Battle of the Titans: Savage Showdown between a Fearless Honey Badger and African Rock Pythons Unleashes Brutal Combat

As master predators, rock pythons are sometimes targeted by opportunistic animals, including honey badgers.

Photographer and biologist Susan McConnell captured a dramatic battle between a honey badger and an African rock python at Singita Lebombo, a holiday home east of Kruger National Park , South Africa, in early April 2017 . McConnell and his guides discovered and tracked the honey badger on the way back to the campsite.

“As our car turned around the bend, tracker Glass Marimane yelled ‘Honey Badger’. We stopped the car and took out our binoculars and saw a large male honey badger digging under a tree,” McConnell said.

The honey badger’s relatively small size and nocturnal habits make it difficult to spot in the wild, so encountering this predator is a unique opportunity. Badger is hunting. It drove a large python out of its hiding place and immediately rushed to attack.

The African rock python is among the largest python species in the world and can reach a weight of 90 kg.

Despite being a master hunter, able to take down much larger prey, rock pythons sometimes become the target of opportunistic animals, including honey badgers.

Although honey badgers eat mainly small mammals, they can devour everything from reptiles to venomous snakes and small birds.

As the name suggests, this badger also breaks into beehives to steal honey. Using the tear gas glands in the anus, the honey badger blows up the honeycomb before using its powerful claws to tear the nest.

The dramatic battle ended with the victory of the honey badger. The last time McConnell saw the badger was when it was dragging the oversized meal into the bushes to enjoy.