers.
11:53I've spoken to some of the beekeepers in this area
11:56who've lost up to 60 hives in one night.
12:01If you consider that a beehive costs about a thousand rand
12:05and takes about two or three years to develop into a production colony,
12:11you can see what the loss is.
12:13It's huge.
12:22On the other hand, it takes guts to face an angry swarm.
12:28Badgers that get it wrong have been stung to death.
12:35It's the protein-rich grubs they're after,
12:38as much as the honey.
12:48I've seen some hives where the badgers actually got in from the side
12:52and chewed through this 22mm wood.
12:5822mm is about that thick.
13:03Solid pine, you know, it's ripped apart.
13:07Decimation.
13:07Badger won't stop at anything.
13:14Sadly, badgers that raid too often risk being poisoned.
13:22Guy Stubbs wants to protect honey badgers from the wrath of his fellow beekeepers
13:28by developing a cheap but effective badger-proof hive.
13:34He's come to the rehab centre where he's keen to try out his approach on some real badgers.
13:42Phase one is all about watching and learning.
13:45Jan, please release the badgers.
13:48Enter test badger Stoffel and his apprentice, Hammy.
13:57Badgers are adept at scaling trees in the wild.
14:01But Guy thinks they'll struggle to reach the hive if there's no bark to grip onto.
14:10OK, you can see he's actually just using one claw at a time.
14:13And he's hooking his claw into any little crevice and hole that he can find.
14:19And then he pulls his whole body up.
14:21So, it's showing incredible strength.
14:42Can you hear that panting? It sounds like it's a lot of effort for him.
14:48Through sheer determination, Stoffel eventually gets within range.
14:56Look at the way that he's grabbing onto that plastic.
15:03And he's actually ripping pieces of it off.
15:18The sweet taste of success.
15:21With all his footholds figured out, Stoffel is soon back up to finish the job.
15:36A few painful stings is a small price to pay.
15:43One honey badger was found alive with well over 300 stings.
15:53So, by just having it off the ground in a tree isn't a guarantee for protecting your hive.
16:05Armed with valuable first-hand observations, Guy is now ready to go and design his badger-saving, badger-proof hive.
16:27At a game lodge near Kruger National Park, zoologist Lo de Vries has a ringside seat at the rubbish dump.
16:37He's hoping to see for himself if the honey badger lives up to its ferocious billing.
16:50There's no mistaking the honey badger.
16:53It wears a bold black and white coat and moves with a confident trot.
16:58Right there.
17:05There's two of them coming in right out of the dam.
17:13Just there over the bit.
17:18Like a skunk, its vibrant markings send a warning.
17:23Mess with me at your peril.
17:41The two badgers certainly don't appear put off by Lo's presence.
17:46Yes!
17:56MUSIC PLAYS
18:32Pairs of badgers were once thought to be couples,
18:35but in fact, badger pups stick with their mums for up to two years,
18:41and it can be hard to tell one from the other.
18:45There's a very good chance that this is a mother with a pup.
18:49If the pup isn't male, it's actually possible that the big individual is the pup.
18:54They stay with the mother for such a long time that they actually outgrow the mother.
19:03The long childhood suggests the pup has a lot to learn before it can survive on its own.
19:11This one is busy mastering the art of bin raiding.
19:25The greedy badgers won't have the place to themselves for long,
19:29and they seem to know it.
19:43A porcupine is the next to pitch up.
19:50Along with the jackals, they hang around and wait for the badgers' discarded scraps.
20:06Venture too close, and it becomes clear who's boss.
20:16Even the civet, a larger carnivore, knows to steer clear.
20:26For Lowe, this is a rare opportunity to watch wild honey badgers,
20:31an opportunity he's waited a long time for.
20:35I'm noticing an incredible number of sounds that these guys are making.
20:43Chattering and growling at each other.
20:53Chirping away, kind of like a concert call.
21:03At times, they almost sound like jackals.
21:14They're not bothered by my presence.
21:18I've been obsessed with these animals for so many years.
