So for my last post, I decided to share some of my favorite video clips! Here is one that shows a group of baby meerkat's first experience outside of the den... it is fascinating how easily they warm up to the human observers! The pups are so darn cute :) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMIRwCNvI94
This video is made by Simon King and his crew, a wildlife film maker from the UK who has spent much time with meerkats in the Kalahari Desert.
This next video, also from the BBC channel, gives a great example of how meerkats hunt in groups, including a view of the meerkat on sentry duty and the calls they give to warn the group of an incoming threat. It is a good synopsis of the daily hunting routine of meerkats. http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/life/Meerkat#p00f3h6l
The National Geographic channel has a great little montage that highlights some of the most interesting facts about meerkats. It is great because it shows how they dig burrows and most importantly--how they eat a living scorpion without getting stung! http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/animals/bugs-animals/spiders-and-scorpions/meerkat/ Forgive the cheesy narrator, its hard to make wildlife videos interesting! ;)
These next two videos are behind-the-scenes clips from Animal Planet's Meerkat Manor. They are interviews with the field researchers who explain some of the behaviors they observe in meerkats on a daily basis. This first one is about how a dominant female is chosen in a meerkat group: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZglquBWYgk&feature=related and this next one is about how the radio collars they put on the meerkats work and how they are able to get them on the meerkats without endangering themselves or the animals: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydCMCAwd8Cg&feature=relmfu
So there you go, I hope you found some of these videos interesting! I think they help to provide visual examples to the many topics I have discussed over this blog. I hope you have learned about these cute, cuddly and fascinating creatures in great detail over the course of this blog. I have had a lot of fun researching and writing about them each week! :)
Resources:
http://animal.discovery.com/animals
http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature
http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals
Sunday, May 13, 2012
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Meerkats in the Zoo--Are They Trainable?
I went to the San Diego Zoo for one last trip this semester and couldn't pass up the meerkat habitat, I just love these little critters! One of the zookeepers happened to be in front inviting people to come and ask questions if they had any. I figured this would be a great time to get some more information for my blog! So I decided to ask her about meerkats in captivity and if there are many behavioral differences, and also if meerkats were readily trainable in zoo settings.
The zookeeper had a lot of information. She told me that meerkats in captivity live longer and get to be almost twice the size of wild meerkats! This is due to the abundance of food and the inability to hunt and forage for food and dig new burrows--some of the only ways meerkats get exercise in the wild. She also said many of the meerkats alarm calls fall by the wayside in captivity, since there are no predators to warn the group about. This helps to explain why they were so quiet and lazy last time I observed them at the zoo!
Another interesting thing the zookeeper told me about captive meerkats is that their hierarchy system is somewhat diminished. There is still a clear alpha male and alpha female, but they are not so strict about who can and cannot have offspring. She speculates this is due, again, to the abundance of food and burrow territory, but more research is needed to know exactly why this happens. She also told me meerkats in captivity reproduce twice a year as compared to once a year in the wild, and typically have larger litters.
When I asked about how trainable meerkats are, the zookeeper said despite some of their best efforts, the meerkats here in the San Diego Zoo have not been easily trained. Their one big success story is getting several of the meerkats to use a litterbox! But mostly she believes the meerkats are best left to live as they please and attempts to train them have fallen by the wayside. She said they are very good with human interaction and will readily come up to all zookeepers when they are in their enclosure.
Overall it sounds like the meerkats in captivity here in San Diego live great lives! In comparison to their counterparts in the Kalahari Desert they are practically living in paradise! :)
The zookeeper had a lot of information. She told me that meerkats in captivity live longer and get to be almost twice the size of wild meerkats! This is due to the abundance of food and the inability to hunt and forage for food and dig new burrows--some of the only ways meerkats get exercise in the wild. She also said many of the meerkats alarm calls fall by the wayside in captivity, since there are no predators to warn the group about. This helps to explain why they were so quiet and lazy last time I observed them at the zoo!
Another interesting thing the zookeeper told me about captive meerkats is that their hierarchy system is somewhat diminished. There is still a clear alpha male and alpha female, but they are not so strict about who can and cannot have offspring. She speculates this is due, again, to the abundance of food and burrow territory, but more research is needed to know exactly why this happens. She also told me meerkats in captivity reproduce twice a year as compared to once a year in the wild, and typically have larger litters.
When I asked about how trainable meerkats are, the zookeeper said despite some of their best efforts, the meerkats here in the San Diego Zoo have not been easily trained. Their one big success story is getting several of the meerkats to use a litterbox! But mostly she believes the meerkats are best left to live as they please and attempts to train them have fallen by the wayside. She said they are very good with human interaction and will readily come up to all zookeepers when they are in their enclosure.
