Meerkats (Suricats)

They are about 50cm (16-18 inches) tall with a thin tapering tails roughly three quarters of body their length.

Meerkats are diurnal, and will only be seen after the first rays of sun start to show over the horizon.

Mostly they eat insects which they dig for or find by looking under stones, but their diet includes worms, larvae, mice and small snakes.

They female has one litter per year, giving birth to two to five young.
The young are very playful, but there are always sentries on duty watching for predators and they scatter into burrows at the first alarm grunt.
Males help guarding young.