21:22Chirping away, kind of like a concert call.
21:27Honey badgers normally forage alone.
21:30But news of the dump appears to have spread.
21:51With fresh arrivals, there are soon more badgers than Bins.
21:59It's a recipe for some rowdy squabbling.
22:20It's a recipe for some areas.
22:21Please stay tasty for better two more days.
22:24We'll be 관�Like We'll beiyeb.
22:24You didn't find a recipe for a step in there that happens.
22:25We've been friends, but I had to love speakers.
22:26I'm hoping this is what we'd beoniают people to help us.
22:28Abandon them if we're not.
22:28I'm hoping each other, we're out for the pizzeros!
22:29I am not even maybe a few minutes ago!
22:31So here's we can think of a movie made some
22:32Salute pictures
22:40Over at the lodge another gang of gate crashers is piling in
22:46Remote cameras reveal them making a beeline for the kitchen
22:55The masters of mayhem have arrived
23:19For some reasons were soist
23:19Soaring the house
23:21You can find the house
23:21And you can find the house
23:29And you can find out
23:29And I'll find out
23:53Back at the bins, things have taken a serious turn.
23:58With jaws nearly twice as strong as a lion's, a spotted hyena could crush a badger with
24:04a single bite.
24:07The badger seems to have no idea that this hyena is coming up towards him.
24:33It's backing off.
24:38It seems to an appearance to me, so the hang of edges.
24:45The cause of the hyena's hasty retreat soon becomes suffocatingly apparent.
24:58One of the badgers, it seems, has deployed a concealed weapon.
25:13Fluid ejected from the badger's anal pouch can be smelt from 40 metres away.
25:20Oh, that's pretty awful.
25:23This actually makes your eyes water.
25:26I've no idea how they live with themselves.
25:39At the rehab centre, Brian Jones was soon learning from his pet badger Stoffel that the animal's
25:46reputation for bravery was no myth.
25:57One day, staff called me Brian quickly.
25:59The Stoffels got in with the big lions.
26:01He dug underneath the electric fence and went into the lions to fight them on purpose.
26:08So my staff took meat and just chucked it over to get the lions attraction on the meat.
26:13Meantime, the honey badger wouldn't let them settle down.
26:15He was going for their private parts at the back.
26:19And he was chasing this big male lion around the cap.
26:22It was hilarious.
26:23He had to get off to this big lion.
26:25And eventually the lion would turn around and grab him.
26:28But once the skin was loose, he'd swing on his skin, the honey badger,
26:30and bite the lion in the face.
26:32So in the end, the lion's bleeding down in the face.
26:34A honey badger walking big stuff and he won the first round.
26:37They were scared of him.
26:45In one incident in the wild,
26:47honey badgers are reported to have chased seven lions from their kill.
27:02For Stoffel though, fighting alone, round two was a disaster.
27:09He did it again.
27:11But this time he didn't get off so well.
27:13They pulverized him a bit.
27:19He was in hospital two and a half months.
27:26Though Stoffel survived, honey badgers are not invincible.
27:31Despite their almost heroic courage,
27:34they are sometimes mauled to death by big cats.
27:43After his close encounter with badgers at the dump,
27:47Lo is keen to get deeper into their world.
27:50The whole question of why pups hang around with their mothers for so long
27:55is intriguing him.
28:02Local tracker Enoch says he's spotted a mother and baby using an old termite mound as a den,
28:09less than a mile from camp.
28:11It could be the breakthrough that Lo needs.
28:16Badgers can move over 20 miles a night.
28:19But if there's one badger that's likely to stay put,
28:22it's a nursing mother near a regular source of food.
28:26So is this the hole where you saw the honey badger with the pup?
28:29Yeah, this is the one.
28:31They were milling around on top of this cement mound.
28:36You can see these tracks here.
28:39It shows that they're still using it.
28:47Lo decides to put the burrow under surveillance.
28:52With a bit of luck,
28:53the mother and pup will give him a unique window
28:56into the normally hidden world of badger parenting.
