 Meerkat (Suricata
suricatta)
Description. The
meerkat, a member of the mongoose family, is a small, long and slender
herpestid with a tails that is thin and tapering to a point. It is not
bushy like many mongoose species.
The face is also tapered, coming to a point at the nose and rounded at
the forehead. The ears are small and crescent-shaped. The color of the
coat varies geographically. In the southern portion of their range,
pelage color is darker, with lighter pelage coloration in the more arid
regions, following Gloger's rule. Generally, the color of the coat is
peppered gray, tan, or brown with a silver tint. The nose is brown. The
ventral parts of the body are only sparsely covered with hair. The fore
claws are enlarged for digging and the tail is yellowish tan in color
with a distinctive black tip. In addition, there are distinctive dark
patches around the eyes. Dark horizontal bands run across the dorsal
parts of the body except the head and tail.
Size. The body and legs of these
animals are long and slender, with head and body length between 250 and
350 mm. The tail adds 175-250 mm to the animal's total length. Males
average 731 grams weight and females 720 grams.
Habitat. Meerkats inhabit the most
open and arid country of any mongoose species. They are found in areas
of savannah and open plains and their distribution depends on soil
type, with firm to hard soils being common living grounds
Behavior.
Meerkats
are highly social and live in packs consisting of up to 3 familial
groups. There can be up to 30 individuals in a pack. Each individual
family group includes a breeding pair and their offspring. Within
packs, animals are usually friendly, but among packs, serious fights
can erupt.
Meerkats exhibit sentinel behavior where one member of the group poses
as a look out, watching for predators and other danger. The sentinel
sounds alarm by giving a distinct bark. If a parent sounds alarm, its
offspring run to and huddle around their mother.
Sentinel rotation occurs throughout the day among different members of
the pack and is announced vocally. Sentinel behavior is especially
notable when the group is foraging away from the burrow. During
foraging, prey are located by smell. Older individuals often share food
with juveniles.
Adult
male meerkats typically emigrate from the pack in which they were born
and attempt to join or take over another pack. Females are usually
philopatric. Nonbreeding members of the pack often act as babysitters
for nursing females. This allows ample opportunity for these females to
forage, thus maintaining a sufficient milk supply for the offspring.
Babysitting continues until the young are able to forage with the pack.
Although
meerkats are basically diurnal, their activity is controlled largely by
the soil temperature. They are only active when the sun is present and
warms the surface of their burrows. When the weather is overcast or
raining, S.
suricata
does not emerge from its underground retreat. Similarly, during midday,
if temperatures are too high, meerkats will return to the burrow to
cool off.
Diet. Meerkats are mainly
insectivorous, but will take small vertebrates, eggs, and plant matter.
They forage regularly for these food items, digging in soil and grass
and overturning rocks. Their animal diet consists of 82% insects, 7%
arachnids, 3% centipedes, 3% millipedes, 2% reptiles, and 2% birds.
Captive meerkats will prey readily upon small mammals (
Predators. Predators include various
mammalian as well as avian carnivores, such as hawks and eagles
(particularly the Martial Eagle).
Reproduction. Females typically
breed at about 24 months of age. The breeding season is extended in
meerkats when conditions are favorable. In addition, females exhibit no
synchrony of estrous, mating, or birth. Therefore, the pack can produce
young throughout the year. In the wild, births occur most often during
the rainy, warmer part of the year from August through March. Breeding
may stop during times of drought. Gestation has been reported to be
approximately 11 weeks As in all mammals, the mother provides the
offspring with milk. Young mothers carry their young by picking them up
any which-way, whereas older, experienced mothers always carry young by
the nape of the neck. The father meerkat may take an active role in
parental care by guarding the young. Because of the highly social
nature of meerkats, nonbreeding individuals are often part of the pack.
These nonbreeders act as helpers, guarding and provisioning the young.
On
Wildcliff.
Seen
grazing in the meadows.
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