Where are they found?
In dry open country in southwestern Angola, Namibia, Botswana, and South Africa.

What are they?
A mammal.

What do they look like?
A Meerkats average weight is 720-730 gm (1.6 lb). Its length is 26-28 cm (10-11 in). It is of slender build with long thin legs, 4 toes with long claws, a thin pointed tail and pointed face with small crescent-shaped ears. Meerkats have long, soft coats, grey or tan with buff to yellowish underbellies. The head is almost white with black eye patches on the ears, feet, and tail.

How long do they live?
The Meerkat has a life span in captivity up to 17 years.

What do they eat? As Carnivores, Meerkats dig for insects. They concentrate on beetle larvae, pupae and larvae of moths, butterflies, flies, termites, crickets, spiders, scorpions, and other invertebrates that are buried or hidden. Occasionally they eat lizards, small snakes, birds, eggs, and mice. In waterless areas they may obtain water by chewing melons and digging up roots and tubers.

Breeding
Nearly all young are born during the warmer, rainier part of the year. Females usually have one litter per season, averaging 4 pups. Gestation is 11 weeks and young are weaned at 6-9 weeks. Non breeding helpers, of both sexes, baby-sit young while the mother forages to sustain an adequate milk supply. All clan adults will protect and share food with young and will teach them to hunt and forage. The breeding age is at 1 year.

Are they rare?
They are not endangered.

Did you Know?
The average warren is five metres with 15 entrances, but the warrens Meerkats create may range from a simple burrow with a few holes to a labyrinth 30 meters across with 90 entrances!

Meerkats keep each other within sound and sight distance when foraging. Whilst foraging, at least one member is standing on hind legs or perched in a bush or tree and scanning the skies and land for predators (They rotate this duty which can continue for over an hour at a time).