Clue 1: False
identity? -> The word Meerkat is Dutch/Afrikaans for “lake cat”, although Meerkats don't live near
lakes and they are not cats. They in fact belong to the Mongoose family.
Clue 2: Mob &
sentry go hand in hand -> A group of meerkats is called a "mob", "gang" or
"clan". Meerkats
forage in a group with 1 -2 sentries watching for predators while the others
search for food.
Clue 3: Claim to
fame in 1994 -> Timon (Meerkat) and Pumbaa (Warthog) are the famous duo introduced in Disney's
1994 animated film “The Lion King”. Hakuna matata – no worries!
The meerkat
belongs to the mongoose family and are active during the day. It is the only member
of the genus Suricata. Meerkats live in all parts of the Kalahari Desert in
Botswana, in much of the Namib Desert in Namibia, southwestern Angola, and in
South Africa.
Meerkat:
Lifespan: 12
– 14 years (in captivity)
Speed: 32 km/h
Scientific
name: Suricata suricatta
Mass: 0.6 to
0.9 kg (adult)
Body length: 25 –
35cm (adult without tail)
Did you
know: A mob/clan of meerkats will always have one "sentry" on guard
to watch out for predators while the others forage for food.
False identity: The word Meerkat is Dutch/Afrikaans for “lake cat”, although Meerkats
don't live near lakes and they are not cats. In addition in casual
Afrikaans, mier means termite, and kat means
cat. It has been speculated that the name comes from their frequent association
with termite mounds or the termites they eat.
Mob: A group of meerkats is called a
"mob", "gang" or "clan". A meerkat clan often
contains about 20 meerkats, but some super-families have 50 or more members of
which usually all are related. They are normally
territorial and live in large underground tunnels.
The mob comprised of
equal numbers of males and females and these family groups, are led by an alpha pair, with the female being the
most dominant.
Each
meerkat mob will have a territory which they mark off with their scent. It is
usually around 10km². They won't allow another group or mob of meerkats into
their territory and will fight them, if needed. They move around within the
territory each day in order to forage for food in different spots.
If the group
feels threatened by a predator, they will sometimes try mobbing or attacking it
in a group. Although they usually run, they can be fierce fighters when needed.
Sentry: Meerkats
forage in a group with 1 - 2 sentries watching for predators while the others
search for food. Sentry duty is usually approximately an hour long. The meerkat
standing guard makes peeping sounds when all is well. Meerkats have binocular vision, with
two eyes on the front of the face as well as sense of smell and hearing. Generally, the sentry or lookout, will stand up
straight on its hind legs using its tail as a tripod
to balance.
This
is so that it can get as high as possible to look for predators in the air and
on the ground.
When a predator is spotted, the lookout meerkats will
give a warning bark or whistle and rest of the family will quickly escape into one of the many entrances of
their underground burrow. They take night shelter in their vast network of
underground tunnels which also doubles to keep them cool from the hot desert
sun.
Claim to fame: Timon (Meerkat) and Pumbaa (Warthog) are the famous duo introduced in Disney's
1994 animated film “The Lion King”.
Famous quote: Hakuna matata roughly
translates to "there are no troubles" in Swahili, was translated to
the now popular phrase "no worries." Which is the opposite of the meerkat’s
behaviour!
Meerkats popularity
grew further with the TV show Meerkat Manor from Animal Planet that followed
several Meerkat families in the Kalahari Desert.
When colonies are exposed to human presence for a long
time, they will become habituated, which allows for documentation of their
natural behaviour. It is not unusual for camera crews, who must largely stay
still for long periods while filming, to be utilized as convenient sentry
posts.
Features: Meerkats have four toes on each foot and at the end of each of
them is a claw used for digging burrows and digging
for prey. Claws are also used with muscular hindlegs to help climb trees. The eyes are
distinctively dark-ringed, with their coat being usually peppered grey, tan, or brown with silver. They
have short parallel stripes across their backs with dark-tipped,
short-haired, tapered tails.
The underside
of the meerkat has no markings, but the belly has a patch which is only
sparsely covered with hair and shows the black skin underneath.
Diet: Meerkats are omnivores,
meaning they eat both plants and animals. They catch their
preferred insects, small rodents, geckos, snakes, scorpions, spiders, eggs, small mammals, millipedes, centipedes and sometimes
small birds with lightning swiftness, but also feed on plants and fungi (the desert truffle).
Since
they don't have a lot of body fat, meerkats need to eat every day to keep their
energy up. For example, meerkat adults teach their pups how to eat
a venomous scorpion: they will remove the stinger and help the pup learn how to
handle the creature.
Predators: Martial eagles, tawny eagles and jackals are the main predators of meerkats. Meerkats are
immune to certain types of venom, including the very
strong venom of the scorpions of the Kalahari Desert. However some
snakebites from the Puff Adder & Cape Cobras can lead to death.
Breeding: In each clan there is an
alpha pair of meerkats that lead the group. The alpha pair typically reserves
the right to mate and produce offspring. If others in the clan reproduce, then
the alpha pair will usually kill the young and may kick the mother out of the
clan.
The entire group participates in the care and
maintenance of young. While the pack is out foraging for food, one helper
remains at the den to tend to the young. They babysit the
young in the group and will protect them threats, often endangering their own
lives. On warning of danger, the babysitter takes the young underground to safety
and is prepared to defend them if the danger follows. Animals in the same group
groom each other regularly.
Meerkats, being wild animals, make
poor pets. They can be aggressive, especially toward guests and they may also
bite. They will scent-mark their owner and the house (their
"territory")
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