Overall it sounds like the meerkats in captivity here in San Diego live great lives! In comparison to their counterparts in the Kalahari Desert they are practically living in paradise! :)
Friday, May 4, 2012
Random & Interesting Facts About Meerkats... Complete with a quiz!
I thought it would be cool to do a post on facts about meerakts that most people don't know. So, here it goes! I'm also including a fun little quiz at the end for everyone to try! Answers will come with the next post :)
-Meerkats only have four toes.
-A male meerkat weighs on average only 1.5 pounds, females typically weigh around 1 or less
-Meerkats use their tails to balance. Their tails can be up to 9 inches long, almost as long as their body!
-If it is cold or rainy outside, meerkats will stay in their burrows and wait out the storm, hunting later in the day instead of the morning.
-Meerkats have ears that can open and close in order to protect them from getting dirt in their ears when they dig burrows.
-A meerkat's average life span is 12-14 years.
-Meerkats can eat scorpions because they are immune to their venom.
-Their is an extremely successful show in England starting an animated meerkat. (Kind of like the Geico Gecko!)
Meerkat Quiz:
Go here to try out the quiz! http://www.fellowearthlings.org/meerkat-trivia.html
Resources:
http://www.fanpop.com/spots/meerkats/quiz
http://www.facts-about.org.uk/facts-about-meerkats.html
http://denisiuk.dev.itechcraft.com/animals-194/small-mammals-9883/meerkat-9892.html/list-categories/page-0
-Meerkats only have four toes.
-A male meerkat weighs on average only 1.5 pounds, females typically weigh around 1 or less
-Meerkats use their tails to balance. Their tails can be up to 9 inches long, almost as long as their body!
-If it is cold or rainy outside, meerkats will stay in their burrows and wait out the storm, hunting later in the day instead of the morning.
-Meerkats have ears that can open and close in order to protect them from getting dirt in their ears when they dig burrows.
-A meerkat's average life span is 12-14 years.
-Meerkats can eat scorpions because they are immune to their venom.
-Their is an extremely successful show in England starting an animated meerkat. (Kind of like the Geico Gecko!)
Meerkat Quiz:
Go here to try out the quiz! http://www.fellowearthlings.org/meerkat-trivia.html
Resources:
http://www.fanpop.com/spots/meerkats/quiz
http://www.facts-about.org.uk/facts-about-meerkats.html
http://denisiuk.dev.itechcraft.com/animals-194/small-mammals-9883/meerkat-9892.html/list-categories/page-0
Saturday, April 28, 2012
The Kalahari Meerkat Project
Browsing thorough links about meerkats, I came across a really cool website about a current long-term research project. It is called the Kalahari Meerkat Project and it is being conducted by a team of researchers interested in the evolution of cooperative behavior in meerkats clans. The team consists of several professors, doctoral and Ph. D. students from Cambridge University and the University of Zurich. Volunteers are also welcome to come learn about the project and help with current studies.
The KMP logo
The project is geared at uncovering both the proximate and ultimate causes of cooperative behavior in meerkats. Several of the current studies include looking into the hormonal variation of male and female meerkats and looking for links to hormones and cooperative behavior. The researchers suspect that it has something to do with their level of glucocorticoids and are in the works of preparing a study to test their hypotheses. Another study is interested in the rise of disease among social groups of animals such as meerkats and is looking into how the naturally occurring disease TB has entered the meerkat population and how it is spreading.
The researchers work with habituated meerkats living in the Kuruman River Reserve in the Kalahari Desert. They work with over 200 meerkats and observe 13 different clans for their studies. All of the meerkats being studied have identification collars on and are used to being around the researchers. Most of them can even be held by the researchers without running away or biting them.
A Kalahari Meerkat Project researcher observing one of the meerkat clans.
The Kalahari Research Project also allows other individual researchers to come and work with their group of habituated meerkats. Their goal is education and better understanding of the meerkat population and will allow other researchers to conduct studies if they fit in with their research goals. There have been a number of very interesting studies conducted by outside researchers associated with the Kalahari Project, ranging from pup exploitation of adult meerkats to the development of the alarm call behavior among individual meerkat clans. This project and its funding allow researchers to learn more about this amazing animal and will hopefully lead to a better understanding and more public awareness of meerkats and the amazing social network that exists among their clans.
