Posted on 23rd June 2023 by Media Relations
World Meerkat Day was founded right here at Taronga Western Plains Zoo on July 3, 2018, and is now celebrated across the globe!
Now in its fifth year, World Meerkat Day is the perfect time to learn more about these awesome creatures!
- Despite the name, meerkats are not related to cats. They are part of the mongoose family.
- Meerkats are only 30 centimetres tall, and a fully grown adult will only weight about one kilogram. Our pups born in March are about half this size!
- When meerkats are standing up, for example for sentry duty, they use their tail for balance.
- Meerkats are immune to scorpion poison and, in the wild, they often have them as a tasty snack – but they have to be careful of the scorpions' big pinchers!
- Meerkats have black rings of fur around their eyes which act like "sunglasses" allowing them to see predators in the sky even when the sun is out.
- The fur on a meerkat's chest is the thinnest on its body. They will put their chest to the sun to warm up and they will also put it on a cooler surface to cool down.
- Meerkats have strength in numbers. The more in a mob, the better. Mobs in the wild are known to get anywhere between 30 to 50 meerkats.
- Meerkats are known to have around 30 different vocalizations. They also recognize each mob member's vocalisations.
- Meerkats will make around 4 different burrow systems with multiple entry/exit points. The dominant female will choose which burrow they use at night. In each burrow, there are different chambers, and they will use different chambers for different things. For example, they might have one as a bathroom, another as a bedroom and another as a nursery.
- In a mob, the dominant female is the only one allowed to breed. If any other female has pups, the pups are killed. If the dominant female has pups around this time, she will make the subordinate female who lost her pups, lactate for her.
- Meerkats have a third eyelid! Meerkats have a special adaptation that helps them to dig and protect their eyes. They have a protective membrane that shields their eyes and their ears close tightly to protect dirt from getting in their ears.
- While meerkats are classed as "least concern" on the ICUN (International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List), they still play an important role in maintaining ecological harmony in their desert homes by helping control insect populations!
By Rez Onay and Kirsty Payne