After Stoffel's severe mauling by the lions, Brian knew that he had to get his badger under control. His solution was a brand new pen. And, the introduction of Hammy, to help him work off steam.
Far from settling down though, the canoodling couple soon prove that honey badgers are not just fearless, but astonishingly clever. We started off with the mesh-type fence. But, it didn't work.
Stoffel soon devised a plan for opening up the gate, which has got two bolts. He would get the female to go up. He would go up, open the first gate.
He'd hold the gate and say 'woman, get up, I'm pulling open, you open up. ' She goes up to the top, she pulls the second one out. And then he pulls it open, he waits for her to get down and they escape together.
The escape was no fluke. Considering their small size, honey badgers have remarkably big brains. Their intelligence is just beyond anything.
Whatever Brian did to keep him in, Stoffel was hell-bent on getting out. In the end, and a great expense, Brian had no choice but to build his own badger Alcatraz. Mr Stoffel, the days of your escape are over buddy.
That night, they called me 'Brian, Stoffel's out. ' I said 'impossible! ' But we had trees in here, and he climbed up the trees, leaned over onto the wall and he was out.
So, we cut all the branches out of the trees in here and left the trees in the middle. Then, he dug up the rocks. He'd rolled them with his back feet to the wall, and neatly piled them up high enough.
And then he'd get out, so we took all the rocks away. This is like a game for Stoffel. Every time I'd devise some plan, it was like a game for him to work out how could he get over this?
1'o'clock in the morning, my wife wakes me up 'Brian! Brian! Someone's in the house.
' She said ' I heard a window break. ' So we freeze. 'Oh my!
' Expecting burglars. There's Stoffel at my bedroom door, trying to get through the bedroom door. He'd made himself a mud ball and he'd patted to make it bigger.
And he rolled it and he stands on it and he just got out like that. People have said, 'Oh, did you train it? ' I said 'Train it?
Not at all! ' Didn't even think of it. He outwitted us each time, with his skills.
Stoffel! I remember one day, keeper left a rake in Stoffel's enclosure and he scratched himself, lies on his side, he's thinking. Computers working.
Take the rake, put it on his back, put it against the wall. Climb out and off he go. Stoffel!
I mean, you won't believe these stories. You'd think it's a hoax. It's not a hoax!
That is Stoffel.