The website has a ton of information about the project and continually updates its current studies and findings as they become available. There are volunteer opportunities and ways for individuals to get involved if they would like to do so. You can also access pictures and information about the specific meerkats the Project studies. Check it out and learn more about this awesome project! :)
Website/Resources: http://www.kalahari-meerkats.com/index.php?id=home
http://friends.kalahari-meerkats.com/
The project is geared at uncovering both the proximate and ultimate causes of cooperative behavior in meerkats. Several of the current studies include looking into the hormonal variation of male and female meerkats and looking for links to hormones and cooperative behavior. The researchers suspect that it has something to do with their level of glucocorticoids and are in the works of preparing a study to test their hypotheses. Another study is interested in the rise of disease among social groups of animals such as meerkats and is looking into how the naturally occurring disease TB has entered the meerkat population and how it is spreading.
The researchers work with habituated meerkats living in the Kuruman River Reserve in the Kalahari Desert. They work with over 200 meerkats and observe 13 different clans for their studies. All of the meerkats being studied have identification collars on and are used to being around the researchers. Most of them can even be held by the researchers without running away or biting them.
The Kalahari Research Project also allows other individual researchers to come and work with their group of habituated meerkats. Their goal is education and better understanding of the meerkat population and will allow other researchers to conduct studies if they fit in with their research goals. There have been a number of very interesting studies conducted by outside researchers associated with the Kalahari Project, ranging from pup exploitation of adult meerkats to the development of the alarm call behavior among individual meerkat clans. This project and its funding allow researchers to learn more about this amazing animal and will hopefully lead to a better understanding and more public awareness of meerkats and the amazing social network that exists among their clans.
The website has a ton of information about the project and continually updates its current studies and findings as they become available. There are volunteer opportunities and ways for individuals to get involved if they would like to do so. You can also access pictures and information about the specific meerkats the Project studies. Check it out and learn more about this awesome project! :)
Website/Resources: http://www.kalahari-meerkats.com/index.php?id=home
http://friends.kalahari-meerkats.com/
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Meerkats as TV stars---a look into Animal Planet's Meerkat Manor
Besides Lion King, meerkats had little to no time in the Hollywood spotlight until the introduction of Meerkat Manor--a British TV program brought to the United States in 2005. This series drew fans instantly--with over 4 million viewers--and ran for 4 seasons until it was canceled indefinitely from Animal Planet's show line-up in 2008.
Meerkat Manor followed a meerkat family the documentary crew named Whiskers, one of many family clans in the Kalahari Desert. The show fictionalized the lives of meerkats and portrayed them as a royal family, making them and their actions seem very humanlike through the use of narrators and comical one-liners about the animal's behaviors. Although somewhat unrealistic, the show gave viewers an insider first-look at how meerkats live their daily lives. Constant filming--including night vision, underground cameras--gave very real depictions of how meerkats interact with one another and their environment on a daily basis.
Critics complained that the show was too unrealistic, making animal behavior seem too human-like and that a meerkat's daily life was portrayed in a way that would be favorable to viewers instead of how it occurs in nature. For instance, many mating scenes were cut out to make the show PG viewable. There was also a lot of editing done to make the show "less boring" and cut out a lot of daily foraging and grooming behavior done by the meerkat clan being followed.
All in all, Meerkat Manor was a huge success. It gave meerkats their "15 minutes of fame" and gave the public more insight into how they live. Some say the success of the show will be beneficial should meerkats ever become a threatened or endangered species. This unusual documentary series put a spin on typical educational films and made it viewable to a wide range of audiences. The Whisker family is now a household name across the world--with viewings not only in the US, the UK and Australia. Watch out Angelina, Flower might be the first meerkat with a star on Hollywood Blvd! :)
Sophie, one of the Whiskers family babysitters looking curiously into the camera
Watch a video about how the researchers made this documentary without hurting the meerkat clan or it's home. Also meet several of the stars of the show! http://animal.discovery.com/videos/meerkat-manor-behind-the-burrow/
Resources:
http://animal.discovery.com/fansites/meerkat/meerkat.html
http://animal.discovery.com/fansites/meerkat/about/about.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meerkat_Manor
Meerkat Manor followed a meerkat family the documentary crew named Whiskers, one of many family clans in the Kalahari Desert. The show fictionalized the lives of meerkats and portrayed them as a royal family, making them and their actions seem very humanlike through the use of narrators and comical one-liners about the animal's behaviors. Although somewhat unrealistic, the show gave viewers an insider first-look at how meerkats live their daily lives. Constant filming--including night vision, underground cameras--gave very real depictions of how meerkats interact with one another and their environment on a daily basis.