29:05After Stoffel's severe mauling by the lions,
29:09Brian knew that he had to get his badger under control.
29:14His solution was a brand new pen
29:17and the introduction of hammy
29:19to help him work off steam.
29:24Far from settling down though,
29:27the canoodling couple soon proved that honey badgers are not just fearless
29:32but astonishingly clever.
29:36We started off with the mesh-type fence,
29:39but it didn't work.
29:41Stoffel soon devised a plan for opening up the gate,
29:44which has got two bolts.
29:45He would get the female to go up.
29:48She would go up, open the first gate.
29:52He'd hold the gate and say,
29:53Woman, get up.
29:54I'm pulling open.
29:55You open up.
30:02She goes up to the top.
30:03She pulls the second one out.
30:09And then he pulls it open.
30:11He waits for her to get down and they escape together.
30:15The escape was no fluke.
30:19Considering their small size,
30:21honey badgers have remarkably big brains.
30:25The intelligence is just beyond anything.
30:28Whatever Brian did to keep him in,
30:32Stoffel was hell-bent on getting out.
30:38In the end, and at great expense,
30:42Brian had no choice but to build his own badger Alcatraz.
30:51I said, Stoffel, the days of your escape are over, buddy.
30:55Uh-huh.
31:00That night, they called me,
31:01Brian Stoffel's out.
31:02I said, it's impossible.
31:03But we had trees in here.
31:05And he climbed up the trees
31:06and then leaned over onto the wall and he was out.
31:09So we cut all the branches out of the trees in here
31:11and left the trees in the middle.
31:16Then he dug up the rocks
31:18and he'd roll them with his back feet to the wall
31:21until he piled them up high enough.
31:25And then he'd get out.
31:26So we took all the rocks away.
31:30This is like a game for Stoffel.
31:32Every time I devised some plan,
31:34it was like a game for him to work out,
31:35how can he get over this?
31:44One o'clock in the morning, my wife wakes me up.
31:47Brian, Brian, someone's in the house.
31:49She said, I heard a window break.
31:51So we freeze.
31:55Oh my, expecting burglars.
31:57And he asked Stoffel at my bedroom door,
31:58trying to get to the bedroom door.
32:01He made himself a mud ball
32:03and he farts it to make it bigger.
32:04And he rolled it and he stands up
32:06and he just got out like that.
32:11People have said, oh, did you train?
32:12I said, train it?
32:13Not at all.
32:14Didn't even think of it.
32:14He outwitted us each time with his schemes.
32:26Stoffel!
32:31I remember one day a keeper left a rake in Stoffel's enclosure.
32:36He scratched himself, lies inside there.
32:38He's thinking, computers working it.
32:46Take the rake, put this back, put it against the wall.
32:53Climb out and off you go.
32:55Stoffel!
32:57I mean, you won't believe these stories.
33:02You think it's a hoax?
33:03It's not a hoax!
33:05That is Stoffel.
33:14On the outskirts of Kruger National Park,
33:17Lowe has a badger's den under surveillance.
33:23The photos from the first night, however,
33:26reveal an unexpected visitor.
33:29Leopard on the camera trap at 20 to 6.
33:3220 to 6.
33:33That's 10 minutes after I placed the trap out.
33:37It's not a good sign.
33:39Leopards are one of the very few animals
33:41known to kill honey badgers.
33:44Unfortunately, there are no honey badgers on these shots,
33:47which is kind of strange.
33:49I saw the tracks there with my own eyes.
33:51Enoch said those tracks were relatively fresh.
33:54Either this was never a demon,
33:55the honey badger just kind of came through,
33:57or the mother felt threatened by the presence of the leopard there
34:00and decided to move the pup.
34:03Perhaps the average wild honey badger
34:06is smart enough to know its limits.
34:09The mother's vanishing act leaves Lowe back at square one.
34:16Over at the rehab centre,
34:18beekeeper Guy Stubbs is finally ready to pit his wits
34:22against Stoffel and Hammy,
34:24with what he hopes is a badger-proof hive stand.
