Happy World Meerkat Day!
Few animals are as instantly recognizable as the meerkat. With bright eyes, pointed faces, sandy coats, and an amusing habit of standing upright to survey their surroundings, these small African mammals have become favorites at zoos and wildlife parks around the world.
That famous meerkat lookout pose is only one part of their fascinating story.
Meerkats live highly social lives in the dry landscapes of southern Africa. Family members cooperate to watch for predators, care for youngsters, search for food, defend territory, and maintain elaborate underground burrows. They communicate using a surprising variety of calls and are remarkably skilled hunters capable of tackling everything from beetles and grubs to lizards and scorpions.
Despite having the word “cat” in their name, meerkats are not cats at all. Their scientific name is Suricata suricatta, and they belong to the mongoose family.
From their unusual family structure to their impressive desert adaptations, here are 15 fun facts about meerkats—plus a closer look at where they live, what they eat, how they communicate, and what makes these tiny animals such accomplished survivors.
⚡ Meerkat Fast Facts
| Scientific name | Suricata suricatta |
| Animal group | Mammal |
| Family | Herpestidae, the mongoose family |
| Native range | Southern Africa |
| Habitat | Dry plains, grasslands, savannas, and semi-arid regions |
| Body length | Roughly 9–14 inches |
| Tail length | Roughly 7–10 inches |
| Weight | Generally less than 2.5 pounds |
| Diet | Primarily insects, plus other small animals and some plant matter |
| Activity | Diurnal, or active during the day |
| Group name | Mob, gang, or clan |
| Conservation status | Least Concern |
Meerkats are native to southern Africa, where they are especially well adapted to dry, open environments. Their long digging claws, protective eye features, social behavior, and extensive burrow systems all help them survive in landscapes where food, water, shelter, and protection from predators can be challenging to find.
🐾 1. Meerkats Aren’t Actually Cats
Despite their name, meerkats are not related to domestic cats.
They belong to the mongoose family, Herpestidae, a group that includes numerous small carnivorous mammals found primarily in Africa and Asia.
Their scientific name, Suricata suricatta, may not sound nearly as cute as “meerkat,” but it places them firmly among the mongooses rather than the felines.
The common name itself has a complicated linguistic history, but biologically there is no question: a meerkat is a mongoose.
👨👩👧👦 2. A Group of Meerkats Is Called a Mob
Meerkats are highly social animals that usually live in groups.
A meerkat group may be called a mob, gang, or clan.
A typical group often contains around 10 to 15 individuals, although much larger groups can occur. Members spend their days foraging, grooming, playing, guarding, defending their territory, and interacting with one another.
Group life is an important survival strategy.
Living together means more individuals are available to watch for danger, protect youngsters, defend territory, and alert one another when predators approach.
A single meerkat might be vulnerable in an open landscape. A whole mob has many more eyes and ears.
👀 3. Meerkats Really Do Take Turns Standing Guard
That classic photograph of a meerkat standing upright is not simply an adorable pose.
While other members of the group search for food, one meerkat may act as a sentinel, watching the surrounding landscape for danger.
The sentinel may climb onto a rock, mound, bush, termite mound, or another elevated object that provides a better view.
From there, it can monitor both the ground and the sky.
If the lookout detects a threat, it gives an alarm call that warns the rest of the mob.
Sentinel duty can rotate between members, allowing some animals to forage while another keeps watch.
It is one of the best-known examples of cooperative behavior in meerkat society.
🗣️ 4. Meerkats Have Different Alarm Calls
Meerkats are remarkably vocal animals.
They do not rely on one generic warning sound whenever something dangerous appears. Instead, their communication system includes numerous calls used in different situations.
They can produce different warnings depending on the type of predator and how urgent the danger is.
A threat approaching across the ground presents a different problem from a bird of prey flying overhead, so different information can help group members respond appropriately.
Meerkats also vocalize while foraging and interacting socially.
A group scattered across the landscape may seem to be constantly chattering, but those sounds help individuals keep track of one another and understand what is happening around them.
