Useful Meerkat Information

Meerkat Vital Statistics

Vision: Meerkats see in colour. Their dark eye markings act like built-in sunglasses.

Feet: Non-retractable claws. Four toes.

Ears: closable.

Height: 12 inches (30 centimeters).

Weight: 2 pounds (0.9 kilograms).

Light-absorbency: Called the “Solar Panel Of The Animal World,” meerkats use their dark-skinned, sparsely furred bellies to warm up.

Taxonomy: Members of the mongoose family.

Tail: 8 inches (20 centimeters) long and used as a tripod to balance the animal in an upright position.

Activity: Diurnal (active during the day).

Life span: 12 to 14 years.

Society: A group of meerkats, usually five to thirty members, is called a “mob” or a “gang.”

Meerkat Home

Home range: Southern Africa/Kalahari Desert

Dwelling: Grass-lined burrows that are shared with ground squirrels and yellow mongooses.

Toilet: Common latrine used by all members.

Transience: Mob moves several times annually if food supply is depleted.

Competitiveness: Meerkats are very territorial and will fiercely defend their home from other meerkat gangs.

Meerkat Predators

Guardianship: Meerkats are “snack size” for a number of animals, so one always stands guard while the others forage or nap.

Primary predators: Martial eagles and jackals

SOS: Various alarm calls indicate different predators.

Meerkat Romance

Specialization: Alpha male and female do most of the breeding.

Litter size: 2 to 5.

Gestation: Eleven weeks.

Breeding season: October-April in the wild. Year-round in captivity.

Helplessness: Born with eyes and ears closed. Sparsely furred.

Helpfulness: Various adults will baby-sit the youngsters while the mother feeds.

Precociousness: Sexually mature at one year.

Meerkat Food

Diet: Scorpions (meerkats are immune to their venom), beetles, spiders, centipedes, millipedes, worms, crickets (FAST food), small mammals, small reptiles, birds, eggs, tubers and roots.

Wind up racing meerkats.

This set of two wind-up meerkats with hilarious side to side head movement are new in – I think they are so cute and will also provide lots of fun.

Meerkat Diet

Meerkats are primarily insectivores, but also eat lizards, snakes, scorpions, spiders, plants, eggs, small mammals, millipedes, centipedes and, more rarely, small birds. They are partially immune to certain venoms; they are immune to the very strong venom of the scorpions of the Kalahari Desert, unlike humans. They have no excess body fat stores, so foraging for food is a daily need.

Meerkats forage in a group with one “sentry” on guard watching for predators while the others search for food. Sentry duty is usually approximately an hour long. Baby meerkats do not start foraging for food until they are about 1 month old, and do so by following an older member of the group who acts as the pup’s tutor. The meerkat standing guard makes peeping sounds when all is well. If the meerkat spots danger, it barks loudly or whistles.

The Meerkat Family by Paul Jenkins

These gorgeous meerkats come to you from Paul Jenkins. Sculpted from designer resin and given a cold cast bronze finish, these meerkats are exact replicas of the original solid bronzes. This meerkat family can be bought as a complete set or individually and comprises of Maxwell, Mavis and Mimi. Each one bears the PJ initials (Paul Jenkins) as a mark of authenticity – enjoy! Brand New & Boxed Measurements: Maxwell 27 x 12cm, Mavis 27 x 8cm, Mimi 24 x 9cm (approx.)

Paul Jenkins was born in the West Midlands in 1949. He started his career in art in the early 70s, first sculpting in wood and then finding himself drawn to sculpting in clay and wax, and he studied ceramics at Dudley College of Art.  He has worked as a commercial designer for various companies around the world, including the Metropolitan Museum in New York. There he was commissioned to reproduce the exact size, shape and colour of a rare 1850s teapot from the museum. He has also created more outlandish pieces, such as six 10ft Art Deco figures for the interior of a night club, and he has sculpted several pieces for the National Trust.

Paul Jenkins’s animal sculptures – limited edition bronzes, affordable cold cast bronze resins, high fired stoneware and raku fired ceramics – are widely sought after by private collectors.  His inspiration comes from his love of nature, many of his pieces resulting directly from his observation of wild animals in their natural habitats. You will find Maxwell, Mavis & Mimi under our Misc Meerkat Gifts section – but hurry there is usually only 1 or 2 for sale and they sell really fast.

