How Timon & His Family Came To Be...

The meerkat species has been most popularized by Disney's The Lion King--where the inspiration for this blog started--as well as Animal Planet's Meerkat Manor, a show dedicated to documenting the daily ins and outs of this adorable little creature. The meerkat's name can be confusing, as it is not a member of the cat family--even though the Dutch meaning of the word meerkat is "lake cat." It is believed that the name started as a spin-off of the Dutch word for monkey, as this is what African sailors on Dutch ships were familiar with. They attached the name to the wrong animal! Meerkats are actually a member of the mongoose family (herpestidae). Their genus name-- Suricata is also Dutch and translates to "little stick tail." The binomial name for a meerkat is Suricata suricatta, and 3 subspecies have been identified (siricata--the ones that look like Timon, majoriae, and iona) .

                                       (A clan of Suricata suricatta sircata meerkats in Africa)

Meerkats live mainly in Southern Africa. They can be found extensively in the Namib and Kalahari deserts. Their close relatives are the Yellow mongoose and the Slender mongoose, both of which live in Southern Africa and can be found living in harmony with many meerkat clans, since they do not compete for the same resources. Meerkats build extensive underground burrows, called dens, which have many tunnels, entrances and "rooms" for all of the clan members to live in. The typical clan (which consists of 20-40 meerkats) has between 6 and 15 dens in their territorial area and they move dens every 1-2 days in order to stay away from predators. Meerkats are extremely social animals and their clan is a community with very specific roles and hierarchies. Since they are such small animals, living in groups and delegating roles helps to keep them safe.

It is thought that meerkats evolved from the banded mongoose in the southern tip of Africa. An extinct subspecies has been found there and seems to resemble most closely the banded mongoose. The meerkat is the only mongoose known to stand for long periods of time, and it is thought that this adaptive behavior aids in their survival by making them taller and more able to watch for predators. When meerkats are on all fours they are only 6" tall, but when they stand they are almost 12" tall. 

The meerkat spends a majority of their time in the wild guarding its clan from predators and foraging for food. For this reason, meerkats in captivity act quite differently than they would in the wild. Since food is abundant and predators do not exist, captive meerkats are not quite as vocal or active. They grow much larger and live longer than the typical wild meerkat. They do quite well in captivity, but making a meerkat a pet is not common, nor advised! They are agressive towards intruders and will not be happy about guests coming into their home. They also require a very specific climate that would be hard to keep in a residential area. Meerkats should remain in Africa and in zoos where they can be properly cared for and live happily :)

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suricata_suricatta

http://www.meerkats.net/info.htm#Meerkats are a type of Mongoose

http://www.fellowearthlings.org/