After emerging from their cool underground burrows, meerkats start each day with a sunbath.
Description
About 12 inches long, meerkats have a tan or gray coat, with a pale underside. Their eyes are ringed with black, and their tails have a black tip. Their slender body is typical of mongooses.Home Range
Angola, Namibia, Botswana, and South Africa
Habitat
Grassland, scrub forest, and desert
Diet
Insects, primarily, but also lizards, small reptiles, eggs, and vegetation
Reproduction
After a two-and-a-half-month gestation, a meerkat gives birth to a litter of two to five young. The young, called pups, are weaned at seven to nine weeks.
Social Structure
Meerkats live in groups of two or three families, with as many as 30 individuals. The groups are called mobs. Throughout the day, adults take turns serving as sentries, looking out for predators. When a potential threat is seen, the sentinel will make an alarm bark, and the meerkats will flee to their underground burrows.
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