A Tough School Of Life: How Meerkat Children Learn To Fight snakes and scorpions? (9 photos)

The life of a meerkat in the African savannah is far from being the Hakuna Matata that we see in the cartoon. It is a fierce struggle for survival, where there is no place for the weak. And it is much, much scarier than you can imagine.





You can't take such an opponent without training, even with a numerical advantage!

Meerkats are small and relatively weak predators, so nature does not spare them. And they do not spare each other either. In meerkat society, up to 20% of animals die from the fangs of other meerkats during fights between packs and internal struggles for power. For reference: only 2% of the human population dies at the hands of other people.



Oh no, it's an ambush! It's time for a fight to the death!

To somehow increase the chances of their offspring surviving, the woolly ones came up with the idea of ​​training the cubs in a kind of schools. Of course, meerkats don't have any rules or uniforms, but the training is extremely intensive: in just 3-4 months, meerkats must master all the skills that will allow them to survive in the South African savannas.





A litter usually consists of 4 to 7 cubs.

Meerkats don't even need to go to first grade, because their education begins immediately after birth. At first glance, the task of a newborn baby is simple: lie down and drink milk when given. But in fact, in the first two weeks of life, the baby must understand the principles of building a hierarchy in a pack and remember all the key faces.



Meerkats spend a lot of time on their hygiene and caring for their friends. This meerkat seems to have become a dentist!

And this is not an easy task, because meerkats live in groups of up to 30 individuals, united in a complex multi-level hierarchy. At its top is the matriarch - the most experienced, aggressive and active female. Big mommy keeps order, gives commands and has the unconditional right to reproduce, which she uses 2-4 times a year. Next to her is the alpha male. He is an alpha purely nominally, he has no real power in the meerkat pack. But she actively participates in caring for her children, who are the absolute majority in the pack.



Here it is, the joy of motherhood!

If the year turns out to be rich in food, then a couple of the strongest females of the pack will leave offspring. But usually the matriarch kicks out her daughters for such blatant disobedience. Therefore, all other members of the pack of both sexes prefer to care for the offspring of the alpha pair.



When you decide to take a serious family photo, but one of you is a bit of a fool.

Only they do not always perform their duties as nannies diligently. If there is little food, then the older sisters will feed the females to the detriment of the males, because they will leave the pack anyway. Or they will only pretend to feed, pocketing part of the food for themselves or their offspring. Even within the pack, competition never stops. And this is the second lesson that young meerkats must learn.



And from the outside, a normal family and no violence...

When the young are 2 weeks old, they move to the second grade. The animals crawl out of the family burrow and begin to explore the world. They also take courses in chewing food and the basics of hunting. Nannies and mother will gradually increase the size of the food pieces they bring until they reach whole insects. And to accustom the offspring to hunting, the mother can take the prey in her mouth and run away from the babies, encouraging them to chase her and catch food on their own.



What a cool scorpion. We should take it to the kids!

After the kids have learned to dissect insect carcasses, they move on to the next class. Here the task is more difficult: adults bring them live, but very badly chewed and unresisting prey. After several lessons, the schoolchildren face an exam: a fight with a real scorpion! Only slightly disarmed: an adult bites off its sting before giving it to the kids to tear apart. This is a smart move. And no one will get hurt (except the victim, of course), and the kids will learn some sense!



Aa ...After successfully passing the exam, the young people go to practice. The animals will go hunting with adults and absorb new knowledge like sponges. As a result, a couple of months after leaving the hole, we no longer see helpless meerkats, but real adults. At first, they will live with the pack, help hunt, raise young and protect the family territory from other furry groups. Well, when the meerkats decide that they are old enough and ready to start a family themselves, they will have to decide: to leave the pack or wait until the place of the main matriarch becomes vacant. And this will not happen soon, because the animals live up to 15 years and will not give up their place to anyone just like that!