🕶️ 5. Their Dark Eye Patches Work Like Natural Sunglasses
One of the meerkat’s most distinctive features is the dark coloring surrounding its eyes.
Those markings may have a practical purpose.
Dark pigmentation around the eyes can help reduce glare from intense sunlight, making it easier for a meerkat to scan bright landscapes.
That is especially useful for an animal that spends considerable time looking toward the horizon or searching the sky for predators.
The combination of dark eye patches and an upright posture gives meerkats their famously alert appearance.
🕳️ 6. Meerkats Can Close Their Ears While Digging
Meerkats spend an enormous amount of time digging.
Their food is often hidden underground, and their shelters consist of extensive burrow systems. Fortunately, they have several physical adaptations that make excavation easier.
Their ears can close to help prevent dirt and sand from getting inside while they dig.
Protective features around the eyes also help shield them from debris.
Combined with their long claws, these adaptations turn a tiny meerkat into a surprisingly efficient digging machine.
🐾 7. Meerkats Have Four Toes on Each Foot
Meerkats have four toes on each foot, and their forefeet are equipped with prominent nonretractable claws.
These claws are particularly useful for digging.
A foraging meerkat may rapidly excavate the soil while searching for insects, larvae, scorpions, and other prey hiding beneath the surface.
The same equipment also helps them maintain and expand burrows.
Considering how much of a meerkat’s life involves the ground beneath its feet, good digging tools are essential.
🪲 8. Insects Make Up a Large Part of Their Diet
Meerkats spend much of the day searching for food, and insects form a major part of their diet.
They commonly eat prey such as:
- Beetles
- Grubs
- Termites
- Other insects
- Spiders
- Scorpions
- Snails
- Small reptiles
- Eggs
- Small rodents
They may also eat roots, tubers, and fruit when these foods are available.
Meerkats use their sense of smell and digging ability to locate prey hidden beneath the soil.
Watching a mob forage can be surprisingly entertaining. Animals spread across an area, stopping frequently to sniff and dig while the designated lookout monitors the surroundings.
🦂 9. Meerkats Can Eat Scorpions
Scorpions seem like prey most animals would prefer to avoid, but meerkats are capable scorpion hunters.
They have some resistance to scorpion venom and can learn how to handle these dangerous prey animals carefully.
Young meerkats are not automatically expert scorpion hunters.
They develop their skills over time, learning from older group members and gaining experience as they mature.
That makes scorpion hunting more than an impressive physical ability—it is also an example of how young meerkats acquire survival skills from their family.
🎓 10. Young Meerkats Learn Hunting Skills From Adults
One of the most fascinating aspects of meerkat behavior is the way adults help youngsters learn.
Baby meerkats are not simply left to figure everything out for themselves.
Older members of the group can provide young meerkats with prey in ways that allow the youngsters to practice handling it.
Easy or disabled prey may be introduced before a pup progresses to more challenging food.
This gradual learning process can help youngsters develop the skills necessary to tackle potentially dangerous animals such as scorpions.
It is one reason meerkats have attracted so much attention from scientists interested in animal learning and social behavior.
🏡 11. Meerkats Live in Extensive Underground Burrows
The meerkat’s underground home is much more than a simple hole.
Burrow systems provide shelter from predators, protection from harsh weather, sleeping areas, and safe places for raising young.
A meerkat group may use several burrow systems within its territory rather than remaining permanently in one location.
Meerkats can also use smaller emergency shelters sometimes referred to as bolt holes.
These quick refuges can be extremely valuable when a predator suddenly appears while the group is foraging far from the main burrow.
Instead of running a long distance across exposed ground, the animals can disappear underground nearby.
👑 12. Female Meerkats Usually Lead the Group
Meerkat society is generally matriarchal.
A dominant female often occupies the central position in the group’s breeding structure and typically produces most of the pups.
The rest of the mob contributes in other ways.
Nonbreeding animals may help guard, feed, protect, and teach youngsters, making childcare a group effort.
This cooperative system allows meerkat pups to receive attention from several members of the family rather than relying exclusively on their mother.
The dominant female can therefore leave the burrow to forage while other meerkats help watch over the young.
