Slender-Tailed Meerkats
It may take you a moment to spot these little faces peering out of burrows, but their keen eyes have already seen you. We are home to a mob of male and female meerkats.
Sentinels standing guard
Slender-tailed meerkats are an incredibly social species, with groups often made up of several families. Working together, a few members of the mob will often serve as lookouts, able to spot predators flying over 300 metres away. To avoid predators and the hot sun, meerkats make their homes in an extensive network of burrows.
- IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (at relatively low risk of extinction)
- Type: Mammal
- Habitat: Savannah of southern Africa
- Diet: Omnivore – insects, rodents, and tubers
- Size: 24 to 29 centimetres tall; 19 to 24-centimetre-long tail
- Weight: 0.99 kilograms
Facts about our animals
Fun Facts about Slender-Tailed Meerkats
They will work together when hunting prey such as rodents.
Meerkats give a sharp, shrill call to alert group members to predators.
Mating is reserved for the dominant male and female pair.
There can be up to 70 different entrances to a group’s burrow system.
Meerkats are often standing on their rear legs to look out at their surroundings, and females can even nurse their young while standing.
The dark band around a meerkat’s eyes helps to reduce glare from the sun.
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