34:31The important thing is to make sure
34:34that you leave nothing lying around,
34:36that Stoffel can use as a tool to climb onto the stand.
34:40With room for up to 10 hives,
34:43Guy's raised metal cage is quick to assemble.
34:47If it works,
34:48it'll help keep the peace between beekeepers and badgers.
34:55OK, I think everything's ready now.
34:58Jan, won't you release the badgers, please?
35:04I feel that we've got a good chance.
35:13I don't think they can get up here.
35:27There's Stoffel trying.
35:28Look at that.
35:31Looks a bit like a sloth.
35:37He's feeling for a little hole or a grip,
35:40like he did with the tree.
35:42But he's not finding one.
35:44They're too slippery.
35:49This is how we stop them getting in.
36:14Hammy has been watching from the sidelines,
36:17and with Stoffel flagging...
36:21she moves in.
36:35Can you see?
36:37Can you see her clothes?
36:40She seems to be getting a grip.
36:44Oh, this is terrible.
36:49No!
36:52Oh, no, man.
36:58And there, she's got it.
37:00She's got onto the hive.
37:02Can you believe it?
37:03Oh, yes.
37:17She's actually pushed her way through
37:19and got to the honey that way.
37:25That's her technique now.
37:26She's pushing the hives all over the place.
37:28Now she's blocked my view.
37:31Well, this is unfortunately not even Stoffel.
37:35It's even more embarrassing.
37:37It's round one to Hammy.
37:40And back to the drawing board for Guy.
37:48I've tried everything.
37:50I've got a lot of respect for honey badgers.
37:57Out in the bush,
37:59another day is drawing to a close.
38:05And the night shift is beginning to stir.
38:30For three weeks,
38:32Lowe and his field assistant Becky
38:34have been searching for badgers beyond the camp.
38:38...without success.
38:47But they're about to get lucky.
38:58There's something on the car.
39:03Where is he?
39:04I think he bit the vehicle.
39:09They've staked out a spot with fresh signs of badger activity, and it's paid off.
39:16Two badgers, a mother and a large male pup, have returned to dig up more food.
39:25Most likely they're after beetle grubs and scorpions.
39:36I've got an incredible sense of smell.
39:43You can smell stuff so deep underground.
39:45And then there's claws that can dig up anything.
39:54Look at this one's nose. It's covered in dirt.
40:01The two badgers are soon joined by a third.
40:06It's a huge male, and he's not interested in dinner.
40:12Look how much bigger this one is.
40:14He seems to sense that the female is ready to mate again, after nearly two years of single parenting.
40:38a mother starts to entertain suitors, it's the cue for her pup to move on and strike out on its
40:45own.
40:45This is potentially a big night for him.
40:51For Lo and Becky, it's a rare and unexpected chance to observe courtship, honey badger style.
41:00Did he sit on her?
41:08Did he sit on her?
41:20He's actually dragging her.
41:40He's fighting hard.
41:43He's fighting hard.
42:07He's fighting hard.
42:19Are they in a hole?
42:21Yes.
42:22That's a loveless.
42:24It's a bunch of loveless.
42:29It's incredible that they do this so close to the congs.
42:36Really just don't care.
42:38No.
42:39Not even slightly.
42:41Taking the hint, perhaps, the younger male moves off to feed elsewhere.
42:49Leaving the lovers to themselves.
43:04But the newly independent badger could hardly have picked a worse night to go solo.
43:12He's dangerously isolated, and his mother is too wrapped up to notice that the old enemy is back.
43:29This time the hyenas have turned up in force, and the young male is out in the open.
43:38Whatever food the badgers have sniffed out, the hyenas now want to claim for themselves.
43:48Retreat would seem the sensible option here.
44:05The young male stands his ground, as if daring the hyena to attack.
44:14Meanwhile, the big male has at last cottoned on, and immediately squares up for a fight.
44:25Mother seems happy to let the boys sort it out.
44:44The four hyenas are determined to muscle in.
44:48But the outnumbered badgers are equally determined to force them back.
