Comments on: Meet the Meerkats

By: Chelsie Gardner

Chelsie Gardner — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 03:50:33 +0000

I think its pretty sad that daisy died.:-(. i love to watch meercat manor when im on a channel i go to animal planet if its on i go to it first thing snap like lol! o how mabey baby mercats do they have too? just wonber about how much:-.

By: J.miller

J.miller — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 18:32:12 +0000

Please tell me if Meerkat Manor is coming back to Animal Planet soon with new stories.

Thanks. J.Miller

Moderator’s note: You’ll have to contact Animal Planet directly.

By: Chari Mercier

Chari Mercier — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 23:11:46 +0000

Hi! Just writing to let all of you meerkat fans know that the meerkats made the top 10 list on Animal Planet’s Top 100 animal list. I think that they were no. 6 on the list. YEA!!! That just goes to show that these animals have a great appeal to us humans, and that they are a lot of fun to watch. Cameron (#4), thanks for remembering the meerkats that have passed away that were a part of Meerkat Manor. You forgot one other meerkat that passed away—Daisy. According to the program and the researchers, Daisy was a possible victim of a bird of prey in the Kalahari. She was not in very good health as it was, and her chances of surviving the latest round of not being a part of a meerkat group were pretty slim, even tho she had beaten the odds a few other times before. Her Starsky group had a short life, such as it was, but at least Daisy was a part of a meerkat group for a brief time in her short life.
I wish SDZ could get a meerkat cam up and running. Would love to watch these meerkats do their daily thing everyday!
Chari Mercier
St. Pete, FL

By: Margaret

Margaret — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 15:10:17 +0000

Thanks, Laura, for the great blog about the Meerkats. It is my sister’s favorite animal. We always have to stop and watch the antics of the Meerkats at NZP. Sounds like you have quite a time ” defending” yourself from the rambunctious group.

I look forward to updates on the litter that was raised at the Children’s Zoo. I recall reading about them earlier and found it fascinating and amuzing.

By: Cameron

Cameron — Fri, 23 Nov 2007 22:26:55 +0000

I’m glad Meerkat Manor season 3 is over (well, partially). I hate to see all of those meerkats that we’ve known when season 3 was being posted on the AP website and the ones we’ve knowned since the beginning of Meerkat Manor die! A reminder of some famous ones from all seasons that have passed away:
Shakespeare
Tosca
Carlos
Flower
Kinkajou
Mozart

By: Deb

Deb — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 12:35:15 +0000

It amazes me how relaxed these animals are around humans.

By: Adam Segal

Adam Segal — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 09:37:27 +0000

Hi Laura. Thanks for introducing us to the meerkats on Elephant Mesa. Meerkats have always been my favorite animals in the entire zoo. And now, thanks to the success of Meerkat Manor, people have been checking out our cute little mongoose friends in droves and wanting to learn all about them. They’re certainly some of the biggest highlights on my tours despite their small stature. What they lack in size they make up for in their ability to capture the delight of everyone around them. The zoo is thankful to have such a great and happy group of little animal friends and I’m sure they’ll continue inspire and bring a smile to many faces for years to come.

By: Chari Mercier

Chari Mercier — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 01:55:55 +0000

Hi, Laura! Have you been able to watch ” Meerkat Manor” on Animal Planet over the last year? I have, and I just love these meerkats! They are so much fun to watch, and I have learned so much about them since this program was brought on the air by AP. They are a very complex social group, and the dynamics of each meerkat group are so different. Watching ” Meerkat Manor” , I learned that every meerkat mob have different agendas in making sure that their particular mob gets thru each day, survives, and lives to see another day. A few of the mobs, such as the Lazuli, Commandos, and Zappa can be pretty ruthless when it comes to taking over another meerkat mob’s territory. The Whiskers group has the largest number of meerkats living under one burrow—close to 50 meerkats—and have been the strongest mob of meerkats in their area of the Kalahari. I watched the third season, and the Whiskers finally split up a few months after they lost their dominant female, Flower, to a deadly snake bite. The fourth season that’s coming up early next year will tell us how this split up will turn out. This is what makes watching these meerkats and learning about their social structures and behaviors so interesting. Can’t wait for ” Meerkat Manor 4″ to start so that I can watch what will happen to all of these meerkat groups.
You all have a neat job in handling the meerkats. I’m sure that everyday with them shows you something different about them. It looks like Ngami is a tough customer to deal with when she’s not in a good mood. But, as the dominant female, she’s doing her job in keeping her group together and on track even if it’s in a large exhibit at SDZ!
Have fun with the meerkats, you all! And, I hope that you will get a chance to watch ” Meerkat Manor” when it comes back on the schedule on Animal Planet!
Chari Mercier
St. Pete, FL