What Wins: Honey Badger or Komodo Dragon?

I recently received the following reader-submitted question: Which animal would win in a fight, the honey badger or Komodo dragon?

This is an especially difficult question because both animals have a particularly feisty, nasty and fearless personality. Let’s take a closer look:

Honey Badger

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The honey badger, also known as the ratel, is native to Africa, Southwest Asia and India. Despite its name, the honey badger resembles a weasel more than any other badger.

The Honey Badger can grow up to three feet long and weigh up to 40 pounds. It is primarily a carnivorous species and has very few predators due to its thick skin and ferociousness.

It’s known as an elite defensive animal that is hyper-aggressive and without fear.

 

Komodo Dragon

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The Komodo dragon, also known as the Komodo monitor, is a massive species of lizard found in the Indonesian islands.

It’s is the largest living species of lizard, growing to a maximum length of 10 feet and can weigh up to 330 pounds.

Due to their size, the Komodo Dragons dominate the ecosystems in which they live, hunting invertebrates, birds, and small mammals.

 

My choice: The Honey Badger.

This was a tough one. If the match was based purely on size, the Komodo Dragon would be an obvious favorite. But there’s much more to take into consideration. The Honey Badger is among the fiercest, most fearless animals on the planet. It’s speed, mobility, aggression and fighting prowess would likely find a way to defeat the bigger, slower Komodo Dragon.

What do you think? As always give us feedback below in the comments. And don’t forget to suggest your own funny hypothetical, too!

46 Comments

    • u don’t think the komodo would get one bite in because that all it would take for the honey badger to be a dead bedger

    • Obviously the Komodo Dragon would win. The Komodo Dragons’ skin is reinforced and protected against injury by osteoderms. Plus, the Komodo has razor-sharp teeth and very thick skin. Komodo Dragons’ venom prevents blood from clotting so the Badger would bleed out and die. The honey badger also has a weak spot on its neck that makes it vulnerable. The Komodo Dragon is also the largest lizard in the world being up to 10 ft long and 360 pounds. Therefore, the odds are against the Honey Badger and the Komodo Dragon would surely come out on top.

  1. That’s not true…the komodo dragon can run up to 30 miles per hour and has a terrific sense of smell. It even preys on deer and other large mammals. So the komodo dragon would defeat the dog-sized honey badger. I am highly knowledgable about this topic, I am currently taking a college level biology course, and have been studying reptiles.

    • Actually, I have been studying this as well and I believe you have some facts wrong. Komodo dragons cannot run 30mph they can run 13mph! The honey badger however can run 15mph! This really isn’t important though because neither one of them fights on the run. The honey badger is more intelligent, could survive the poisonous saliva, and tougher all around. Answer this who would win a Lion, or a Komodo dragon (because the Honey Badger has been know to kill full grown lions many times!)?

      • Honey Badgers can sleep of venom of a black mamba. The honey badger would most likely win, but this really is a tough one.

  2. The problem here is that if the if komodo dragon got a single bite into the honey badger the venom would kill it later. So basically it would be a draw because if the honey badger killed the dragon and got bit, the badger would die later.

    • Actually, no one has any proof that a komodo dragon’s saliva could kill a honey badger. But there is proof that it can survive a Black Mamba’s bite (which kills a human in 25 sec.).

      • I saw a video where a honey badger got bit by a cobra repetitively but just got right back up.

      • Potato wrong a black mamba’s bite kills human in 45 minutes or lower but 25 seconds is an over estimation of the power of a black mamba’s venom

  3. HONEY BADGER KILLED A MONITOR LIZARD WITHOUT STRESS ON YOU TUBE,SAME COULD GO FOR KOMODO DRAGON, POISON MIGHT NOT BE EFFECTIVE BICOS SOME ANIMALS SURVIVE POISON, BADGER IS AN EXAMPLE.

  4. the komodo would win. it is huge, fast, and poisonous. The komodo is also equal to the honey badger in ferocity and aggression

  5. I think it would be a pretty fairy fight and to see either of these magnificent creatures dead would be a shame… honestly I would rather see them fall in love and make awesome ‘Honey Dragon’ babies than kill each other..

  6. Honey badger would out quick it and get into advantageous position grab hold of lizard snout and proceed to gnaw and chew komodos head till there’s nothing but a headless bloody stump on a still moving lizard. Something ghastly indeed in this case size wouldn’t matter. Even an undersize emancipated badger would eat a super size komodo. Simple as that

  7. I’ll put my money on the little fella! He may be small, but he’s quick, fearless and aggressive…deadly combos for a carnivore!

  8. Honey Badger for sure … idc how poisonous it’s saliva is .. if a badger can survive a mamba’s venom a dose of poison will just sting.

  9. I have never seen a video where a dragon was killed in a fight by another animal outher than human or another dragon

  10. The komodo dragon has some venom, but the key to the bite’s effectiveness is the mass of nasty bacteria festering in its mouth. They are immune to most baceria and are being studied as to why. The mortality rate from a bite is about 90%. The honey badger is immune or has resistance to most venoms. Bacteria is not a venom and the honey badger would die of sepsis after being bitten. The komodo dragon also grows to over 300lbs and the scaley skin is like chain mail armor. I’m not sure the honey badger could do much but defend and try to escape.

  11. I’d rather side with the badger, but I have to go with the Dragon. The latter has poison and 330 pounds of lizard is a whole lot of lizard.

  12. I’d say it could go either way if you think about it. Komodo dragons have very thick skin like the Honey Badger does. A honey badger could kill a small one but I doubt that it would be able to kill an adult. Also honey badgers are only partially immune to venom, too much of it could still be fatal. Also Komodo dragons it seems like other monitors can probably count to a degree so they are highly intelligent.

  13. Obviously the Komodo Dragon would win. The Komodo Dragons’ skin is reinforced and protected against injury by osteoderms. Plus, the Komodo has razor sharp teeth and very thick skin. Komodo Dragons’ venom prevents blood to clot so the Badger would bleed out and die. Also the Honey Badger has a weak spot on its neck that makes it vulnerable to the Komodo Dragon’s sharp teeth and claws. Plus the Komodo Dragon has an unbelievably strong tail. My vote is on the Komodo Dragon to win.

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