45:15If honey badgers are just bluffers, then they're the bravest act in the African bush.
45:24Some would say they're also the smartest.
45:29Having been outwitted by Stoffel countless times, Brian isn't taking any more chances.
45:39If an 8,000 volt electric fence doesn't stop the little mastermind,
45:45he doesn't know what will.
45:53It's for everyone's benefit.
46:01Including Brian's.
46:02I've tried to make peace with him, but he just wants to kill me.
46:06Whenever he hears my voice, his tail's up.
46:09And ready for attack.
46:20Hello, Stoffel.
46:22Hello, my baby.
46:26Yes, my buddy.
46:27Oh, Stoffel.
46:30Stoffel, don't you forgive me.
46:32Yeah, Stoffel.
46:33You're worse than a woman.
46:35You just don't forget.
46:39Has Stoffel finally been contained?
46:43Or has Brian nearly set the stage for an even more ingenious escape?
46:52Aside from looking after Stoffel, the business of saving wild badgers is keeping Brian as busy as ever.
47:02Three more animals trapped by farmers have now been patched up and are ready for release.
47:10Brian can only hope that the badgers don't go and create havoc for someone else.
47:34He's looking to see if we're following him.
47:37And he got the cheek to growl on the way.
47:40Oh, you lucky thing.
47:43One gone, two more to launch.
47:57Brian knows that these badgers won't be the last he saves.
48:02But he'll keep doing whatever it takes to give these relentless little warriors a chance.
48:12The honey badger, to me, he's so brave and so courageous and so determined that you can't help but love
48:18him.
48:24He's really got a place in my heart.
48:41After a month at the safari lodge trying to track honey badgers in the wild, Lo is stumped.
48:48He's seen for himself that the honey badger's reputation for courage and ferocity isn't just hype.
48:55Yet as a scientist, he still has so many questions he wants to answer.
49:01It's actually quite frustrating at the moment.
49:03I see these animals literally every single night.
49:12They come in, cause chaos inside camp.
49:17As soon as morning hits, they just disappear.
49:21Their fearlessness, it seems, is backed up by a more subtle quality.
49:27A quality that enables it to get just what it wants.
49:32And then vanish.
49:37Perhaps intelligence is what really gives the honey badger its edge.
49:43Its brain might even be bigger than its bite.
49:52Honey badgers may have been regular visitors of the safari lodge,
49:57but filming them was far from straightforward.
50:03For the crew, alarm bells should have rung when they were asked to pick up a new fridge on their
50:09way in.
50:11Alas, not all of the delicate equipment being unloaded will be going home in one piece.
50:20Having dropped off the fridge, cameraman Robin Cox and assistant producer Will Benson
50:26gets straight to work rigging cameras and infrared lights.
50:30So we put one GoPro here looking at the gate.
50:33Do you think the 30 degree around the corner needs some frost on it?
50:36Yeah. Okay.
50:39The outdoor kitchen is frequently ransacked by badgers.
50:44Maintenance manager Alfred points out where the thieves have been breaking in.
50:49Check. That's claw marks.
50:51Yeah.
50:51I mean, it looks like it's been cut with a saw.
50:53So its claws must be incredibly sharp.
50:56It's just literally sliced.
50:59Do you like the honey badger?
51:04Hey, honey badger is a clever.
51:05Yeah, it's a strong one.
51:07And it's a clever.
51:12Bridge cam, which hopefully will capture the badgers as they break in.
51:19Anna, do you think she's going to damage the fridge?
51:21Yes, honey badger is a terrible animal.
51:24They damage the fridge.
51:28So this GoPro has been off at the gate.
51:31This one gives us our main view of the room.
51:39With lights plugged in and cameras set, there's just one last piece of kit to put in place.
51:50So, um, we have one of these.
51:52Well, I think really you ought to wear this because you haven't got any kids and I have.
51:56My legs are shorter than yours.
51:58Yours definitely is a shorter reach for a honey badger to take a swipe.
52:02I haven't worn one of these since school.
