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They are great team workers: whether they are on guard or looking after the young – thanks to the division of labor, meerkats master life in the savannahs of southern Africa perfectly.

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What do meerkats look like?

Meerkats belong to the order of carnivores and there to the mongoose family. Her body is long and slender. They are 25 to 35 centimeters tall, the tail measures 24 centimeters and they weigh an average of 800 grams. Their fur is gray-brown to white-grey, the undercoat has a slightly reddish hue.

Eight to ten dark, almost black horizontal stripes running down the back are typical. The head is light and the snout is long. The eyes are surrounded by a black ring, the small ears and the tip of the tail are also dark-colored. They have four toes on each of their front and rear paws. The claws on the front paws are very strong so that the animals can dig well.

Meerkats have a very developed sense of smell and can see very well.

Where do meerkats live?

Meerkats are only found in southern Africa. There they can be found in the countries of South Africa, Namibia, southern Angola, and Botswana. Meerkats inhabit wide plains in savannas, rocky dry areas, and semi-deserts where there are hardly any shrubs and trees. There they live in crevices or dig up to three meters deep burrows. They avoid forests and mountainous areas.

What types of meerkats are there?

There are six different subspecies of meerkats found in different regions of southern Africa.

How old do meerkats get?

In the wild, meerkats live about six years, in captivity, they can live a little over twelve years.

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Meerkats live in families that form colonies of up to 30 animals and live in burrows or crevices. Because they love warmth, these diurnal animals can often be seen sitting in the sun in front of their burrows. They sunbathe to warm up, especially in the morning hours.

When resting, they sit on their buttocks, hind legs, and tail pointed forward. At night, they snuggle up in groups in their burrow to keep themselves warm.

Meerkats take turns doing the necessary “work”: while some animals sit completely relaxed in the sun, some sit upright and sit on their hind legs, observing their surroundings.

Still, other animals of the colony dig the burrow, and still, others search for food. After a while, they will switch. The animals that keep watching warn their fellows.

If you spot something unusual, stand on tiptoe and support yourself with your tail. If there is a threat from birds of prey, they emit a shrill alarm call. For the others, this is the signal to quickly disappear into their underground burrow.

Meerkats always stay close to their burrow when foraging. As a result, there is a rapid shortage of food. The animals, therefore, have to move regularly: they migrate a little further and dig a new burrow, where they can then find enough food for a while. Sometimes they also take over abandoned burrows from other animals.

Meerkats are very jealous of food – even when they are full, they try to snatch the food away from other animals. But they defend their prey by using their hindquarters to push their competitors away. If several conspecifics approach, they stand on the prey with their forefeet and turn in a circle.

Meerkats have special scent glands with which they mark their territory, and they also recognize the members of their colony by their scent. Meerkats not only appreciate the company of their fellow species. They often live in the same burrow with ground squirrels, which are rodents.

Friends and foes of meerkats

The enemies of meerkats are birds of prey such as vultures. If meerkats are attacked, they will throw themselves on their backs and show their teeth and claws to the attacker. If they want to threaten an enemy, they straighten up, arch their backs, ruffle their fur, and growl.

How do meerkats reproduce?

Meerkats can breed all year round. After eleven weeks of gestation, the females give birth to two to four young. These weigh only 25 to 36 grams, are still blind and deaf, and therefore completely helpless. Only after two weeks do they open their eyes and ears.

They are suckled for the first two to three months. From six weeks, however, they also get solid food from their mother from time to time.

At the age of three months, the little ones are independent but stay with the family. Meerkats become sexually mature at the age of one year. All members of the colony work together to raise the young.

How do meerkats communicate?

When threatened, meerkats emit shrill calls. They often bark or growl. They also make chuckling noises to warn.

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What do meerkats eat?

Meerkats are small predators and feed on animal foods such as insects and spiders. To track them down and capture them, they scratch the ground with their front paws. That is why they are also called “scratching animals”.

Sometimes they also prey on small mammals or reptiles such as lizards and small snakes, and they do not disdain bird eggs. They also occasionally eat fruit. When meerkats find something to eat, they sit on their hind legs, hold the prey with their front paws and check their prey by sniffing it.