Critics complained that the show was too unrealistic, making animal behavior seem too human-like and that a meerkat's daily life was portrayed in a way that would be favorable to viewers instead of how it occurs in nature. For instance, many mating scenes were cut out to make the show PG viewable. There was also a lot of editing done to make the show "less boring" and cut out a lot of daily foraging and grooming behavior done by the meerkat clan being followed.
All in all, Meerkat Manor was a huge success. It gave meerkats their "15 minutes of fame" and gave the public more insight into how they live. Some say the success of the show will be beneficial should meerkats ever become a threatened or endangered species. This unusual documentary series put a spin on typical educational films and made it viewable to a wide range of audiences. The Whisker family is now a household name across the world--with viewings not only in the US, the UK and Australia. Watch out Angelina, Flower might be the first meerkat with a star on Hollywood Blvd! :)
Watch a video about how the researchers made this documentary without hurting the meerkat clan or it's home. Also meet several of the stars of the show! http://animal.discovery.com/videos/meerkat-manor-behind-the-burrow/
Resources:
http://animal.discovery.com/fansites/meerkat/meerkat.html
http://animal.discovery.com/fansites/meerkat/about/about.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meerkat_Manor
Thursday, April 19, 2012
Meerkats Spotted at the San Diego Zoo!
Here is a picture I took last week when I visited the San Diego Zoo. The meerkats were sitting, sun bathing and waiting to be fed by the zoo assistants who were cleaning out the back of the their habitat. A new pup was supposed to be in the habitat but he was in the hospital for some testing and health treatments. The meerkats weren't very social---but I think it was because they were hungry & focused! :)
Monday, April 16, 2012
Are Meerkats a Threatened Species?
Meerkats are considered to be in the lower risk status when it comes to conservation. This means they don't necessarily qualify as an endangered or vulnerable group, but could likely be that way in the near future if efforts are not taken to stop their slow decline in the wild. According to the IUCN--the International Union for Conservation of Nature--meerkats are in the least concern category, meaning they are not threatened, near threatened, or conservation dependent. In order to qualify for this category, the IUCN must be able to accurately evaluate their population status in nature and make an accurate assessment of their risk of extinction. The risk must be low or close to non-existent in the present for them to get this status.
The only real threat meerkats face in terms of extinction risk is from humans. In places where meerkats live within close distances of humans or have many daily interactions with them, they are often hunted or gassed because of they carry rabies. Although this has not severely hurt the meerkats' population numbers so far, it is a serious concern for their future. Many animal activist and protection groups have tried to sponsor conservation efforts in the areas with the most concern for hunting and gassing of meerkats and have started to bring about awareness of their potential vulnerable status in the near future if such killings keep happening at a quicker rate than the meerkats reproduce. Efforts to move these meerkats to safer locations and efforts to keep human interaction to a minimum in the wild has helped them keep their low concern status to this day.
Meerkats play a crucial part in the wild-life circle in their habitats and their threat or extinction would severely effect many other species. Meerkats provide prey for jackals and eagles and keep the pest infestation to a minimum by making many pest-like insects the staple of their diet. Keeping meerkats at the least concern status they currently hold is beneficial to their entire habitat and ecosystem.
Resources:
http://www.animalfactguide.com/animalfacts/meerkat/
http://www.sandiegozoo.org/animalbytes/t-meerkat.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/life/Meerkat
The scale the IUCN uses to assess animals conservation status.
The only real threat meerkats face in terms of extinction risk is from humans. In places where meerkats live within close distances of humans or have many daily interactions with them, they are often hunted or gassed because of they carry rabies. Although this has not severely hurt the meerkats' population numbers so far, it is a serious concern for their future. Many animal activist and protection groups have tried to sponsor conservation efforts in the areas with the most concern for hunting and gassing of meerkats and have started to bring about awareness of their potential vulnerable status in the near future if such killings keep happening at a quicker rate than the meerkats reproduce. Efforts to move these meerkats to safer locations and efforts to keep human interaction to a minimum in the wild has helped them keep their low concern status to this day.
Meerkats play a crucial part in the wild-life circle in their habitats and their threat or extinction would severely effect many other species. Meerkats provide prey for jackals and eagles and keep the pest infestation to a minimum by making many pest-like insects the staple of their diet. Keeping meerkats at the least concern status they currently hold is beneficial to their entire habitat and ecosystem.
Resources:
http://www.animalfactguide.com/animalfacts/meerkat/
http://www.sandiegozoo.org/animalbytes/t-meerkat.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/life/Meerkat
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