Wolverine vs. Honey Badger: Who Would Win? Badgers and wolverines don't resemble each other even though they both belong to the mustelidae family that also includes skunks, minks and weasels. Like other mustelids, they have five toes on each foot and use a musky odor to mark territory, attract mates and to defend themselves. But these distant cousins live in vastly different habitats. Wolverines struggle to survive in only the wildest places They are equally renowned for their ferocity, their ability to take punishment, and their unbelievable gluttony. SIZE The wolverine is much larger; up to 107 cm in length, up to 45cm at the shoulder, and weighs up to 25 kilograms. Wolverines have a compact and powerful build that resembles a small bear. The color of their long fur ranges from blond at birth to dark brown or black with blond tips, a gray or black tail and a light face as they age. Their heads are round with dark eyes and round ears. The honey badger measures up to 96 cm is length, up to 28 cm at the shoulder, and weighs up to 16 kilograms. DIET Wolverines are omnivores: they eat both meat and vegetation. Typical meals for a wolverine include large game like caribou, moose and mountain goats; Smaller animals like ground squirrels and rodents; and even birds' eggs and berries. They like meat best, though, and will go to great lengths to get it. Wolverines have a keen sense of smell; they can smell prey 20 feet under the snow. Wolverines also seem to be aware of how to store food. Research shows that wolverines use snow as refrigerators to keep their food fresh. During times when food is scarce, the wolverines will go back to their stockpile to and retrieve a meal. Honey badgers are generalist carnivores with an extremely wide diet. More than sixty species of prey were recorded from the southern Kalahari alone. Badgers eat a host of smaller food items like insect larvae, beetles, scorpions, lizards, rodents and birds. They will catch the larger reptiles like leguaans, crocodiles and pythonsand include the highly venomous adders, cobras and black mamba in their diet. Larger mammals like the Springhare, polecat and particularly juvenile foxes, jackals, antelope and wild cats, are also caught. RANGE & HABITAT Wolverines prefer colder areas because they use the snow for dens, besides food storage. They live in the Arctic and subarctic, in grasslands, Alpine forests, taiga, boreal forests and tundra of Europe, Asia, and in North America in the northern latitudes. Wolverines are solitary creatures, and need great swaths of territory to roam. Males mark their territory with their scent and only share their turf with females. Their territories can range from 65 km to more than 600 km. Badgers prefer dry, open grasslands, though they are very adaptable. Honey badgers are found in southern Africa. Territorial Differences The most staggering difference between these two species may be the size of territories they occupy. Male wolverines have a home range of about 920 square miles, while the territories for female wolverines is about 390 square miles. Male and female wolverines will fight other wolverines to the death to defend their home ranges. The territories of male badgers are 1 1/2 square miles, while females live in a territory of approximately 1 square mile. Badgers don't defend their territories and their home ranges may overlap with other badgers. BEHAVIOR In terms of behavior, the wolverine is fearless. It has been recorded killing a polar bear by latching onto the throat with its jaws and suffocating the animal. Its primary means of killing is suffocation by biting the throat and not letting go, and also by crushing with its powerful jaws and specially adapted molars. Honey badgers need to be exceptionally tough to survive. Lions, leopards, and hyaenas are all well-known to attack and attempt to kill honey badgers. These attempts are sometimes successful but very often they are not. The honey badger will fight non-stop until it is dead or the attacker tires, at which point the honey badger will make a break for it. WEAPONS The wolverine’s teeth are unique. They have a special molar that is revered 90 degrees which is used for breaking through bone. Their jaws are powerful and the combination of strong jaw muscles and special molars allow them to eat every part of the animal including hooves, bones, and teeth. According to specialists , wolverine claws are believed to be semi-retractable but are actually fixed. However, the toe biomechanics effectively allows them to perform a similar action, which of course allows them to be kept sharp. These claws are also curved and therefore ideal for hooking and shredding. The honey badgers weaponry includes a set of much smaller but sharper teeth than that of the wolverine, sharp claws, and equal ferocity and stubbornness to that of the wolverine. The honey badger has a reversible anal gland. The smell produced by it is described as “suffocating.” DEFENSE The wolverine’s main defense against predators is its ferocity. It uses this together with its sharp claws, sharp teeth, powerful jaws, and thick skin and fur to protect its kills against much bigger predators, including wolves and bears. Although the wolverine is known to have a thick hide, wolverines have been recorded killed by North American porcupine quills in a number of instances. On the other hand the badger it is built to take a beating. The honey badger has an exceptionally tough, thick, and loose hide, specifically evolved to defend it against biting, clawing, and stinging. It is almost 6mm thick and extremely tough. A good example of how tough is the fact that African porcupine quills rarely penetrate it. Bear in mind that African porcupines are three times the size of their North American cousins. Their second defense is tirelessness. They can literally keep fighting for hours on end. This is a problem for a predator already battling to gnaw through the skin. The effort is tiring, and the whole time, the honey badger is struggling and counterattacking with its own claws and teeth. The third defense of the honey badger is that when attacked, it will go for its attacker’s groin. There are records from the Kruger National Park in South Africa of adult male Cape buffaloes having bled to death after being savaged by honey badgers in this manner. Who will win the fight? It is interesting to know who will win the fight between wolverine vs honey badger. Both animals have mustelids and hunt in same way. One thing which goes in favour of wolverine is its strong size. We know that Honey badger can handle the larger preys as well like lions, leopards and tigers but after seeing same specifications of immune system and hunt capability, people go with wolverine but it is not over yet. It boils down to whether the wolverine could get through the honey badger’s defenses to kill him and whether the honey badger even has the tools to kill a wolverine. In my opinion, Honey badger would win the fight as American porcupine once killed wolverine and I have seen a video in which in African porcupine cannot penetrate its quills in honey badger body and African porcupine are 3 times the size of north Americans porcupine and second point is tirelessness; Honey badger fight for hours. So, it is difficult to get control over it. It attacks on groin of larger preys and its gland produces suffocating smell as well.
Neither. They would team up and solve crimes.
Wolverine has a stronger bite and they both utilise stink to deter threats. I'm going wolverine on this one, but I am biased...
It doesn’t matter who wins. We lose.
Wolverine is bigger and notoriously ferocious and dangerous. Honey badger is smaller but possibly more ferocious. I think a wolverine might win because of their size but I may well be wrong. You can’t underestimate any mustelids, they are all among the toughest animals.
My money would be on the honey badger