Meerkat

Meerkat at Paignton Zoo, Devon

Class: Mammals
Order: Carnivora
Family: Herpestidae
There’s no mistaking our cheeky mob of meerkats! The group can be spotted in their exhibit next to The Ranch.

A member of the mongoose family, the meerkat is endemic to dry open savannah and grasslands across southern Africa.

Despite their small size, meerkats are actually carnivores. They mainly eat insects, eggs and small mammals.

Conservation

As they breed readily and have a significant range, there are no major threats currently to the meerkat.

In the wild, meerkats are an important part of the ecosystem, providing food for larger animals that are their natural predators, but themselves consuming a range of invertebrates that can act as a form on control on prey populations.