New in Today – Meet The Meerkats Experience

Get up close and personal with these fun little creatures. This a great opportunity to get close to these fascinating animals.
	You will enter their enclosure with the keeper at feeding time and assist in feeding them – you will find that they are extremely friendly and curious and they will treat you like a human climbing frame!
	Gift Voucher valid for 6 months.
	Next working day delivery cut off time is 11.00am on a normal working day (Mon-Fri). If you select next working day option on an activity placed after 11.00am it is guaranteed to arrive within two days. All guaranteed next day deliveries will arrive before 1pm and will require a signature.

When can you go?
Monday to Sunday (subject to availability) although weekdays are quieter, all year.
How long does the activity last?
Your fun with the meerkats will last for about 30 minutes.
You need to know
To participate in this activity you must be at least 10 years old. Anyone can enjoy meeting the meerkats. You dont need any experience to enjoy this activity.
You and how many others?
It’ll be just you, the keeper and the meerkats.
Family and friends
You are welcome to take friends and family along to watch you, but normal admission prices apply.
We cant control the weather
Don’t worry, this activity is not dependent on weather conditions
Where?
Broxbourne, Hertfordshire

New in Today – Meerkats Comical Family Shopping Mug

The Leonardo Collection COMICAL MEERKAT FAMILY SHOPPING Fine China Mug – Simples!

FineChina Mug featuring meerkats shopping! By the Leonardo Collection. 

11cm high, patterned on both sides of the mug, gift boxed.

Meerkatmania stock lots of Meerkat Mugs & Coasters for you to choose from.

Please take a look at our Meerkat Kitchen section.

Meerkat Reproduction Explained

Meerkats become sexually mature at about one year of age and can have 1 to 5 pups in a litter, with 3 pups being the most common litter size. Wild meerkats may have up to four litters per year. Meerkats are iteroparous and can reproduce any time of the year but most births occur in the warmer seasons. The pups are allowed to leave the burrow at three weeks old. When the pups are ready to emerge from the burrow, the whole clan of meerkats will stand around the burrow to watch. Some of the adolescents might try to show off so they can have more attention than the pups. There is no precopulatory display; the male ritually grooms the female until she submits to him and copulation begins, the male generally adopting a seated position during the act. 

Gestation lasts approximately 11 weeks and the young are born within the underground burrow and are altricial. The young’s ears open at about 15 days of age, and their eyes at 10–14 days. They are weaned around 49 to 63 days. They do not come above ground until at least 21 days of age and stay with babysitters near the burrow. After another week or so, they join the adults on a foraging party. Usually, the alpha pair reserves the right to mate and normally kills any young not its own, to ensure that its offspring has the best chance of survival. The dominant couple may also evict, or kick out the mothers of the offending offspring. New meerkat groups are often formed by evicted females pairing with roving males. If the members of the alpha group are relatives (this tends to happen when the alpha female dies and is succeeded by a daughter), they do not mate with each other and reproduction is by group females stray-mating with roving males from other groups; in this situation, pregnant females tend to kill and eat any pups born to other females.

Meerchat – Piers Morgan

Here we have parts one and two of the new Meerchat featuring Aleksandr Orlav & Piers Morgan

There Back – Meerkat Aprons

Back in stock these popular Meerkat Aprons in 100% cotton  – Aleksandr Simples  hurry, they don’t last long!

Meerkat finds love love through online dating profile

Lilly the lonely meerkat has finally found love after staff at Twinlakes Park set up meerkatmatch.com, an online dating site for meerkats and don’t they look happy!!!

Staff at the park in Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire, set up the site after failing to find a male mate for the single meerkat.

The site describes the three-year-old as an ‘alert, dark-eyed, inquisitive, free-spirited lady with a good sense of humour who enjoys fine dining, digging and cosy nights in.’

The site drew in over 74,000 visitors before a breeder offered a match for love struck Lilly. 

Named Mr Darcy, the two-year-old from Cambridge has since joined Lilly at the park, where the pair are said to be settling in well.

Emma Roe, office manager, said: ‘We are delighted to have found Lilly a partner, we were contacted by a breeder who offered us a possible match – he turned out to be perfect, a two-year-old male from Cambridge.

‘Meerkats live in large social groups and within the group there is only one dominant breeding pair, he was an underdog in a mob of nine and the ideal catch for Lilly.

‘Having no name we felt ‘Mr Darcy’ was appropriate for our romantic hero’

Park manager Sandy Gyorvari added: “He’s lovely, he’s very nice mannered, and they’re getting on really well.

“Females tend to be more dominant than males so she’s bossing him about a bit, but he’s settled in really well.

“With her being on her own for a while, we were worried she had become a bit humanised and how she would react to another meerkat – she was either going to accept him or not – but it’s worked out really well. She’s actually become quite possessive over him.”

Staff now plan to turn meerkatmatch.com into a social networking site for meerkats.

What a great story!