Meerkat

The meerkat, also called the suricate, is a small mongoose from southern Africa. It has a broad head, big eyes, a pointed snout and a coat with faint light and dark stripes. It lives in dry, open country in places such as Botswana, Namibia and South Africa.

Meerkats live in groups called packs or mobs of two to about 30, and every pack member has a job. While some animals search for food, others stand tall on their back legs as lookouts and call out when a danger appears. That teamwork made meerkats famous, including as Timon in a well-known animated film. A pack's home range covers about 5 square kilometres, and the group moves between burrow systems as it searches for food. They are social animals that live in a clear hierarchy.

Life in the burrow

A meerkat pack lives in a large underground network of tunnels, usually with around 15 entrances and two or three levels. Burrows stay much milder than the weather outside, which helps in a harsh desert climate. Meerkats are active by day, mostly early in the morning and late in the afternoon, and dash underground when they sense trouble. Meerkats can regulate their body temperature to cope with the desert, and the cool burrow gives them a place to rest when the weather is extreme.

Food and family

Meerkats mainly eat insects such as beetles and caterpillars, but they also take other small animals, including reptiles and small birds, and some plants. Their front claws are made for digging. Usually the dominant animals in a pack have the babies, while other members help look after the pups. A litter has three to seven pups. Pups are born all year round, with peaks after heavy rain. A pregnancy lasts 60 to 70 days, and helpers share the work of feeding and guarding the young.

On the globe

The model shows meerkats in their sentry pose, standing tall on their hind legs to keep watch.