Friday 27 April 2012 Greater Grison -- South American Honey Badger

The greater grison (Galictis vittata) resembles a thin honey badger (Mellivora capensis.) Both species are related. They both belong in the weasel family. The “grison” part of their common name is an English variation on the French word for gray, “gris.” Like the honey badger, the greater grison is a temperamental carnivore. The greater grison is so fierce that it is unknown what, if any creatures outside of humans hunt them.

Fortunately for both the greater grison and the honey badger, they do not meet each other because they live on different continents. The honey badger lives in Africa, while the greater grison lives in Central and South America. Its range extends as far north as Mexico and as far south as Brazil. The greater grison is not listed as an endangered or threatened species by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN.) This could be due to their adaptability. They make their homes in a variety of habitats, including grasslands and rainforests. They also do well in captivity and have been trained to hunt chinchillas and other small animals for people.

Physical Appearance

The head, forelegs and underside of a greater grison is covered in short sooty black fur while the back, sides and hind legs are covered in longer, silvery-gray fur. The body is long and slim with the hindquarters higher than the top of the animal’s head. The head is wedge-shaped with small, rounpe="text/javascript"> var pkBaseURL = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? "https://woovar.com/analytics/" : "http://woovar.com/analytics/"); document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" + pkBaseURL + "piwik.js' type='text/javascript'%3E%3C/script%3E"));