Managing Meerkats
Posted at 9:27 am May 8, 2006 by Beth Rich
Once the sun is up and the dew is off the grass, the five meerkat brothers (we call them “the little men”) at the Wild Animal Park will emerge from their burrows to start their day: they don’t go for coffee, they go for sun worship. They will all stand facing in the direction of the sun so as to absorb as much warmth as possible. If it’s a chilly morning, they will all huddle together and look like a clump of meerkats trying to get warm. When I look after them, I usually feed the main portion of their diet around 9:45-10 a.m. This way, they’ve had time to warm up and get hungry.
Here at the Wild Animal Park they get dry cat kibble, chopped up apple or other fruit, chopped up yam or carrot, about 75 grams (2.6 ounces) of ground meat, and about three quarters of a cup of either small mealworms, giant mealworms, live crickets, or night crawlers. Live crickets seem to be the favorite, but they are not that enthused with the night crawlers. We feed the dry food, fruit, and veggies in an off-exhibit area, but we place the meat and bugs on exhibit. We put little meatballs on the rocks, on the fake termite mound, and on the logs; this way, they have to forage and look around for their meal, just as they would do in the wild.
I usually will feed out the meat in the morning and try to come back in the afternoon to feed out the bugs. Often times, I’ll make an insect parfait: I get a bucket, add a layer of dirt, then a layer of bugs, then another layer of dirt, then bugs, dirt, bugs, etc, etc, etc. I go into their exhibit, turn the bucket upside down, just like building a sand castle, remove the bucket and stand back! They will converge on the dirt pile and start diggin’! I try to use at least three buckets so that there is not too much competition for the food. Digging through the dirt to search for food is a natural behavior and good enrichment for meerkats. I love working with them and they give me a great deal of satisfaction in my day.
Beth Rich is a mammal keeper at the Wild Animal Park.
The Wild Animal Park’s meerkats live in Nairobi Village.
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May 8th, 2006 at 2:27 pm
My favorite animals of all time! Is there a behavioral difference since they are all boys? All the programs I have seen on them always have females and males and the girls always seem to know who has to babysit and who gets to go out on an adventure. Thanks for sharing.
May 9th, 2006 at 5:28 am
I love being able to read about all the behind-the-scenes work that is done every day. It’s such a pleasure to be able to read these blogs and feel almost like I’m right there. Thank you, Beth, for taking the time to write them! Keep them coming!!
May 9th, 2006 at 6:58 am
Your ” insect parfait” is a great idea, Beth! The meerkats seem like such bright little critters. Are they friendly and easy to handle, or are they skittish? Do they all have very distinct personalties or do they react as a group?
I have read that they bite even people they have known for years, and that zoos who have meerkats are required to have double safeguards to ensure the meerkats do not escape because they can be considered very destructive of habitat due to their digging habits and because they multiply very fast. Still, their habits and social structure make them fascinating little buggers…..
May 9th, 2006 at 11:27 am
I remember when the meerkat was born last year at the zoo. What a cutie! I watched the video over and over. The thing that fascinated me was their long fingers and nails. I can see how they would do some harm to someone if they really wanted to, and they are necessary for their foraging for food. You keepers always come up with new and exciting ideas on how to stimulate the animals. That bucket of sand is such a neat idea! Keep up the wonderful work you all are doing.
December 18th, 2006 at 3:25 pm
Webcam! Webcam! There are four webcams at the Zoo but none for Meerkats. How about a Meer-Kam at the Wild Animal Park?
June 11th, 2007 at 10:23 am
Do you anyone who has a meerkat and asks quesions?
August 26th, 2007 at 5:41 am
You have just four cameras, I would suggest you get a fifth for the zoo with meerkats along with Mary Laiuppa’s so called ” Meer-Kam” .
August 31st, 2007 at 8:07 am
And put the ” Meer-Kam” in the Wild Animal Park’s meerkat exibit. And by the way, the polar bear, ape, and panda cams are at the zoo while the elephant cam is at the animal park. So right now, 3 for the zoo and one for the animal park, making 4 cams. Add the two meerkat cams then there would be two at the animal park and four at the zoo.
June 17th, 2009 at 10:55 pm
So you feed them twice a day?? is that how often you should feed them in captivity?
And how do you know how much to feed them??
What are their basic nutritional requirements?