MEERKAT

Common name:
MEERKAT

Scientific name:
Suricata suricatta

Class:
Mammals

Order:
Carnivora

Family:
Erpestini

Provenance:
Southern Africa

Diet:
bugs – scorpions – reptiles – rodents

Habitat:
Arid plains

Reproduction:
11 weeks, 1-4 Puppies for childbirth

The Meerkat lives in arid savannahs and semidesert, rocky areas up to 1000 mt in height.
It is related to the mongoose. It weighs between 600-1200 grams and is 25-35 cm long. Usually the female is larger than the male. It has a large head with a pointed black nose. Its teeth are very sharp. Its eyes are surrounded by black hair. Its legs have 4 fingers and the forelimbs have sharp claws used to dig.
Its hair is soft, long and yellowish-gray in color with dark stripes on its back. Its tail is long with a black tip.
It is a diurnal animal, social and gregarious. The colonies can reach even 30 individuals. They live on the ground and dig underground burrows connected by tunnels.
Usually a member of the group stays on watch and warns the rest in case of danger with a loud call.
They are not afraid of the heat to which they are well adapted.
Gestation lasts 70-80 days and usually 2-5 pups are born at the end of a burrow lined with grass. Once they are weaned, all members of the colony help in the foraging of food.