Meerkat Vital StatisticsVision: Color. The dark eye markings act like built-in sunglasses.
Feet: Non-retractable claws. Four toes.
Ears: Closeable.
Height: 12 inches.
Weight: 2 pounds.
Light-absorbency: Called the "Solar Panel Of The Animal World," meerkats use their dark-skinned, sparsely furred bellies to warm up.
Taxonomy: Members of the mongoose family.
Tail: 8 inches long and used as a tripod to balance the animal in an upright position.
Activity: Diurnal (active during the day).
Life span: 12 to 14 years.
Society: A group of meerkats, usually five to thirty members is called a "mob" or a "gang."
Meerkat Home
Home range: Southern Africa/Kalahari Desert
Dwelling: Grass-lined burrows that are shared with ground squirrels and yellow mongoose.
Toilet: Common latrine used by all members.
Transience: Mob moves several times annually if food supply is depleted.
Competitiveness: Meerkats are very territorial and will fiercely defend their home from other meerkat mobs
Meerkat Predators
Guardianship: Meerkats are "snack size" for a number of animals so one always stands guard while the others forage or nap.
Primary predators: Martial eagles and jackals.
911: Various alarm calls indicate different predators.
Meerkat Breeding
Specialization: Alpha male and female do most of the breeding.
Litter size: 2 to 5. Usually once a year.
Gestation: Eleven weeks.
Breeding season: October - April.
Helplessness: Born with eyes and ears closed. Sparsely furred.
Helpfulness: Various adults will baby-sit the youngsters while the mother feeds.
Precociousness: Sexually mature at one year.
Meerkat Food
Diet: Scorpions (meerkats are immune to their venom) beetles, spiders, centipedes, millipedes, worms, crickets (FAST food), small mammals, small reptiles, birds, eggs, tubers and roots.
This information provided as a public service by:
Fellow Earthlings
P.O. Box 1319
Morongo Valley, CA 92256
(760) 363-1344
meerkats@meerkats.com
Meerkats.com You have found the official online home of the Meerkats. Here you can visit with Suricata suricatta, and learn all about these rascally mammals!The Meerkat Mpango - This page is dedicated to bringing you up-to-date links, pictures, and the broadest information on meerkats and other mammals of the world.
Meerkats in the Wild - many excellent meerkat photos that Roberta Stacy took when in the Kalahari Desert with Pam Wallberg during May 2000
More Meerkat photos than you'd know what to do with - there's dozens!
Suricata suricatta University of Michigan Meerkat page
Meerkat Birmingham Zoo, USA Meerkat page
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