African Meerkat

They are about 29 cm (12 in) long and weigh abouti kg (2 lbs). Their coat is tan to gray with broken dark brown bands across their back and sides. Their head and throat are grayish white. Their eye rings, ears and tail tips are black. Their face and body are long and they have short legs and long, tapering bushy tails. Their feet have four or five digits each tipped by long, nonretractile claws adapted for digging.

HABITS: The meerkat is a member of the mongoose family. Most mongooses are solitary and nocturnal, but meerkats are diurnal and live in pairs or family groups. They are active and agile terrestrial mammals. Meerkats do many activities as a group. Instinctively they work together to ensure the survival of the group as well as each individual. In the wild, meerkats hunt as a group. They will fight off predators together and sleep together. Each meerkat is balled up right next to, or on top of another meerkat when resting. They wrestle, play, investigate, scent mark territory, bury things, and dig things up. Usually during all this hustle and inquisitiveness, there is one meerkat, known as the sentry, who is keeping an eye on the horizon and the group. DIET: Meerkats are omnivorous. They eat insects, spiders, scorpions, centipedes, snakes, lizards, birds, small mammals, eggs, snails and seasonal fruits. Meerkats may be more resistant to the venoms of snakes and some insects, allowing them to capture and eat thes animals.

REPRODUCTION: The meerkat's gestation period is approximately 77 days, and they can give birth to litters of 2 to 5 young. The young are born sparsely furred and blind, opening their eyes at about two weeks. Their lifespan is approximately 10 years (17 in captivity). CONSERVATION: Mongooses are a widespread and successful group. No species of mongoose is known to be in danger of extinction although some species of mongoose have been persecuted by man.