Curious meerkats compete for a treat

the meerkats just love fresh dandelion in spring...

note the technique of getting rid of competition: one meerkat will get up behind the other, put his paws on the other guy's head und push him down/away, a kind of non-aggressive competition, and genuinely cute :)

the mob is doing well and currently consists of

* old (former) queen Möfzi (ca 11 yr old),

* the middle-aged males (Stubbytail, Flat-Ears and Orlok - survivors of a group of 5 males introduced as pups in 2002 - former DM Jolly Roger passed away in late 2008 and Swingkat left us about a year ago)

* the young punks (Snoutie - male; Caruso - female, despite the name; and Sayuri - female), all ca. 20 months old

There is not currently a proper dominant pair. There has in the past been some serious fighting between the young females Caruso and Sayuri. Despite her affliction with a congenital nervous system disorder that causes her to sway about a bit drunkenly, Sayuri appeared to come out on top through sheer ferocity. She's still incredibly cute though :D However the fighting did not result in a new dominant pair, the older males seem a bit aloof. They however are the only ones available as Sayuri or Caruso won't mate with Snoutie for sure. Perhaps it will be necessary to introduce a new male. (Flat-Ears and Orlok are unrelated to the young ones but due to growing up with them may be considered too close family for mating)

This spring will have to show whether the mob will redevelop a proper social structure, as the youngsters are now grown enough.

Category:

Pets & Animals

Tags:

• meerkat
• erdmännchen
• suricate
• mundenhof
• mob
• freiburg
• germany
• animal
• park
• tiergehege

[moralreef]

its nice to see one of the meerkats figuring out momentum!