On the Trial of the Honey Badger
On a recent field trip to theKalahari Desert, a team of researchers learn a lot more about honey badgers(獾). The team employeda local wildlife expert, Kitso Khama, to help them locate and follow thebadgers across the desert. Their main aim was to study the badgers' movementsand behavior. as discreetly(谨慎地) as possible, without frightening them away or causing them to changetheir natu-ral behavior. They also planned to trap a few and study them closeup before releasing them. In view of the animal's reputation, this wassomething that even Khama was reluctant to do.
"The problem with honeybadgers is they are naturally curious animals, especially when they seesomething new," he says. "That, combined with their unpredictablenature, can be a dangerous mix-ture. If they sense you have food, for example,they won't be shy about coming right up to you for something to eat. They'reactually quite sociable creatures around humans, but as soon as they feel theymight be in danger, they can becomeextremely vicious(凶恶的). Fortunately this is rare, butit does happen. "
The research confirmed manythings that were already known. As expected, honey badgers ate any crea-turesthey could catch and kill. Even poisonous snakes, feared and avoided by mostother animals, were not safe from them The researchers were surprised, however,by the animal's fondness for local melons, probably because of their high watercontent. Preciously researchers thought that the animal got all of its liquidrequire-ments from its prey（猎物）. The team also learnt that, contrary to previous research findings, thebadgers oc-casionally formed loose family groups. They were also able toconfirm certain results from previous research,including the fact that femalebadgers never socialized with each other.
Following some of the malebadgers was a challenge, since they can cover large distances in a short spaceof time. Some hunting territories cover more than 500 square kilometers.Although, they seem happy to share these territories with other males, thereare occasional fights over an important food source, and male badgers can be asaggressive towards each other as they are towards other spe-cies.
As the badgers becameaccustomed to the presence of people, it gave the team the chance to get upclose to them without being the subject of the animal's curiosity-or sudden aggression.The badgers' eating patterns, which had been disrupted returned, to normal. Italso allowed the team to observe more closely some of the other creatures thatform. working associations with the honey badg-er, as these seemed to adopt thebadgers' relaxed attitude when near humans.
Why did the wildlife experts visit the Kalahari Desert?
A.To find where honey badgers live
B.To observe how honey badgers behave
C.To catch some honey badgers for food
D.To find out why honey badgers have a bad reputation

A.
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