The Zoo Welcomes
Meerkats To Its Small Mammal Building

Meercat

The Milwaukee County Zoo has added four male meerkats to an exhibit in the Small Mammal Building. The brothers, from three different litters, come to our Zoo from the Minnesota Zoo.  The youngest in the group, born in 2003, is the most dominant, and the largest of this very active family.

In the wild, these gregarious animals live on African plains, and are often seen in groups; several families may even live together in a large community. Meerkats work together in numbers. A few will typically serve as lookouts, watching the skies for birds of prey, such as hawks and eagles that can snatch them from the ground. A sharp shrill call is the signal for all to take cover. Meerkats will eat insects, lizards, birds and fruit. When hunting small game, they work together and communicate with purring sounds.

The meerkats are on permanent display in the Small Mammal Building.