Meerkat
Origin: Botswana, Namibia, Angola & South Africa

Latin Name: Suricata suricatta

Habitat: Banks of rivers, deserts or areas of clumpy grassland

Diet: Lizards, snakes and spiders as well as eggs and plants

Lifespan: Up to 14 years

Average Size: Weight: 2.5kg, Height: 35cm, Length: 50cm

Characteristics:

Meerkats are a small carnivoran belonging to the mongoose family. They have long slender body and limbs, with a tapered face, brown nose and black crescent-shaped ears. Meerkats live in groups called “mobs” or “gangs” of up to 50 mem-bers. Each mob will always have one “sentry” on guard to watch out for preda-tors while others forage for food. Meerkats have four toes on each foot and long slen-der limbs. The coat is usually peppered grey, tan or brown with a silver tint. They have short parallel stripes across their backs, extending from the base of the tail to the shoulders.