Meerkats: Never a Dull Moment
Posted at 9:37 am June 16, 2008 by Laura Weiner
Today was quite a day in the meerkat exhibit on Elephant Mesa at the San Diego Zoo: all sorts of changes, fights, vaccines, and general upheaval. On the schedule for today were the final vaccinations for the pups born in February (see Laura's previous blog, Vaccinations for Meerkat Pups), and the yearly vaccinations for the juveniles from last year's litter.
As I was waiting for the vet tech to arrive, I observed some disturbing behavior. (Just a side note, Ngami is pregnant again and about to give birth any day now. Kasane, unfortunately, seems pregnant as well. I say unfortunately because this does not bode well for Kasane's pups. The dominant female does not tolerate any pups other than her own in the group and she would most likely kill them.)
So this morning as I was watching them I saw poor little Seronga being chewed on and attacked by Kasane and some of the juveniles. She looked pretty bad and was curled up into a ball. Kasane didn't look so hot either. She had probably been fighting with Ngami, who usually gets more aggressive as she gets closer to giving birth.
So along with taking the pups to the hospital for their first exams, final vaccinations, and tattoos for identification, we also took Kasane and Seronga to have their wounds checked out. Both of them will be on antibiotics for their bite wounds, which they take very well. The decision was made to take Kasane out of the group for now. Of course, usually this would be a permanent move since you really cannot reintroduce meerkats back once they have left. Kasane has always been the troublemaker and we didn't want to risk her pups being attacked by Ngami or others in the mob.
Along with the saga of the adult females was catching up the juveniles for their vaccinations. They are all basically full-grown with full-grown teeth! When catching them, I use the "gauntlet" gloves. These are thick leather gloves that reach all the way to my elbows for protection. The meerkats were very squirmy and "bitey," and I was glad to have those gloves protecting my skin!
It was an eventful day in our meerkat manor. It is always difficult when you have to separate animals, but it is for their own good in this case. Kasane will, I hope, have her pups in peace and be able to raise them. At some point we will probably make another group with her so she will have some company. One thing I can say about working with meerkats: it is never, ever boring!
Laura Weiner is a senior keeper at the San Diego Zoo.
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June 16th, 2008 at 10:09 am
Thanks for the update! Will Kasane and her pups be over in the nursery at the Children's Zoo or will they remain off exhibit? I am looking forward to stopping by the meerkat exhibit soon. And Wow–Nighttime Zoo is about to begin!!!
June 18th, 2008 at 1:14 pm
Another great blog, Laura. I especially liked the description of the meerkats as " very squirmy and 'bitey' " .
But of course, I wasn't the one handling them!
Hope Seronga recovers completely - with the TLC at the SDZ is there any doubt?
Good luck to Kasane and her pups.
Meerkats are never be boring, and your blogs are never boring either! Thank you.
June 18th, 2008 at 2:50 pm
Hi Laura, I was at the Zoo this past weekend, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. I drove over from Arizona to spend 3 days with your wonderful meerkats. On Friday I noticed that there were some dominance issues in the mob, I knew one female was pregnant, but had no idea there was another pregnancy in your mob. I am glad you got the trouble sorted out and have separated the offenders. You do have your hands full with all those meerkats. I enjoyed seeing the pups, even though they are getting big now, but I spend so many hours and took 1200 pictures of nothing but Meerkats. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to see these wonderful creatures and see them interact they way they do. Kudos to you for taking such good care of your meerkat mobs. It shows. And you are right, meerkats are never boring. I hope to make the return drive in the fall and revisit your little meerkat manors.
June 19th, 2008 at 10:08 am
I do hope Seronga is recovering from her ordeal. What a bunch of squabblers they are! They look so sweet and innocent, don't they. Still love them though.
June 25th, 2008 at 10:58 am
They're lucky to have such a good keeper looking after them! Keep up the good work, Laura!
July 11th, 2008 at 7:42 pm
Hi, you all! WOW!!! I must have missed this blog! Sounds like Animal Planet's " Meerkat Manor" over there!! Ngami fighting with Kasane and Seronga, then who knows which other meerkat got her hip slams! Ngami is reminding me of Nikita of the Commandos on Meerkat Manor. She's just as mean towards her group, and on the episode that I saw tonite, she was even more brutal by evicting 8 sisters and daughters out of her group basically because she was pregnant herself! She didn't want any female meerkat, even family related, to overshadow her at all! Back to the SDZ Meerkat Manor, Ngami sounds like she's got some of Nikita's behaviors and attitudes! The only thing that I am hoping for is that Ngami remembers how to care for and raise her pups after they are born. You all are going to have to really watch her very closely again to make sure that she is able to do it the correct way. You were able to do it with the last litter of pups, so good luck with this new litter coming up. I think that getting Kasane out of the group now will be a big help for her. She needs to be stress free when she is ready to have her pups, and then starting a new group for her will be nice. At least you all won't allow any fighting between groups! You're doing a great job with this wild bunch of meerkats, and like you said, it's never boring inside the SDZ Meerkat Manor!
Have fun!!
Chari Mercier
St. Pete, FL
July 21st, 2008 at 7:39 am
Hi Laura,
I was wondering if, and when, Ngami and Kasane have given birth to their pups yet? Any details?
Thanks and thanks for taking such good care of these delightful creatures, albeit a handful at times. LOL
Moderator's note: Laura just sent us an updated blog and we'll post it Tuesday morning.
August 28th, 2008 at 11:29 pm
Sure sounds like SDZ's got a Meerkat Manor of their own, including the drama! Hope all goes well with Kasane and her pups. I did get some good pictures of the meerkats when I was there in April this year.
November 17th, 2008 at 11:27 am
The last time I visited the S.D. Zoo, in August, there were several new pups that emerged. They are the cutest. I want to come back and visit soon and wanted to check to see what is new in the meerkats enclosures. Any chance that there are more pups?
Laura responds: The pups are doing well and just had their final vaccinations. I just weighed Ngami and she is staying at 1.30 kilograms for the time being. Hopefully that means she is not pregnant. 13 meerkats are quite a handful to deal with right now!