MEERKAT

MEERKAT
CARNIVORA
Family: Herpestidae
Genus: Suricata
Species: suricatta
Range: Kalahari Desert region of Southern Africa, SW Angola, Namibia, Botswana and S. Africa
Habitat: Semi-arid, hard or stony open country, savanna and grasslands
Niche: Terrestrial, diurnal, primarily carnivorous with some omnivorous tendencies
Wild diet: Scorpions, beetles, spiders, centipedes, millipedes, worms, crickets, small mammals &
reptiles, bird’s eggs roots and tubers
Zoo diet:
Life Span: (Wild) 10 years
(Captivity)
Sexual dimorphism: slightly larger F from M
Location in SF Zoo: Children’s zoo
APPEARANCE & PHYSICAL ADAPTATIONS:
Meerkats are light grizzled gray to camouflage against the dry dusty earth. The rear portion of the
back is marked with black transverse bars. The head is almost white, the ears are black, and the
tail is yellowish with a black tip. The coat is long and soft with dark rufous under-fur used to warm
up. The body is quite slender which helps them slip quickly into their burrow when danger
threatens. The forefeet have four very long, strong claws for digging.
The long tail is used like the third leg of a tripod to aid balance when they stand upright for long
periods on sentry duty. They have keen eyesight and good color vision. Dark coloration
surrounds the eyes and act as natural sunglasses. They can stare
hard into bright sky and spot birds of prey at great distances. Oval
Weight: M: 1.3 - 1.75 lbs
F: 1.3 - 2.0 lbs
pupils are elongated horizontally, giving a wide view of their
Length:
9 - 13.5 inches
surroundings. Scent glands peripheral to the anus, open into a pouch
TL:
7
- 9.75 in
that presumably stores secretions.
STATUS & CONSERVATION
Mongooses as a group appear at this point not to be affected by human activities.
COMMUNICATION AND OTHER BEHAVIOR
Meerkats live in large communities of more than one family, usually 5 - 30 members is called a
“mob” or a “gang”. Using their sharp claws, they dig huge burrows with tunnel systems for the
colony. They may share a burrow with ground squirrels and yellow mongooses. The mob use a
common latrine. Each member has a job that they tend to alternate with others.
Babysitter - Stays with the pups while the gang is out foraging for food, and are 6 months
or older. The alpha female never baby-sits.
Sentries - Watches over the gang to spot danger. It is either done standing on the ground
or climbing a tree or bush. There is a sentry on watch both at the burrow system as well as when
the gang is foraging for food.
Hunters Teachers - go one-on-one with juveniles to show them how to hunt
COURTSHIP AND YOUNG
The alpha male is the dominate male of the gang and has breeding rights to the alpha female.
The dominate male is not necessarily decided by the largest male in the gang. The alpha female
is the dominate female of the gang, all betas are subservient to her. She is the one that is
supposed to breed in the gang. Beta males and females are subservient and leave the gang by 3
years in search of better breeding opportunities. They will be driven temporally from the gang by
the alpha female when she is ready to get pregnant.
Gestation: 11 weeks
Sexual Maturity: 10 months
# of Mammae: 3 pair
Weaning Age: 7 - 9 weeks
# of Young: 2-4
Weight at birth: 3/4 - 1/1/2 0z
MISCELLANEOUS
Meerkat" is an English loan word from Afrikaans. The name came from Dutch but by
misidentification. Dutch meerkat and German Meerkatze mean "guenon", a monkey of the
Cercopithecus genus. The word "meerkat" looks like Dutch for "Lake Cat", but neither suricatas
nor guenons are attracted to lakes. The traders of the Dutch East India Company were likely
familiar with monkeys, but the Dutch settlers attached the name to the wrong animal. The suricata
is called stokstaartje = "little stick-tail" in Dutch and Erdmännchen = "little earth-man" in German.
According to African popular belief (mainly in the Zambian/Zimbabwean region), the Meerkat is
also known as the ‘sun angel’, as it protects villages from the ‘moon devil’ (or werewolf) which is
believed to attack stray cattle or lone tribesmen.
Sources:
Last Revision: 6/28/2000
Present Rev: 6/29/2007
Walkers © 1999 Vol. 1
#
Africa - Environment & Wildlife © 1997 4
http://www.meercats.com
http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Suricata_suricatta.html