Meerkat Manor

Meerkat Manor
Created by	Adam Frost
Starring	Narrators UK and Canada: Bill Nighy Australia: Mike Goldman USA: Sean Astin
Country of origin	UK
No. of episodes	26 (So Far)
Production
Running time	30 mins (commercials) 20 mins (without commercials)
Original release
Network	Animal Planet
Release	September 12, 2005 – present

Meerkat Manor is a television series made by Oxford Scientific Films for Animal Planet that presents the daily activities of a family, or mob, of wild meerkats as part of the Kalahari Meerkat Project. [2] Although the show has elements of a documentary, and is based on actual events, the narrative is presented in a style similar to a soap opera. The show is narrated by Bill Nighy in the UK and Canada, Mike Goldman in Australia, and Sean Astin in the USA. The series was originally shown in the UK, and is its primary home, but was picked up in Australia, Canada and the United States, and is now a worldwide hit.

The show is currently in production for its third season of 13 episodes; as of April 2007 the second season is being shown in the UK on BBC 2 on Sunday early evenings and repeated on the next Saturday. The third season is supposed to be aired June, July, or August.

TV Guide reports that Season 3 will begin in the United States on August 10, 2007. Other sources also report that it has been contracted for 2 more years.

Kalahari Meerkat Project

Main article: Kalahari Meerkat Project

The Kalahari Meerkat Project has been a long-term field study in the ecological causes and evolutionary consequences in the cooperative breeding of the Meerkat Suricata suricatta. The project is run by the Mammal Research Institute at the University of Pretoria and the Large Animal Research Group from Cambridge University. Their daily work involves collecting of data on the meerkats' behavior, reproduction, feeding ecology, and growth. The study area is in the South African Kalahari, near the Botswana border. The researchers/volunteers work with 13 groups of meerkats that are completely habituated to close study and observation by the researchers. The meerkats provide unusual opportunities for filming and are used over and over by film teams.

Premise

Meerkat Manor is a documentary/drama series following the everyday life of a meerkat family called the Whiskers, living in the Kalahari Desert in South Africa. The Whiskers, all given names as part of the study, have their daily activities tracked and filmed by scientists, showing everything from family squabbles to love affairs. The Whiskers are led by dominant female Flower and her mate, Zaphod. Each episode in the series presents a rare glimpse into the relationships and familial structure of the central characters.

Filming and monitoring

For the first time, successful filming was achieved within a meerkat burrow using fiber-optic cameras. The film crews were housed in specially-built sheds, where they stayed until the meerkats became habituated to the presence of humans in their territory. The meerkats modified their behavior when humans were around; for example, they would seek shelter from cold early morning winds on the lee side of a human, and sometimes sentry meerkats climbed onto people's shoulders if there was no suitable natural high place [3] [4] [5].

Scientists tried to limit their interaction to witness the meerkats in their truest and most natural state; the only time that the humans fed the meerkats was when crumbled hardboiled egg was used to entice them onto a electronic weighing scale. One image of this happening shows the scale pan marked "Whiskers", which may mean that they used a pan for each group to avoid exposing meerkats to another group's group scent. The meerkats learned to tolerate such things as scientists taking hair samples and skin scrapings.

The project's field manager is Thomas Flower.[6]

Starkies

• Tosca the leader female
• carlos the leader male.

Miki

Ok well a new clan called the Miki appered. With

 *Tweezers, Dominate Male. He is definatly the uncle of Zaphod and Youssarian. He was also attacked by a tortise when he took an egg. 

 Fleck, Dominate Female, she has a bad history 

 Candy Cane, Vulnerable 

 Mitch, Fearless 

 Mae May, Caring 

 Mi, mischief 

Featured meerkat families

The show portrays several meerkat families, who act communally for the benefit of their respective groups.

The families featured are:

• Whiskers: The main family and focus of the series. It is led by the dominant pair of Flower and Zaphod,
• Splinters: The larger of two groups formed when the Whiskers temporarily split. It was led by Daisy and Youssarian; then Tosca supplanted Daisy. Tosca was later evicted again by Flower and the splinter group was reunited with the Whiskers. Anytime the Whiskers split up, one is always called the Splinters.
• Lazuli: Neighbors and rivals of the Whiskers. It was initially led by Cazanna and Big Cy, but Big Cy died of TB. Cazanna, and J.D (Cazanna's son) currently lead the Lazuli.
• Commandos: The fearsome enemies of the Whiskers that appear in Season 2 and are the main antagonists. It is led by Hannibal and Nikita.
• Gattaca: A small group with not many adults. They are neighbors of the Whiskers. So far, it has only been mentioned once.
• Starkies: The new meerkat group in town.
  • List and short history of all named meerkat groups

Whiskers family

The members who are the primary focus of the narrative are featured in the opening credits to the show. This group contains 40 members and is one of the largest groups.

