The Secret Life of a Meerkat Family!

The Kalahari in Southern Africa is famously the home of Meerkats, also known as the suricate ( Suricata suricatta ) . In this video I spend a whole day following a family of meerkats uncovering their secret life in the Kalahari. We learn how these social meerkats communicate with each other; how they hunt prey including their favourite meal which is scorpions; how they lookout for potential predators; and how they rear their young and look after them cooperatively as a family unit. We also learn more about how they move along their territory, going from one burrow system to another. Each burrow system has a different purpose, one area is used for sleeping, the others are more used as pitstops on their way through their territory as they forage for food. It is a truly magical experience following these meerkats, being accepted into their family!

*DISCLAIMER*
Jack Randall has extensive experience handling and studying wild animals. Where filming with dangerous animals Made in the Wild works with scientists and wildlife institutions. Do not attempt to handle wild animals without appropriate training and permits.

About Jack Randall:
Jack is a zoologist on an adventure! His mission is to show off the world’s most amazing animals. And to do that he must explore the world’s most wild places… You can also catch Jack on his TV show with National Geographic Wild / Disney+ called "Out There with Jack Randall" . Jack was educated at Oxford University following an apprenticeship with the iconic Steve Irwin (which started when Jack was 14!).

What Are Creature Features?
All creatures have evolved different tricks to survive in the wild places they call their homes! Each animal has an awesome story about how they look, what they eat and even how they move! Creature Features spotlight the stories behind these crazy cool adaptations.

The Science:
With over 1 Million species on the IUCN Red List of Endangered Species, animal populations are in decline the world over. This is due to many reasons but what we know for sure is to keep the planet's amazing diversity of wildlife we need to learn as much as possible about where and how these creatures live their lives. Collating all the data we are gathering will help build a picture of which habitats are key to sustaining the largest diversity of life on planet earth.

Thanks to our amazing team without whom the series would not have been possible!

Sarah Ash, Edit
Suzie Brearley, Production
Alex Whitcombe & Rachel Hagreen, Camera
Rodney Katutja, Field Support
Mike Wyatt, Graphics

[floswason]

Love meerkats remember meerkat manor used to watch all the time

[jennymc]

Super sweet insight into a day in the life of meerkats. Exactly what I wanted to show my class of 3 year olds. I like that it is not too long and that there is not too much information. It is unbelievable how quickly they accepted you. They are very trusting. We have mongeese and monkeys around our school and they would never be this trusting. Thanks for your video!

[TheWildlifeBrothers]

Meerkats are such incredible animals, it doesn’t get any better than hanging out with meerkats all day. They have the desert ecosystem totally figured out, I could watch them navigate their environment for hours. Brilliant work capturing it all on video Jack!
- Harrison and Evan

[smetlogik]

Fascinating edit, well done. I need some Meerkat security guards for my front and backyard. Looks like they share everything...except the scorpion. You know you've arrived when the meerkats let you take a siesta with them.

[hallymariah]

Thank you for putting on the MeeKats. I so enjoy them. They are so cute and sweet and truly give us a point of reference into their lives....

[graciecat]

Super frickin CUTE!!! I kind of wish I was a meerkat ❤️ amazing respect for these cuties😍

[devsmithabardhan]

Yeahhhh another important and most cutest video 😍😍😍😍😍♥️♥️♥️🔥🔥

[randypierson]

That is so cool he was able to sit in front of their door and have them walk on him that is unbelievably cool😊 😎 just awesome all the other animal channels that have meerkats doesn't do what he does with them that's awesome

[JamesNyeVRGuy]

One of the, if not THE best videos you've done. Love it when you're enjoying the bush trip and animals yourself!

Is the pattern on their lower back for camouflage?

[mbbartleson]

The production quality on this video is incredible. On par with anything from BBC or Nat Geo. Great work Jack and team!

[jeewanisadamali]

Meerkats are very brave and work in team. .so coool

[eshort]

I love how these Meerkats live fully in the moment ❤️

[pancakesnwaffles]

Hi jack, just finished out there with jack Randall and it was such an amazing show can’t wait to see some more adventures on your YouTube

[hasanatukamara]

One of my favorite show on animal planet / NatGEO.

[davidhutchinson]

Meerkats where they belong. In the wild. They are so amazing.

[lynnemaree]

What a lovely video, so lucky to have those experiences 😀

[chazbretz]

So incredibly adorable. Thanks for sharing :D

[Sammy]

Wonderful, thank you so much.. I too love meerkats but just from afar.

[r.jananixi-a]

Thank you so much. Telling about animals. Jack sir you are the best. Video is so clear. Awesome huge fan of you. I want to become wildlife biologist. Because animals is better than people and my soul

[patrickfitchjr]

Dude so much respect for what you do! Been around all sorts of animals and reptiles. I love being around various lives around us. After I first learned about you on Google+ from you're series I didn't see anything else until today. As always you put on a good show. I would have had a good relationship with Steve too honestly if I had the chance. Very happy for you to get such an honor. Keep up the good work. I hope to meet you some day.