The Traveller's Magazine
Meet BG, Johannesburg Zoo’s tweeting honey badger, who, for the record, does care. He cares so much he’s tweeting up a frenzy about what’s going on at the zoo and what he gets up to all day from his super high-tech enclosure. Let the badger banter begin!
BG is possible the first and only tweeting honey badger in captivity and he’s creating quite the stir on the Twittershere with his cheeky comments about his neighbours, the zoo menu and his environment.
As the video explains, the Johannesburg Zoo has opted to let their resident honey badger take over their Twitter account instead of taking on a social media team. BG, a very likeable honey badger is now in charge of the zoo’s @ZooTweetsLive account and his following of 9,000 is just proof of how popular this four-legged critter really is.
How does a badger tweet with no thumbs?
It’s a very good question and one that the Johannesburg Zoo hasn’t overlooked. You see, BG’s enclosure is outfitted with motion-sensors which are linked to his Twitter account. When he wanders around cameras are triggered to take photos and post a relevant (pre-written) comment. For example, this one:
His tweets range from interesting animal facts to celeb shout-outs, without ever missing out on the chance to insult and poke fun at the other animals in the zoo. We’d say he’s got the whole Twitter thing under control!
Want to meet BG in person? Catch a flight to Johannesburg and plan a visit to the city zoo. Who knows, you may even end up as the subject of one of his affable tweets.
