Rare Honey Badger Mellivora capensis (Schreber, 1776) sighted in Tarai East Forest Division, Haldwani, Uttarakhand, India

The presence of Honey Badger Mellivora capensis (Schreber, 1776) is widely distributed but in-depth of ecological understanding this species is still lacking from Asian portion of its global range. The species is listed in Scheduled-I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 providing it with the highest level of protection as this is very rare. The current note presents, the first known camera-trap records of this species in Tarai East Forest Division (TEFD), Uttarakhand, India. During the survey exercise, a total 35 camera traps were randomly installed in different habitats (e.g. Natural Sal forest patch, Mixed forests, Sharda River-Canal) in Surai range of the division. As resulted, two images of Honey Badger were captured from the Sharda River bank–Canal habitat of Bagha-I beat, of Surai range. The camera trap study suggests that Honey Badger is rarely sighted in Tarai east sal forest. For protection and management of this species, further need to generate more information and in-depth understanding of their ecological and of population status in around forest habitat of the division.