Meerkat is one of the animals that are in the weasel family. They live in groups and cooperate with each other in doing something. Meerkat’s scientific name is Suricata suricatta.
His adorable stature will catch your attention. Even so, their adaptability in the wild allows them to survive long enough. Here are some unique meerkat facts that you should know!
1. Meerkats live in groups
Meerkat (pexels.com/Pixabay)
Launch Smithsonian’s National ZooMeerkats are active animals and live in groups. Their groups can consist of 30 meerkats. However, the average group size consists of ten to 15 meerkats. Usually in one group, there are three meerkat families in it.
The family consists of a pair of meerkats and their young. Within the group, they have good relationships and there does not appear to be any hierarchical lines. However, usually the female meerkat dominates the group.
Also Read: 5 Unique Facts about Meerkats, Cute Animals from Africa that Live in Groups
2. Meerkats are immune to poison
Meerkat (pexels.com/Matthias Kramer)
Meerkats live in desert areas. This makes them well adapted to the region. Launch A-Z Animals, meerkats are believed to be immune to the venom of scorpions and predatory snakes. They spend their lives in the places where they encounter these animals.
Meerkats tend to run away or get away without much of the effect of the poison. Their immunity to poisons also affects how long meerkats survive in the wild.
3. Meerkats have good eyesight
Meerkat (pexels.com/SevenStorm JUHASZIMRUS)
Launch Treehugger, meerkat eyes have adapted very well to life in the desert. They have a dark area around their eyes, this helps reduce the glare of the scorching sun. This allows them to have good vision at a distance and up close.
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In addition, meerkats have long horizontal pupils. Therefore, meerkats have a wide range of vision. When burrowing, the membranes over their eyes protect them from flying sand and other debris.
4. Meerkats teach the younger generation to hunt
Meerkat (pexels.com/Mike B)
The interesting lifestyle of meerkats also attracts attention. Launch Mentalfloss, there are meerkats who are assigned to teach the younger generation of meerkats through a series of tasks for hunting. Studies in 2006 showed that the task has a level of difficulty.
When meerkats are very young, they will carry dead prey, such as scorpions, lizards and spiders. As they grow older, the meerkats who teach them then bring in prey that has been maimed before. For example, like scorpions, they will take care of the scorpion’s sting first and then give it to the young meerkats to practice. Interesting right?
5. Markets mark their territory with bacteria
Meerkat (pexels.com/Karolina Grabowska)
The study conducted by Sarah Leclaire and colleagues entitled Social odours covary with bacterial community in the anal secretions of wild meerkats in 2017 demonstrated that they mark territory with bacteria. Meerkats make a ‘paste’ of secretions in a scent pouch under their tail.
Then they rub it on rocks and plants to mark their territory. The chemical signals found in scent markers come from odor-producing bacteria that thrive in secretions.
Also Read: 6 Little-Known Facts about Meerkats, Maximum Funny!
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