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Meerkat

Suricata suricatta

Description:

We were fortunate enough to join a group in the Little Karoo arid region of South Africa to wait outside a Meerkat burrow in the wild at dawn. They arose one at a time until there were four adults present. they warmed their stomachs up in the sun for around 15 minuets before scurrying off to forage. Meerkats a member of the Mongoose family and exhibit family behaviour by gather in family groups called mobs. they are led by an alpha male and an alpha female who are the only ones aloud to breed. These Meerkats are completely wild, but with special study from the conservationists, they don't really notice us or our voices. we just have to remain very still. The pictures show them tracking a Goss Hawk that arrived on the scene. The Word Meerkat comes from an Afrikaans and Dutch combination word that means Like a Cat. Meerkats have shown to have very similar behaviour to the modern domestic cats in their grooming and playing with siblings. At the time of theses photos, babies had been born but after a month underground, the family was not ready to let them emerge.

Habitat:

Arid, flat ground regions of Botswana, Kenya and South Africa.

Notes:

The most famous Meerkat was Timone from the Lion King which I learned was a real Meerkat living in luxury in an American zoo. He was used for the drawings and illustrations for the lion king character. He lived happily until the age of 15.

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8 Comments

Hema  Shah
Hema Shah 7 years ago

Beautiful series and super cute too!

Michael Strydom
Michael Strydom 7 years ago

Thank you DanielePralong, the team we were with were outstanding in their knowledge and understanding.

Michael Strydom
Michael Strydom 7 years ago

Thank you AshleyT for the spotting of the day. They truly were the highlight of our weekend away!!

Pradeep Kumar
Pradeep Kumar 7 years ago

Congratulations!

AshleyT
AshleyT 7 years ago

Congrats Michael, this wonderful spotting has been selected as Spotting of the Day!

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Twitter: https://twitter.com/projectnoah/status/7...

DanielePralong
DanielePralong 7 years ago

Fantastic series and information Michael!

Michael Strydom
Michael Strydom 7 years ago

Thank you Pradeep Kumar. Very cute little guys :)

Pradeep Kumar
Pradeep Kumar 7 years ago

Lovely series!

Michael Strydom
Spotted by
Michael Strydom

Kannaland Local Municipality, Western Cape, South Africa

Spotted on Sep 6, 2016
Submitted on Sep 6, 2016

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