They sharp claws which they mostly use for digging burrows. Tweet on Twitter . While most forage for food, some care for the youngsters, and others act as sentries keeping an eye out for danger; They can have up to five pups in a single litter. Meerkat Facts for Kids . Meerkats use their tail to maintain balance while standing. Facts about Meerkats 1: The Word of Meerkat. Meerkats have an important role in the food web, providing food for the animals that are their natural predators (hawks, eagles, jackals). They can actually eat some venomous snakes and scorpions as they have a certain amount of immunity to venom. Jun 27, 2019 | Animal Facts, Safaris. / Fun Facts for Kids / 8 Meerkat Facts for Kids. Meerkats can have one to seven babies at one time. Predators of the meerkat include snakes, jackals, and birds of prey. They will even tend to an injured member of the colony. Read on to discover fascinating facts with which to impress your friends, neighbours or children. It has a body length of 35 to 50 cm. Animals A to Z; Baby Animals; meerkat Facts. Meerkat groups utilize several different burrows and move from one to another. At the head of each clan is a meerkat dominant female and male. A meerkat family live in an underground warren, which they dig - all meerkats are excellent diggers. They are native to southern Africa. Each burrow is an extensive tunnel-and-room system that remains cool even under the broiling African sun. In recent literature, suricates were referred as mierkat. They tend to live in groups (‘gangs’ or ‘mobs’) of around 20 individuals, although far larger groups are not uncommon. For more videos about wildlife please subscribe :) Royalty free content brought from pond5.com and/or bigstockphoto.com Fun Facts for Kids. These include murmurs, clucks, threatening growls and spits, and an alarm bark. Matriarchy reigns in the family, and the female can exceed the size of the male. Their tails add another 7.5 to 9.5 inches (19 to 24 cm) to their length. They are part of the mongoose family. Interesting Meerkat Facts: Meerkats are small in size. As a small predator, surviving in desert and savanna habitats can be treacherous. Meerkats love hot and dry climates, they live is the southern tip of Africa. They are highly social animals and they like to play or groom each other. In the event of a predator attack they fight back as a group. Meerkats live about eight years in the wild, and up to 14 years in zoos. They eat many invertebrates, and so probably act as a control on these prey populations. Meerkats are known to use a wide range of vocal calls to communicate between one another sounding long howls to warn the rest of the band of an approaching bird of prey, and using short double-barks to alert them of a predator nearing … Meerkats are omnivores, meaning they eat both plants and animals. When the babies are born they are pink and have no hair. Animal Fun Facts; Africa's Big Five; Wild Animals; What's the Difference Between a Wild Animal and Domestic Animal? There are usually 3 to 4 in a litter, and they go by a few different names. Interesting Facts About Meerkats. You can visit them. If this fails, the fight will be ephemeral but, deadly in this war less, than half all adult meerkats survive any given year. There is usually a dominant pair in charge, our parents, Nelson and Madison are the dominant animals in our group. They are highly evolved and possess some amazing adaptations that aren’t immediately obvious. Suricata suricatta. They have a ‘nictitating’ membrane on their eyes. I found your facts interesting. Share. They have about ten different vocalizations, or sounds used to communicate. Meerkat, (Suricata suricatta), also spelled mierkat, also called suricate, burrowing member of the mongoose family (Herpestidae), found in southwestern Africa, that is unmistakably recognizable in its upright “sentinel” posture as it watches for predators. Standing at only 30 cm (12 in.) Fun Facts about Meerkats. Sep 23, 2015. Meerkat’s have become quite famous the last few years with their own show on a cable network that is viewed worldwide. Just last year, an advert starring a Russian meerkat called Aleksandr Orlov and his furry friends was voted the most memorable in a British TV commercial top 10 list. Interesting Facts About the Meerkat. Their diet mostly consists of insects, which they sniff out using their enhanced sense of smell. Amazing Facts About the Meercat. Tweet. Meerkats are extremely social, and often groom or play with each other. Animals A to Z; Baby Animals; Meerkat Babies . The meerkat is a small animal which lives in the Kalahari Desert (Botswana), South Africa, and Namibia. navajocodetalkersadmin on January 12, 2015 - 10:00 am in Fun Facts for Kids. They are an interesting animal species that are very entertaining. One thought on “ 5 Interesting Facts About Meerkats ” tpd123 says: June 28, 2014 at 4:40 am Once when I went on holiday to Ilfracombe I met a meerkat called Shivers. The adult meerkat weighs around 1.1 to 5.5 lb. Meerkat babies start life deep underground in a birthing chamber lined with grasses. Discover some interesting new facts about these famous African dwellers: Meerkats are social mammals who live in large groups, sometimes comprising of several families living in one large community. It is characterised by a broad head, large eyes, a pointed snout, long legs, a thin tapering tail, and a brindled coat pattern. Females are more vocal than males. 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