Meerkat Manor

Triumph and mishap, comedy and tragedy - everything a good story needs, but this one is different, it stars a group of wild meerkats in South Africa. This ground-breaking thirteen part series records the daily lives of a group of meerkats known as "The Whiskers". Using state of the art camera technology above and below ground, and by tracking the group's movements 24 hours a day, the series paints a dramatic picture of a year in their highly complex and social lives. From viscous fights with...Read Full Story

Wild meerkats living in the Kalahari Desert in Southern Africa recognize group members from their calls, behavior researchers at the University of Zurich have established for the first time. The researchers assume that meerkats can tell the individual group members apart. Wild meerkats living in the Kalahari Desert in Southern Africa Credit: University of Zurich Recognizing other individuals from their voices is second nature to humans. Certain primates also have this ability...Read Full Story

© ROSIE HALLAM / BARCROFT MEDIA It may not be the Kalahari but for this playful pair it is a home from home – welcome to the real Meerkat Manor. For full story and pictures: Laura Gilbert and Tom Dawson, have opened their home up to these mischievous young meerkats, Jack and Mila, and their lives haven’t been the same since. © ROSIE HALLAM / BARCROFT MEDIA Laura, a 30 year old particle physicist, first fell in love with meerkats as a child when her father, a keen exotic pet...Read Full Story

© Burrard-Lucas / Barcroft Media Ltd These rare pictures document a wild meerkat displaying astounding behaviour by using a human being as a sentry post. For full story and images click here The clever meerkat has decided to make use of its human visitor in a bid to protect its family from being eaten by deadly predators. Certain members of every meerkat family perform the role of standing guard while their kin forage nearby. They stand on their hind legs to survey the...Read Full Story

© Thomas Retterath / Barcroft Media Cub Simba was shown his future kingdom by dad Mufasa in Disney’s The Lion King – and here’s the same famous scene reenacted by wild MEERKATS. For full story and pictures: On the plains of Africa – just like the hit animated movie – an adult meerkat seemed to be saying “One day, all this be yours” and placed an arm around a juvenile’s shoulders as the pair scanned the horizon together. The sidesplitting copy-kat moment was caught on camera by caterer...Read Full Story