#suricata

A meerkat pup (Suricatta suricatta) in Beekse Bergen Safari Park, The Netherlands

Thomas Peschak Photography

Meerkat Suricata suricatta

A mongoose from southern Africa. They live in packs of around 30 animals with a social hierarchy, in rocky crevices or large burrow systems. They eat mostly insects and other small animals. Encounters between members of different packs are highly aggressive - among mammals, meerkats have the highest rate of death by violence with their own species.

Rearing its head, an Anchieta’s cobra lunged towards two meerkat pups. Reacting instantly, their 20-strong pack ran back to the warren and split into two – half ushering the pups away, the other half advancing towards the snake, growling and fluffing up their coats. Focusing on the snake’s classic profile, Tertius caught the meerkat mob’s fear and aggression. This scene is rare – there are few records of an Anchieta’s cobra attacking a meerkat pack. In a group, the mammals have the advantage, using a system of alarm calls to notify others of predators and to co-ordinate a mobbing of the attacker. This snake was just an opportunistic hunter looking to snatch one of the pups before the pack arrived.

Timón y Pumba en la vida real… pic.twitter.com/OkO0uTbiwH