🍼 13. Baby Meerkats Are Called Pups
Young meerkats are called pups.
Newborn pups are tiny, dependent, and initially unable to see or hear. They remain protected underground during the earliest part of their lives.
As they grow, the pups begin emerging from the burrow and exploring the world around them.
Soon they are following older meerkats, begging for food, playing, digging, and developing the skills they will eventually need to survive independently.
Play is an important part of growing up and helps youngsters practice social interactions and physical movements.
Watching a group of meerkat pups tumbling around outside a burrow may look like pure fun, but those activities are also part of their development.
☀️ 14. Meerkats Sunbathe to Warm Up
Meerkats often emerge from their burrows and sit upright in the morning sun.
It can look as though they are simply enjoying a lazy start to the day, but basking serves a practical purpose.
Nighttime temperatures in dry environments can be cool, especially after spending hours underground.
Sitting in the sun helps meerkats warm their bodies before beginning the day’s activities.
Their belly fur is relatively thin, allowing warmth from the sun to reach the darker skin underneath efficiently.
Later, when temperatures become hotter, meerkats can retreat to shade or underground shelters.
💧 15. Meerkats Can Get Much of Their Water From Food
Finding standing water can be difficult in the dry environments where meerkats live.
Fortunately, they do not necessarily need to drink from a water source every day.
Much of their moisture can come from the food they eat.
Insects, roots, tubers, and moisture-rich fruits can all contribute water.
This ability is an important adaptation for surviving in arid and semi-arid landscapes where streams and ponds may be scarce or seasonal.
🌍 Where Do Meerkats Live?
Wild meerkats live in southern Africa.
They are particularly associated with dry regions of countries including Botswana, Namibia, and South Africa, especially areas connected with the Kalahari.
However, meerkat habitat is more varied than endless sand dunes.
They can inhabit:
- Dry grasslands
- Open plains
- Savannas
- Scrublands
- Semi-desert landscapes
- Other arid and semi-arid environments
Their sandy coloring provides excellent camouflage in many of these habitats.
Survival in such exposed environments requires more than camouflage, however.
Meerkats combine physical adaptations with cooperative social behavior. Their burrows provide shelter. Their claws allow them to dig for food. Their eye markings help them cope with bright light, and their sentinel system provides early warning when predators appear.
🕳️ Inside a Meerkat Burrow
A meerkat burrow can contain multiple tunnels, entrances, and chambers.
These underground systems offer a safer environment for sleeping and raising pups while helping protect the animals from temperature extremes.
Burrows remain considerably more stable than the exposed surface during very hot or cold conditions.
A group may move between different burrow systems throughout its territory.
Meerkats are capable diggers themselves, but they may also use or expand burrows originally created by other animals.
The underground world is central to meerkat life. They begin their lives there, return there at night, retreat there during dangerous weather, and use it as their primary protection when predators threaten.
🦂 What Do Meerkats Eat?
Meerkats are enthusiastic hunters with a varied diet.
Insects make up much of what they eat, so a typical day involves spending hours sniffing, scratching, and digging through the soil.
Beetles, larvae, termites, and other invertebrates are common targets.
They can also prey on:
- Spiders
- Scorpions
- Lizards
- Snakes
- Small rodents
- Birds
- Eggs
- Other small animals
Plant foods, including roots and fruit, may also be eaten.
Although meerkats live in social groups, they do not necessarily share every meal. Individuals commonly search for their own small prey while foraging alongside the rest of the mob.
This produces one of the classic meerkat scenes: numerous animals digging busily while one individual stands above them keeping watch.
👀 Why Do Meerkats Stand Up?
The famous upright meerkat stance is primarily useful for gaining a better view.
Standing on the hind legs raises the animal’s head above low vegetation and other obstacles.
A meerkat may steady itself using its long tail while scanning the landscape.
Sentinels frequently take advantage of rocks, branches, termite mounds, and other elevated positions.
They are watching for threats both in the sky and on the ground.
Meerkats may also stand upright simply because they have noticed something interesting and want a better look.
Either way, the pose is far more practical than it first appears.
