Meerkats

Photo taken by Erik Veland

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOsBKCDtkco

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All facts from www.livescience.com

Meerkat mothers can feed their babies milk while standing because of the support from her tail

A membrane protects meerkat's eye when they dig

When meerkats fight each other, they will run straight towards each other which causes numerous meerkat deaths

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Meerkats are a 12 inch tall mammal living in the African Deserts. They are often seen in groups of 20  individuals consisting of young, female and male meerkats. They are omnivores and often eat insects, lizard and fruits when found while scavenging. Meerkats live in burrows that they dig themselves involving tunnels deep underground to protect against the heat of the sun (National Geographic ). They have a lifespan of 12-14 years.

**First Steps/Breeding**

After just two years of age, Meerkats are mature enough to reproduce (Wikipedia ). They are iteroparous which means that they can reproduce just about anytime during the year. Female meerkats tend to have 2-4 babies each year after being pregnant for about 11 months. However, beta females will try to kill the alpha females offspring to gain a higher chance of becoming the alpha. Similarily, alpha females will kill beta females offsprings to mantain their power (howstuffworks )

The newborn will feed through his mother’s milk for up to 63 days. Many other female meerkats will volunteer to take care of the newborn in a cooperative breeding type of way. This is most frequent in the first 10 days of the meerkats birth. During this time their ears and eyes have not been opened so they have to tend for the young while the mother goes out and forages for food (howstuffworks ). Baby meerkats learn to recognize their mothers through the sense of scent.

Growing Up

At around 2 years of age, young meerkats will move out of their mothers den and begin to create their own. They learn to how to forge and how to defend their territory through observational learning from watching the elders of the group and/or their mother. A mothers job is to ensure that her pups are suited to be able to live on their own so they initially become the main teacher for her offsprings. Young meerkats will engage in playful fighting with each other and the adults.

Home

Meerkats are primarily found in South particularly the Kalahari desert. They live in burrows underground that are connected by a series of tunnel. Some burrows are very deep in the ground in order to protect from the heat of the sun.

**Power and Courtship**

 Females are the more dominant sex powering over the males and deciding whose offsprings to pass on. The most important position in a meerkat group is the alpha female. Being the alpha female proves that you are fierce because in order to achieve that high of a position, she would have had to fight every other female in the group. The alpha females job is to ensure that she chooses which male’s gene to pass on. She will be the only female to reproduce in a clan and will kill pups that are not her own in the first day that they are born. She also has the role of leading her pack out foraging (Wikia).

Alpha female’s pups are granted dominance over beta pups during their childhood but it is likely to change in the teenage and young adult years due to size. Similarly, the alpha male would be granted to a male meerkat if he is the biggest and strongest in his pack. That is why the role of the alpha female is a much higher position than the alpha male.