A Huddle of Baby Meerkats by Kaye Menner

by Kaye Menner

Title

A Huddle of Baby Meerkats by Kaye Menner

Artist

Kaye Menner

Medium

Photograph - Photography

Description

I captured these cute little meerkats at Taronga Western Plains Zoo, formerly known as Western Plains Zoo and commonly known as Dubbo Zoo, which is a large zoo near Dubbo, New South Wales, Australia.

THE FINE ART AMERICA LOGO WILL NOT APPEAR ON PURCHASED PRINTS OR PRODUCTS.

[from Wikipedia]
The meerkat (Suricata suricatta) or suricate is a small mongoose found in southern Africa. It is characterised by a broad head, large eyes, a pointed snout, long legs, a thin tapering tail, and a brindled coat pattern. The head-and-body length is around 24–35 cm (9.4–13.8 in), and the weight is typically between 0.62 and 0.97 kg (1.4 and 2.1 lb). The coat is light grey to yellowish brown with alternate, poorly defined light and dark bands on the back. Meerkats have foreclaws adapted for digging and have the ability to thermoregulate to survive in their harsh, dry habitat. Three subspecies are recognised.
Meerkats are highly social, and form packs of two to 30 individuals each that occupy home ranges around 5 km2 (1.9 sq mi) in area. There is a social hierarchy—generally dominant individuals in a pack breed and produce offspring, and the nonbreeding, subordinate members provide altruistic care to the pups. Breeding occurs round the year, with peaks during heavy rainfall; after a gestation of 60 to 70 days a litter of three to seven pups is born.

Meerkats are active during the day, mostly in the early morning and late afternoon; they remain continually alert and retreat to burrows (or 'boltholes') on sensing danger. They use a broad variety of calls to communicate among one another for different purposes, for example to raise alarm on sighting a predator. Primarily insectivorous, meerkats feed heavily on beetles and lepidopterans, though they also include amphibians, arthropods, small birds, reptiles, and plant material in their diet.

Family: Herpestidae

Genus: Suricata

Uploaded

January 23rd, 2022

Colors

Embed

Share

Tags