Why do meerkats live underground

The animals certainly display anger, fear, confusion. They clearly suffer when they are excluded from the group. A sentry who senses danger will let out a high-pitched squeal, sending the mob scrambling for cover. Meerkats dig safe places called bolt-holes throughout their foraging area, where they can hide in an emergency. While studing groups of the mammals in the Kalahari, researchers found some tended to doze in their burrows for much longer than their neighbours. Meekats can run at speeds of up to 30 miles per hour.

Meerkats are very quick, like their cousins, the mongoose. Meerkats function cooperatively in a group led by a female meerkat. The dominant female leader is called a matriarch…. Meerkats are generally tame animals. However, they are unsuitable as a pet as they can be aggressive and have a strong, ferret-like odour.

In South Africa meerkats are used to kill rodents in rural households and lepidopterans in farmlands. Meerkats are primarily insectivores, meaning they primarily eat insects. This makes meerkats omnivores, enjoying both meat and veggies. Are meerkats legal to own in the UK? They are identified by their long bodies; short, flat ears; and their ability to stand on their back feet.

Meerkat coats can be gold, silver, orange or brown with dark patches of fur around the eyes. Meerkats are small animals, measuring 9. Their tails add another 7. At less than 2. These animals are found in the deserts and grasslands of Africa, including southwestern Botswana, western and southern Namibia, and north and west South Africa.

They can also be found in the extreme southwestern areas of Angola and in the lowlands of Lesotho. Meerkats live together in big groups. Several meerkat families may live together to form a community called a mob, gang or clan. Such a group can include three to 50 meerkats, according to the Natural History Museum , and the mob's dominant female leads the group. Living in intricate tunnel systems underground called burrows, meerkats can stay safe from predators and cool during hot days.

One burrow can have as many as 15 entrance and exit holes and can reach up to 6. Unlike other burrowing creatures, meerkats live in more than one burrow; they keep several in rotation. Their main diet consists of insects and particularly beetles, spiders and millipedes. They sometimes feed up on small vertebrates, eggs and roots. Meerkats are social animals that live in colonies of 5 — 30 individuals. Being sociable creatures, they share both toilet and parental care responsibilities.

Each mob has a dominate alpha male and dominate alpha female. Each mob has its own territory which they sometimes move if food is scarce or when forced out by a stronger mob. If the latter occurs, the weaker mob will then try to expand in another direction or wait until they become stronger and reclaim their lost burrow. The sentry either watches from the ground or climbs a tree or bush to look out. The sentry watches over both the burrow system as well as when the other members of the mob are foraging for food.

The sentry will give out a loud bark when danger is perceived and the mob will then bolt quickly to their hiding holes. Meerkats like to groom each other and will remove parasites from a grooming partner which are eaten, although these are not part of their normal diet. Meerkats typically stand on their hind legs or even their toes to sniff the wind to detect attacking vultures. They have excellent vision and are capable of 10 different vocalisations including an alarm bark.

They are intelligent animals that are not endangered and thrive in their environment. Female meerkats give birth to 2 — 4 young after a gestation period of 11 weeks. Young meerkats are usually born in autumn or early winter. Both female and male care for, groom and guard and protect their young. Young meerkats are born with hair but not full coats and with their eyes closed. When the young are 4 — 6 weeks old, they begin to forage the their parents to obtain nourishment from both milk from their mother and insects.

At 6 — 16 weeks, the young are weaned and find their own food.