The British documentary television programme Meerkat Manor (September 2005 – August 2008), produced by Oxford Scientific Films for Animal Planet International, documented the antics of various meerkats being studied by the Kalahari Meerkat Project. The meerkats live in matriarchal groups led by a dominant couple, who have exclusive mating and breeding rights. The remainder of the group is usually the offspring and relatives of the dominant couple.
In the first three series of the four-series programme, five major groups of meerkats were regularly shown, however, its primary focus was on a group called the Whiskers, one of the largest and oldest of the research groups. Other groups featured were neighbouring rival groups of the Whiskers and groups formed by former Whiskers members. During the first series, a group called the Lazuli were depicted as the Whiskers' main rivals, with occasional appearances by the smaller Gattaca group. In the second series, the Commandoes were introduced as one of the toughest rivals the Whiskers had ever faced, and by the third, the Commandoes had forced the Whiskers to move. The Whiskers then acquired two new neighbouring groups, the Zappa, with whom they had frequent confrontations, and the short-lived Starsky group formed by a trio of evicted Whiskers females. In the fourth and final series, one of the Whiskers' females formed a new group, the Aztecs.
The meerkat families and individuals are listed in order of appearance with the official names and spellings from the original broadcast of the programme used for their primary identification. Differences in the American or Australian broadcasts are noted as necessary, and the information reflects the state of meerkats at the series's end. Meerkats that only appeared in one or two episodes, are unnamed, or otherwise have no significance in the overall programme are not included.
Whiskers Dominant female: Sophie Whiskers Dominant male: Squeak Lazuli
The Whiskers are a successful group of meerkats that own a two-square-mile area in the Kuruman River Reserve. The group came into existence in 1998, with four Young Ones females and two Lazuli rovers – reinforced with a wild meerkat who had been released nearby (instead of the potjie) from Van Zylsrus. Holly and Argon took dominance till 2000. After Holly died Risca took dominance with Beetle. She evicted some females who formed the Asphodel and Hobgoblin groups. Eleven Vivian rovers emigrated into Whiskers in 2001. Izit won dominance over Basil, despite Basil being older. Basil left to join to Lazuli. Risca and Izit lost dominance and left to form the Gattaca. Vialli and Zaphod became the next dominant pair. After Vialli died, Flower won dominance in 2002. Yossarian overthrew Zaphod taking male dominance but Zaphod overthrew him sometime after. Flower and Zaphod reign then on. The group split Yossarian and Super Furry Animal taking dominance in the splinter till Baddiel overthrew her sister. The Whiskers reunited and Flower and Zaphod took back dominance. Flower evicted Kinkaju and Mozart with two other females who formed the Starsky. Flower succumbed to a snake bite in January 2007. Her daughter Rocket Dog rose to power after her. The Whiskers split in two and formed the Aztecs. After Rocket Dog died in 2008 and Ella established dominance. Five Whiskers males emigrated into the Lazuli kicking out Thundercat who soon joined the Whiskers. The group recently recovered after a low in numbers. Many Whiskers formed or joined other groups. Some males have joined the Whiskers rivals the Lazuli and Commandos. While many groups were formed by Whiskers members such as the two largest group in the KMP today, the Baobab and Kung Fu. With every move recorded on camera by Cambridge University, the Whiskers became famous as the stars of the hit television series, Meerkat Manor (2005).
When the Whiskers first formed in 1998, their main rivals were Young Ones, Lazuli, Elveera and Vivian. These were their main rivals for three years, then Gattaca formed north of the Whiskers territory and became their rivals. Over the next few years, Vivian moved away from the Whiskers and Commandos became the Whiskers new rivals. Soon Elveera and Lazuli moved away from the Whiskers and Aztecs form their territory next to the Whiskers. In 2007 Whiskers main rivals were Young Ones, Aztecs and Commandos. Then Young Ones died out, and Kung Fu formed next to Whiskers, Commandos moved away and the Sequoia formed. Today Whiskers main rivals are Toyota, Lazuli, Kung Fu and Sequoia.
Flower
Born 15 March 2000, Flower became the fearless and formidable leader of the Whiskers in 2002. During the course of the series, Flower gave birth to numerous litters of pups, and is believed to have delivered 70 pups over the course of her lifetime. As the dominant female, Flower had the right to kill any pups born to other females in the group, but she did not exercise that right when her daughters, Tosca and Mozart, had pups at the same time early in the first series. Seven weeks after the pups were born, however, she evicted both daughters and forced them to leave their pups behind. (Tosca later died on her own, after Carlos of the Lazuli group had joined up with her for a while.) Flower allowed Mozart back into the group, but evicted her permanently after two more temporary evictions during the first and second series. Twice, Flower initiated burrow moves that would force a female who had given birth to choose between their new pups or their family. Flower's daughter, Daisy, left her pups to die and rejoined her family, while Mozart accepted eviction and being alone to stay with her pups.
