The meerkat or suricate
The meerkat or suricate is a small mammal and a member of the mongoose family It inhabits all parts of the Kalahari Desert in southern Africa A group of meerkats is called a mob or gang Meerkat is an English loan word from Afrikaans The name itself came from Dutch but by misidentification In Dutch meerkat means guenon a monkey of the Cercopithecus genus which possibly derives from Sanskrit markata monkey The traders of the Dutch East India Company were familiar with such animals but the Dutch settlers attached the name to the wrong animal at the Cape In Dutch the name for the suricat is stokstaartje little stick tail They are social in their behaviour where many aunts and uncles lookout for the younger members of the family Their cute faces and playful attitude draw crowds to their enclosures at the parks and zoos around the world According to African popular belief mainly in the Zambian Zimbabwean region the meerkat is also known as the sun angel as it protects villages from the moon devil or the werewolf which is believed to attack stray cattle or lone tribesmen
Size: 5120px × 3413px
Photo credit: © Peter Chadwick / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: africa, claws, cuddly, cute, desert, digger, fighter, friendly, furry, inquisitve, laughter, manor, mearcat, mearkat, meercat, meerkat, mongoose, natural, nature, neighborly, nosey, rodent, scurry, simples, smile, snakes, social, sticktail, suricata, wildlife, world
