Meerkats On Guard at Brookfield Zoo

Did you know that despite their feline-sounding name, meerkats are not cats? (Meerkats are actually a kind of mongoose, and are members of the most numerous group of carnivores, the viverrids.) To protect the colony in the wild, one meerkat usually has sentry duty while the others hunt. The sentry takes up a position high on a rock or log. He or she sits erect, even standing sometimes, sniffing the wind and scanning the area for danger. If this look-out detects trouble, it lets out one of several alarm calls. One call means, "Danger is imminent, run for cover!" A different call means, "Danger might be nearby, so be on guard."

To see meerkats at Brookfield Zoo go to The Fragile Desert, and to read more about them go to www.CZS.org/meerkat.

Category:

Pets & Animals

Tags:

• meerkat
• Brookfield Zoo
• mongoose
• Animals
• Wildlife

[AndreaMGC]

You can just see how intelligent they are! Wow! So beautiful!