Meerkats are usually a group of animals that are timid. In fact they are very much like the mongoose family. They are small and also have a pointed snout. The animals usually live in the arid and desert areas of the Southern part of Africa. These animals have a family and they usually live in the same family. There are very rare times when a member of the family may leave the group and join another group to live.

Meerkats have been studied to a large extent by many animal lovers and also scientists because of the interest generated by these animals because of their close social life that was patterned like that of human beings. The social fabric of these animals were very similar to human behaviour because of their habit of grooming their younger ones and also having a head of the family and the others part of the same family and living with each other.

Meerkat manor is a program on Animal planet that has made this animal very popular with the millions of animal lovers around the world by bringing this nonde script animal into their living rooms through the program. It has a amazing number of viewers and has made many people to consider these animals to be very close to the human race.

Dominant Meerkats:

Each family or group of Meerkats that live in the region has a dominant member of the family and this animal was the leader of the group. These dominant females try to boss over the other animals and also make sure that their young ones have a higher chance of survival. The animals do this in a novel way that makes one to wonder about them. The female meerkat that is the dominant one in the group tries to make sure that most of the other females in the group do not give birth to a live young one by chasing them and making them to run for their lives. This fear and stress caused by the dominant meerkats usually makes the other female meerkats to either ever get pregnant or abort. This is the method that is followed by the meerkats to try and make sure that only their genes are transmitted from one generation go the animal to another generation.

The sex and other features of the dominant animal:

The sex of the dominant female is usually female. The reason for this is that an animal that is larger is usually the dominant animal. There are times when there may be a fight between these animals for supremacy and this may decide the dominant animal. There are very rare occurrences where the male animal in a particular group becomes the dominant animal. This can happen when the dominant female dies and there are no other sisters of the dominant female that carry the same genes.

These are some of the basic facts that each and every animal lover needs to know about meerkats. Knowing these facts will also help you to try to learn more facts about these animals.

About Author / Additional Info: