Meerkat

Meerkats are incredibly social animals! You will always be able to spot at least one of them keeping a lookout.

Meerkats have excellent eyesight and amazing peripheral vision and will always have a sentry on guard to keep a lookout for predators while the rest forage for food. If the meerkat on guard spots danger, it barks loudly or whistles in one of six different ways.

They love to forage, burrow, groom each other, wrestle and play. They’re also fantastic diggers with sharp claws perfect for making tunnels. They can close their ears to keep dirt out whilst digging. You may notice their dark face mask around their eye – this helps them reduce glare from the sun. Although they look cute, they have very sharp teeth and aren’t afraid to use them! They eat anything from insects to eggs, lizards and even scorpions!

They live in groups of up to fifty individuals with one female alpha who will then be the only female in the group who will mate. This is called a matriarchal society. The other members of the group will help raise any pups, teaching them to dig for food and to hunt.