Author: Evi

The August Life History files have been uploaded.

Here are the most important events:

• The KMP team is habituating a 14-strong wild group from scratch; they were tracked in the middle of the reserve, near Big Dam, and are named the Gold Diggers (GD).
• Lazuli dominant female Minnie was predated; her littermate Filthy Mc Nasty (VLF223) is now dominant.
• Tigi, at Storm Troopers, is missing.
• There are TB symptoms in several of the groups, including BB and VH.

Click here to download the LH Table.

Friends will find “The Meerkatter” August issue here (login needed).

The July Life History files have been uploaded.

July has been a very quiet month, LH-wise:

• Ex Pandora male Cheesy Toast (VVHM092) joined his siblings at Paprika (formerly called Van Helsing 4).
• 3 females are pregnant, but there were no births in July – fairly usual during the cold dry season.

Click here to download the LH Table.

Friends will find “The Meerkatter” June/July issue here (login needed).

The June Life History files have been uploaded.

The most important events:

• One group goes, one group comes:
  June saw the demise of Rascals as a group, unfortunately. Both remaining females succumbed to TB, bringing the Rascals group history to a sad end. The group was founded in 1998, making them the 3rd oldest study group right now (Whiskers are just 6 months older). 6 Rascals males are still around and are being tracked, hoping they will found a new group with other females.
• Also in June, the new group (Van Helsing 4) entered the KMP stage with a chance encounter, with VH males Howard (VVHM082) and Angel Shuffle (VVHM075), two wild females and two juries;
  The dry season and Winter have come to the KMP field site, with night temperatures dropping to chilly -8°C (17°F) and barely any rainfall. This means that only few females are pregnant: one, to be exact. Evicted BB female Leia lost her litter, however – so there hasn’t been a single pregnant female at the end of June!
• Whiskers are doing fine.

Click here to download the LH Table.

Friends will find “The Meerkatter” June/July issue here (login needed).

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).