Though Flower was known for ruling with an "iron paw", she was a devoted mother, affectionate with her family, and gentle with pups including her daughters'. When her young pups were lost in Zappa territory early in the third series, Flower risked a war with their neighbors to find them. Flower also accepted Axel, an abandoned pup from the rival Zappa group, into the Whiskers clan, where the usual response would have been to kill the young intruder. Flower's four-year reign ended late in the third series when she died after being bitten in the head by a Cape cobra while protecting a litter of newborn pups that were her own.
Flower's death caused a backlash against the Meerkat Manor producers, with fans wondering why the film crew and researchers did not attempt to save the meerkat. The producers and researchers argued that doing so would violate the agreement under which Meerkat Manor was filmed, and that the primary purpose of the Kalahari Meerkat Project is to study "...the breeding success and survival of individuals and ... the factors that effect [sic] reproduction and survival." As such, interfering in the natural processes would render the research results invalid; the purpose of the show is to truly present a realistic view into the meerkats lives including their deaths. After the announcement of Flower's death, the news wire service United Press International released an obituary-like news story, while fans eulogised the late meerkat in letters, poems, memorial videos on YouTube, and numerous postings to fan sites and fan web forums. The US Animal Planet web site added a memorial section to their Meerkat Manor site, offering visitors a copy of Flower's obituary, a video tribute, information about the film, and access to a discussion board and a live chat with the US producer of the series. Animal Planet aired a film biography of Flower's early life on 25 May 2008 entitled Meerkat Manor: The Story Begins. The film, using footage of untamed meerkats and the research notes of Cambridge University, retells the story of how Flower became the dominant female of the Whiskers after the deaths of her mother and sister.
Yossarian Zaphod's younger brother, Yossarian, is named after the main character in Catch-22 and has a scar across his left eye. In the third episode of the series, the narrator states that Yossarian was once Flower's mate and the dominant male of the Whiskers, but Zaphod dethroned him before the series started. The Meerkat Manor: The Story Begins film states that Yossarian and Zaphod were once roving Lazuli males. Yossarian became the dominant male of the Whiskers when Flower's sister was the dominant female, and then left the group when Flower assumed the role. Noted as having "some social problems" and being a trouble-maker, Yossarian initiated two burrow moves while babysitting twice in the first series, but both were badly handled. The first attempt resulted in a lot of confusion amongst the babysitters, resulting in the eight newborn pups Yossarian dragged out of the burrow being partially trampled and almost left to die in the desert sun. Pooky, one of the other babysitters, was able to restore order and get the pups to the burrow. A few days later he tried again. This time the babysitters joined him, but as they carried the newborn pups to a new burrow, they passed the main group and Flower and Zaphod ran after them. To avoid Flower's wrath, Yossarian dropped the pup of Mozart that he was carrying and slunk off. The pup died as a result and the rest of the Whiskers temporarily ostracised Yossarian for the havoc wrought by these moves. Yossarian's attempt to help Daisy by carrying her newborn pups to the Whiskers burrow separated him from the family. He also rescued one of Flower's pups in the second series after the young pup had wandered too far from the safety of the burrow.
During the second series, Yossarian began a more concerted effort at finding a mate of his own, and possibly taking over leadership in another group. He made three unsuccessful attempts to reach Cazanna, the dominant female of the Lazuli, after the death of her mate Big Si. Nevertheless, he was able to successfully mate with evicted Lazuli female Pancake. Late in the second series, Yossarian left the Whiskers to become a full-time roving male. He has not appeared since.
Shakespeare Shakespeare, named after the famous playwright, was one of Flower's sons. Billed as "courageous" in the opening sequence of series one, he was bitten in the lower jaw and in the thigh by a puff adder in the first episode. He recovered, however, and continued to be a strong contributor to the Whiskers group. Near the end of series one, he was the lone babysitter protecting Flower's most recent pups when the Lazuli group found the burrow, and Shakespeare put himself between the pups and Big Si, the Lazuli's dominant male at the time. When the Whiskers returned and dispatched the Lazuli, the pups were alive but Shakespeare could not be found.
At the start of series two, Shakespeare was still missing and believed dead. Thomas Flower of the Kalahari Meerkat Project explained the lack of certainty by noting that "...meerkats are often killed defending pups, Shakespeare was a babysitter the day before and Lazuli were in the area. However it is equally possible that he was killed by a predator, dispersed to another group, or was killed by another group whilst trying to join them, we just weren't there on that particular day." More recent articles discussing Flower's death refer to Shakespeare's death and reiterate that his body has never been found.
Tosca