Meerkat
Suricata suricatta
Overview
Meerkats have a flat, pointed head and a sandy-coloured face with black eyes and ears. They have a mottled pattern of grey and yellow fur on their back and a pointed, black tipped tail. Meerkats move on all fours but assume a distinctive stance on their hind legs when alert.
The Meerkat has a head-body length of 24cm to 35cm and weighs between 0.62kg and 0.97kg. Females tend to be heavier than males.
- Found in
- Africa
- Class
- Mammalia
- Order
- Carnivora
- Family
- Herpestidae
- Genus
- Suricata
Conservation Status
The Meerkat is considered a species of Least Concern, facing relatively few direct conservation threats. However these pressures can still impact local populations and ecosystem balance. Habitat degradation due to agricultural expansion, mining, and human settlement can disrupt their natural environment, particularly in parts of southern Africa. Additionally, climate change poses a long-term risk by altering the arid ecosystems they depend on. Meerkats are also vulnerable to diseases, some of which can be transmitted from domestic animals.
Conservation efforts focus on habitat protection and ecological research. Protected areas such as national parks and reserves in southern Africa help safeguard meerkat habitats from development and exploitation. Scientific studies on meerkat behaviour, social structures, and disease dynamics provide valuable insights that inform conservation strategies. Additionally, public education and responsible ecotourism promote awareness and support for preserving meerkat populations.
Though not the focus of intensive conservation programs, meerkats benefit from broader efforts aimed at maintaining biodiversity and healthy ecosystems in their native range.
- Wild Population
- Unknown
- Conservation Status
- Least concern
Animal Facts
- The teeth and front claws of the meerkat are adapted for digging and it can close its ears and nostrils to prevent dirt from entering them.
- Meerkats will mob and sometimes kill snakes that enter their territory.
- In some areas of South Africa, meerkats are kept on farmland to act as pest control due to their ability to effectively kill rodents and pest insects.
- Meerkat females have a hierarchy of social rank, with the oldest and largest female usually assuming the role of alpha.
- Meerkat packs have ‘sentries’ that give different alarm calls to warn their pack mates of different predators.
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Social & Reproduction
Meerkats live in family packs and are considered to be ‘eusocial’, meaning highly socially organised and pack members have strongly defined roles within their group. The alpha female is determined by age and size, but younger females will vie for the position as she gets older.
Meerkats breed year round with peaks around heavy rainfall. An alpha female will give birth to most pups in the meerkat pack. Subordinate females occasionally reproduce when plenty of food is available, but their young will be at risk of being killed by the alpha. Males initiate mating by roughly fighting the alpha female, including grabbing and face nipping. If the male wins, he will grab the female round the middle and mate with her.
After a pregnancy of 60 to 70 days, a litter of 3 to 7 pups is born, remaining in the den for 16 days, protected and fed by the alpha female and other pack members. Pups venture to the entrance of the den to play, and from 26 days adults will teach them how to forage and hunt different types of prey. For example, how to pull the sting off scorpions before eating them. Pups are weaned between 7 and 9 weeks old and can forage independently by 12 weeks old.
Juveniles reach sexual maturity between 2 and 3 years old. Groups of 1 to 3 males will migrate in search of an unrelated pack or an unattached female to start their own pack. Unrelated packs are hostile, and it may take several days to be accepted. Females often remain with their natal pack to challenge for alpha female in the future, however failed challengers will be ousted from the pack.