52:08Robin is left on his own to wait quietly.
52:13If recent form is any guide, it won't be long before the badgers are in the kitchen.
52:23Robin, they're in the lounge.
52:27Robin, they're in the lounge.
52:31You're joking.
52:35I can seem to have them.
52:39The surprise raid on the lounge leaves Robin sidelined.
52:43And the rest of the crew scrambling to film what they can with the spare camera.
52:53Is Will there?
52:59The team have been outflanked.
53:02And things are about to get worse.
53:08I've had a time-lapse camera running out on the embers of the fire at the boma down there.
53:12They decided to just chew straight through the wire.
53:18Sheared straight off.
53:20Adding insults to injury, one of the badgers films itself, vandalizing the spare camera.
53:34Have the film crew, perhaps, bitten off more than they can chew?
53:42In the morning, Robin and the camp staff review the footage from the lounge.
53:51For a cameraman, it doesn't make happy viewing.
53:55Came and found the camera.
53:59Yeah.
54:01Microphone.
54:02You think you put it there?
54:05One severed camera cable and a mangled microphone cover.
54:12But on the plus side, the team has its first close-up of a wild honey badger.
54:37There are plenty of leftovers here to tempt the badgers.
54:44We're just going to sit tight and keep it as quiet as we can.
54:47Just hope they can.
54:47Come in.
54:52Before he knows it, Robin has badgers in his sights.
54:55And he's finally rolling on some action.
55:03But the badgers don't seem to like being in the spotlight.
55:09Oh.
55:11It's going on.
55:14Oh, shit.
55:17Bloody badgers are just not light over.
55:22Both their tails are up.
55:24They're obviously really excited.
55:25Smashing up our kit.
55:27They're having a whale of a time.
55:29At our expense.
55:34As soon as the hooligans clear off, Robin and Will venture out to assess the damage.
55:40I think the wire's come out.
55:43Is it working?
55:44No.
55:45It's dead.
55:46Right, it's cool at night.
55:47Yeah.
55:50It's been a rough night for the light.
55:53And there's more bad news to come.
55:56I've just found one of our infrared GoPros in pieces strewn over about five meters.
56:02I've given it a right going over.
56:03That's seriously tough plastic, this.
56:06I don't think that's going to work again.
56:07The tooth's gone right in there.
56:10And another one at the top.
56:11Number two GoPro down.
56:16It'll be days before Robin gets the spare parts he needs to fix the lights.
56:22They just seem to be out to wreck our gear at the moment.
56:26And it looks like Will might need a sewing kit.
56:29They've chewed a massive great hole in the side of our filming hide.
56:34I think honey badgers just like destroying stuff.
56:39To add to the crew's problems, 15 noisy tourists are now descending on the lodge.
56:47It's been hard enough trying to film badgers when it's quiet.
56:55And on night three, hopes that the visitors might turn in early are going up in smoke.
57:02It's coming up to 10 o'clock now.
57:04There's still quite a lot of activity around the camp.
57:06Guests are still up having drinks and talking around the fire.
57:11There's no sign from disappearing off to bed.
57:22But ignoring all the noise, the badgers are once again going to teach the film crew a lesson.
57:33Never mind the party, there's a pork chop to be pinched.
57:39In plain sight of the guests, the brazen badgers help themselves.
57:47And leave the film crew wondering if their whole tiptoeing approach has been utterly pointless.
57:55These guys really don't care.
57:57They don't mind if we're talking, making a lot of noise, banging about.
58:01These guys really are bothered.
58:03For once, the badgers lay off the cameras.
58:08And stick to the business of looting.
58:15But tonight, they're not just nicking food.
58:19They're also stealing a few hearts.
58:24It's cute.
58:26I love the honey butter.
58:34Coogan and Brydon continue their flight of fancy on a jaunt to Tuscany comedy with the trip to Italy on
58:41BBC 2, next.
58:42Who is next?
58:43Just a minute.
58:56We'll be back with you.
58:56Who is the Bulk Pencil on the right?