The May 2017 Life History files are uploaded.
Some of the most important events:
- A new group was found in a chance encounter, near the Storm Troopers territory: Yetis. They consisted of two VH females (evicted in July 2016), two JX males (emigrated in December 2016), another unhabituated adult male and four juveniles. Frankie (VVHF090) and the wild male were dominant. Frankie and one of the ex JX males succumbed to TB, however, and a wild female immigrated recently.
- Baobab fatally wounded Pandora female Heid while she attempted to join the group.
- Five pups at Lazuli!
- The Pandora group disintegrated; the remaining three individuals could no longer be tracked when Heidi was lost. They showed signs of TB.
- Rascals’ dominant female Laika was lost after giving birth. Mocha Maya (VRRF193) is now dominant.
- TB-or-not-TB’s dominant male, Whiskers-born K-Quob (VWM189) succumbed to TB. Two wild males immigrated after this.
- At Van Helsing, Egg aborted one fetus, but successfully gave birth a week later. The group is babysitting an unknown number of pups.
- Whiskers have not a lot of Life History events to recount – but they are doing well, profiting of good foraging grounds. The five Whiskers pups born on 22nd February have finally been named: Cleo (VWM205), Marahute (VWM206), Hay-Hay (VWM207), Clyde (VWM208) and the only female Bonnie (VWF209).
- Habituation at Storm Troopers, TB-or-not-TB, Ubuntu and Yetis is progressing well.
- At the end of May, the project experienced the first frosty night of the cold dry season.
Click here to download the LH Table.
Friends will find “The Meerkatter” April/May issue here (login needed).