🗣️ How Meerkats Communicate
Communication is essential when animals depend heavily on one another for survival.
Meerkats use a surprisingly rich collection of vocalizations.
Some calls help group members keep track of one another while they forage.
Others warn about danger.
The intensity and type of call can convey information about how serious the threat may be.
A meerkat on sentry duty may produce regular sounds while conditions remain safe, effectively letting the group know that somebody is still watching.
If a predator appears, those sounds can rapidly change into urgent alarm calls.
All that chirping, barking, and chattering helps keep the mob organized even when individuals are spread across a large feeding area.
👪 Meerkat Family Life
Meerkats have one of the most fascinating social systems among small mammals.
A mob normally contains related individuals living cooperatively under a social hierarchy.
The dominant female typically produces most of the group’s young, while other members assist with childcare.
Helpers may watch pups, provide food, defend the burrow, and help youngsters learn how to forage.
This cooperative approach means caring for the next generation becomes a family project.
Social bonds are reinforced through grooming and frequent interaction.
Meerkats may also huddle together, which helps maintain social relationships and can provide warmth during cooler conditions.
Life within a meerkat mob may look harmonious, but it is not always peaceful. Competition over breeding opportunities and status can create conflict as well.
Their society is complex rather than simply cooperative.
🦅 What Animals Eat Meerkats?
A small mammal living in open country needs to remain alert.
Meerkats face predators from both the ground and the sky.
Potential threats can include:
- Eagles
- Hawks and other birds of prey
- Jackals
- Snakes
- Other carnivorous mammals
Their famous sentry system is one of their primary defenses.
Once a warning is given, meerkats may race for the nearest burrow or bolt hole.
The type of response can depend on the predator.
A threat approaching from the air requires different behavior from one moving across the ground.
Groups can sometimes confront predators together as well, using numbers and aggressive displays to make themselves appear more intimidating.
🌡️ How Meerkats Survive Desert Temperatures
Desert and semi-desert environments are challenging because temperatures can change dramatically over the course of a day.
Meerkats use both behavior and their underground homes to manage those extremes.
During cool mornings, they may bask in sunlight to warm themselves.
As the day becomes hotter, shade and underground burrows provide relief.
The burrow acts as a naturally insulated shelter where temperatures fluctuate less dramatically than they do at the surface.
Meerkats are diurnal, which means they are active during daylight hours.
Their days are filled with foraging, digging, grooming, playing, watching for predators, and interacting with members of the mob.
When evening arrives, the group retreats underground for the night.
📏 How Big Are Meerkats?
Meerkats look surprisingly substantial when they stand upright, but they are actually small mammals.
An adult’s body is generally only around 9 to 14 inches long, with a tail adding another roughly 7 to 10 inches.
Adults generally weigh less than about 2.5 pounds.
For comparison, many domestic cats weigh several times as much as a meerkat.
Their slender bodies and long tails contribute to their distinctive appearance.
The tail is also useful for balance when standing upright.
🌿 Meerkat Adaptations
Meerkats possess an impressive collection of features that help them survive in difficult environments.
Their most important adaptations include:
Long claws: Useful for digging burrows and uncovering prey.
Closable ears: Help keep dirt out during excavation.
Protective eye features: Help shield the eyes while digging.
Dark eye patches: May reduce glare in bright sunlight.
Sandy coats: Provide camouflage against dry soil.
Long tails: Help with balance when standing upright.
Burrowing behavior: Provides protection from weather and predators.
Social living: Allows group members to cooperate in defense, childcare, and predator detection.
Vocal communication: Allows rapid warnings and helps group members stay in contact.
No single adaptation explains meerkat success.
It is the combination of physical traits, learned behavior, underground shelter, and extraordinary cooperation that allows them to thrive.
🌱 Why Meerkats Matter to Their Ecosystem
Meerkats are only one small part of a much larger southern African ecosystem.
As predators, they consume large numbers of insects and other small animals.
At the same time, meerkats themselves can become prey for larger predators.
That places them in the middle of a complex food web.
Their digging also continually moves and disturbs soil.
