Meerkat Facts- The Small and Mysterious Animal

Environment

• Meerkats are specially adapted to living in the harsh desert environment.
• Meerkats can live in pretty much any dessert. However, Meerkats live in all parts of the Kalahari Desert in Botswana, Namib Desert in Namibia and south-western Angola and in South Africa.
• Their social cooperation within a large group and their extensively burrowed tunnels helps them to survive in arid African deserts.
• Meerkats will also share their burrows with beetles.
• Despite living in the desert unbelievably meerkats do not need extra water in their diets. They get all the moisture they need from the insects and grubs they eat.

Diets

• Meerkats are insectivores, which means most of their diet is made up of insects.
• However, they are also known to eat small mammals, snakes and snake eggs, birds and bird eggs, grubs (an insect’s wormlike larva) and even poisonous scorpions.
• Meetkats also enjoy eating fruits and vegetables.

Body Structure

• Very small catlike carnivores, their faces often have a curious look, seemingly taking in everything in their surroundings.
• They have long bodies and short flat ears and are able to stand on their hind legs.
• The color of their coat can be gold, silver, brown or orange, with dark patches around the eyes.
• They can dig their own body weight of dirt within a few seconds and their high endurance enables them to build elaborate tunnels.
• Meerats can live up to eight years in the wild.
• Meerkats are immune to venom and can handle a bite from a poisonous snake.