walking among meerkats

Meerkats are social animals that live in large groups of up to 40 individuals, called a gang or mob. The mob is made up of several family groups. There is typically one dominant pair that produces most of the offspring. These mobs spend their time playing together and grooming each other. They also hunt and guard the young as a unit, helping their survival. Most meerkat mobs live underground in burrows.

Meerkats have a matriarchal society, where adult females are generally slightly larger than the males. The mother needs to spend time foraging to supply her pups with milk. When the mother is away, other females and males stay behind to care for and protect her young. The more “babysitters” there are, the greater the survival rate for the pups.
Meerkats live about 8 years in the wild and up to 13 years in zoos.