Burrowing animals can influence soil structure, nutrient movement, vegetation, and habitats used by other species.
An abandoned meerkat burrow may eventually become useful to another animal.
Even a creature weighing only a couple of pounds can therefore influence the environment around it.
🌎 Are Meerkats Endangered?
Meerkats are currently considered a species of Least Concern rather than an endangered species.
Their populations remain relatively widespread within suitable habitat in southern Africa.
That does not make conservation unimportant.
Meerkats share their habitat with an enormous variety of reptiles, mammals, insects, birds, and plants. Protecting healthy ecosystems supports far more species than the meerkat alone.
Habitat conservation is especially important in dry landscapes that may appear barren at first glance but actually contain remarkably diverse wildlife communities.
🏠 Can You Keep a Meerkat as a Pet?
A meerkat’s small size, expressive face, and social personality can make the animal appear surprisingly pet-like.
That does not mean meerkats make good household pets.
They are wild animals with strong instincts, complex social structures, extensive digging behavior, specialized environmental needs, and natural behaviors developed for life in a mob.
Keeping an individual meerkat isolated from its normal social environment can create serious welfare problems.
They can also bite, dig destructively, scent-mark, defend territory, and behave in ways that are entirely normal for a wild mongoose but difficult to manage in a home.
Meerkats are much better admired in the wild or at reputable zoos and wildlife facilities.
🎉 What Is World Meerkat Day?
World Meerkat Day is celebrated on July 3 each year.
The observance began at Australia’s Taronga Western Plains Zoo in 2018 as a way to celebrate meerkats and encourage people to learn more about them.
World Meerkat Day offers a fun opportunity to discover more about African wildlife and animal behavior.
You might celebrate by visiting an accredited zoo, watching a wildlife documentary, reading about meerkat research with children, or learning about the ecosystems of southern Africa.
The holiday may be lighthearted, but curiosity about charismatic animals can become a gateway to learning about much larger conservation issues.
❓ Frequently Asked Questions About Meerkats
Are meerkats cats?
No. Meerkats are members of the mongoose family and are not related to domestic cats.
Where do meerkats live?
Wild meerkats live in southern Africa, including dry regions of Botswana, Namibia, and South Africa.
What does a meerkat eat?
Meerkats primarily eat insects but may also consume spiders, scorpions, reptiles, small rodents, eggs, and some plant material.
What is a group of meerkats called?
A group can be called a mob, gang, or clan.
Why do meerkats stand up?
Standing upright allows meerkats to see farther across their surroundings. Sentinels use this posture to watch for predators while other members of the group forage.
Do meerkats eat scorpions?
Yes. Meerkats can hunt and eat scorpions and have some resistance to their venom.
Do meerkats live underground?
Meerkats spend nights and vulnerable periods in extensive underground burrows. They emerge during daylight hours to forage and socialize.
Are meerkats nocturnal?
No. Meerkats are diurnal and are primarily active during the day.
What are baby meerkats called?
Baby meerkats are called pups.
Are meerkats endangered?
No. Meerkats are currently classified as Least Concern.
How long is a meerkat?
The body of an adult meerkat is roughly 9 to 14 inches long, with a long tail adding several additional inches.
Are meerkats friendly?
Meerkats are highly social with members of their own groups, but they are still wild animals. They can be territorial and aggressive toward outsiders or perceived threats.
💛 Tiny Guardians of the Desert
Meerkats may first capture our attention because they are cute, but their complex behavior makes them truly fascinating.
These tiny members of the mongoose family have developed a survival strategy built around cooperation.
One animal stands guard while others search for food. Adults help care for youngsters. Family members communicate throughout the day. Groups retreat into underground burrows when danger approaches and work together to protect themselves.
At the same time, each individual is an accomplished desert survivor equipped with strong digging claws, keen senses, protective eye adaptations, and an ability to uncover prey hidden beneath the ground.
Even the meerkat’s most famous pose tells a story.
The next time you see one standing upright with its paws tucked against its chest, remember that it may not simply be posing for an adorable photograph.
Somewhere nearby, the rest of the mob may be depending on that tiny lookout.
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