Meerkats

Real Life

**Meerkats**, also known as **suricates,**are mammals that appear in *The Lion Guard* universe. They live in the Pride Lands and the Jungle.

## Appearance

### In the Real World

Meerkats have slender bodies, tapering tails, and pointed faces. Their legs, which are thin and long, end in four-toed paws with powerful claws. They have black crescent-shaped ears. Their fur is usually grizzled gray, silvery brown, orange, gold, or tan in color, with a brown nose and black patches around the eyes. They have a pattern of stripes on their back, unique to each meerkat.

### In *The Lion Guard*

The only meerkat shown in *The Lion Guard*thus far has been Timon, a meerkat with brown fur, darker stripes on his back, dark brown ears, and a small crest of reddish fur atop his head.

## Information

Meerkats belong to the mongoose family. They weigh about the same as squirrels, and live in the deserts and grasslands of Africa. Being social animals, they live in colonies. They are expert diggers that dig elaborate underground burrows. Their main predators are birds of prey and jackals. The family group are Mob or Gang or Clan.

## History

### **The Lion King**

A group of meerkats appear in the "**Circle of Life**" sequence, but have little significance to the story. These meerkats look and act more realistically than any other meerkat who appears in the films.

Later in the story, after **Mufasa's** death, **Simba** flees into the desert and passes out under the hot sun. **Timon**, a comedic meerkat, and his warthog friend, **Pumbaa**, take him to their **jungle oasis** and revive him under the shade. They claim to be outcasts, but viewers don't discover the real reason for this until the ***Timon & Pumbaa***episodes "**Once Upon a Timon**" and "**Home is Where the Hog Is**", which were contradicted by ***The Lion King 1½*** (especially the former). They teach Simba their philosophy, "**Hakuna Matata**," and take him in as their own.

Years go by, and the young **lion** grows up with Timon and Pumbaa in the jungle. But one day, after Simba has grown into a young adult, his childhood friend, **Nala**, comes to the jungle and convinces him to go back to **Pride Rock** and take his place as **king**. At first, Timon is against the idea, but he eventually gives in and helps Simba win back the **Pride Lands**. He is seen at the end of the movie on top of Pride Rock with Simba, Nala, and Pumbaa.

### **The Lion Guard**

Timon the meerkat is the adoptive uncle of **Bunga**, one of the main characters in *The Lion Guard* as well as the adoptive uncle of **Simba**, the **Ruler of the Pride Lands**, and as such he appears frequently throughout the series.

### **The Lion Guard: Return of the Roar**

Timon and Pumbaa arrive after they hear **Zuri** in distress. Together, they manage to get her free, just as Bunga arrives. When Zuri falls into a log full of bugs, the pair leap down to feast, and Timon even manages to find an additional bug from the back of Zuri's ear. Bunga is excited to tell them of his new role in the Lion Guard, and proceeds to announce it to the world. Both are at first largely concerned about this, with Timon's fear leaning towards the extra work it would require. Bunga reminds them of **Zuka Zama**, but Timon is still dubious. However, after **Kion** explains that Bunga is the bravest animal he knows, both Timon and Pumbaa come to accept his new role.

## Notable Meerkats in The Lion King & *The Lion Guard*

* **Monti**
* **Fred**
* **Iron Joe**
* **Meerkat angel**
* **Mooks**
* **Pimon**
* **Ma**
* **Timon**
* **Timon's Ma**
* **Uncle Max**

## Trivia

* Another meerkat is also seen in *Meet the New Guard, We Are The Lion Guard and First Look and Find*
* The work as a tight-knit team against predators using a system of sentry-duty; this is from a life spent out in open in semi-desert conditions.
* Their pale, sand-colored coat provides good camouflage against soil and rigid regions.
* 'Meerkat' is an Afrikaans word meaning lake - or marsh - cat. Even though they live in dry areas, its very fond of bathing if it spots still water.
* Meerkats harass snakes, probably to drive them away from their burrows. They might even attack poisonous ones despite not being immune to the venom. When tackling a scorpion, a meerkat might bite off its stinger then swallow it head first.
* The meerkat is a member of the mongoose family, known as Herpestidae.