Main family members

• Flower, the leader and dominant female of the Whiskers. She was born in 2000. Flower is the main character of the show and is the mother of over 29 pups. She was fitted with a radio collar that allowed scientists and film crews to track the group's movements. Despite her toughness, Flower can be nurturing to her pups and the other gang members, but is equally capable of ruthlessness, all in the name of "survival of the fittest". Flower is 6 years old and is known to have been pregnant 15 times. She has one sister, Risca. There are rumors Flower is dead, but it is uncertain if they are true.
• Zaphod, Flower's partner and the dominant male of the Whiskers. He is the largest and oldest member of the family and is a bit of a bruiser. His main duties are to scent mark their territory and mate with Flower. He replaced his brother, Youssarian, as dominant male. When Flower is ready to mate he stays very close to Flower to keep other males away from her, but mostly his brother Youssarian.

• Youssarian, Zaphod's brother. He is eight years old, and used to be the dominant male, until Zaphod took his place. Because of a scar across his left eye, it is thought that as a pup, he was picked up by a bird of prey, then dropped on his head. He mated with some females from the rival Lazuli. He is infamous for forcing burrow moves while babysitting the pups, and is described as having "social problems". He is responsible for the death of Mozart's pup during a burrow move. He once tried to mate with Tosca and Daisy. When Daisy had pups, he tried to help her rescue them, but failed. He also led the splinter group with Daisy. He is the father of Pancake's pups.
• Mozart, Flower and Zaphod's eldest daughter. Not possessing much common sense when it comes to being seduced by roving meerkat males, like Carlos of the Lazuli, she has been evicted from the Whiskers at least twice for having pups. When evicted in season 2 for that reason, all of her pups were killed by the Commandos, the Whiskers' vicious enemies. Although she was generally known as "caring" after she stayed with her brother when he was sick, she also savagely evicted her sister, Daisy. She is the mother of Sophie, Spud, Sparkle and an unidentified pup. Sparkle died during a burrow move that Youssarian started.
• Tosca, Flower's rebellious daughter. She was initially evicted from the Whiskers for having pups and permanently for taking charge of the Splinters, the larger of the two groups created when the Whiskers temporarily split. The crew believed that the Splinter group would be permanent and fitted Tosca with a radio collar like Flower's. It is said that she gave birth to Jogu, McMurphy, and an unidentified pup. She was evicted later and was not seen ever again. She was presumed dead, but could be alive.
• Daisy, another daughter of Flower. She has a nervous disposition and was heard barking with no apparent reason when she was the dominant female of Splinters. During Mozart's last pregnancy, she was evicted by her subordinate sister, which is considered a very rare event in meerkat society. She ended up back in the Whiskers after Flower reasserted her dominance over Mozart. She led the 32-strong Splinter group before Tosca took over. She had pups after mating with Carlos, but left her pups to rejoin her family.
• Shakespeare, the courageous son of Zaphod and Flower. He survived a double bite, on his neck and leg, from a puff adder. When the Lazuli attacked the Whiskers' den, he defended some of his brothers and sisters (Mitch, Columbus, Rose, Parsley, and Basil). He has not been seen since the episode The Calm Before the Storm, and is presumed dead, since his body was never found.
• Mitch, the feisty son of Zaphod and Flower. He was a bit of a bully when he was a pup; he stole food from other pups, and attacked Sophie with no reason. He was once on the verge of death after eating scorpions he stole from adults and siblings, but survived and has somewhat filled the void left by Shakespeare's disappearance. A gang of teenage meerkats, led by Kinkajou, "kidnapped" him when he was a small pup before abandoning him in the bush; he was rescued by his older brother, Shakespeare.

Rest of the Whiskers family

• Atilla, an aggressive son of Zaphod and Flower. He notably led a charge against roving meerkat Grog from the Commandos, who approached the Whiskers' babysitting burrow to look for females in season 2. Even though he is brave, he was afraid to fight a scorpion that was given by Mozart.
• Achilles, from the same litter as Attila, Mango and Chutney. He tried to climb a tree, but wasn't able to get on the top. While drinking from a water hole, he fell in.
• Apollo. He, Athena, Pepper, and Nutmeg are surviving members of Blossom's litter. He tried to steal Flower's food.
• Athena. She was the only one who went back for Blossom when she was too scared to go hunt food with the adults.
• Basil, from the same litter as Columbus, Parsley, Basil and Rose.
• Bad Boy Bubby, one of the "new" meerkats. His picture is on the research site.
• Big Will, The son of Youssarian. He was born when Flower and Youssarian were still mates. He, along with Yousarrian and Mitch, wanted to mate with Lazuli females. He also tried to mate with some Gattaca females.
• Bing, born in the same litter as Millie and Shelly.
• Blossom, a daughter of Flower. A goshawk carried her off when she got lost in the bush in the Series 2 episode Growing Pains.
• Chutney, in the same litter with Attila, Achilles and Mango.
• Clive, in the same litter as Dudley, Petra and Mary-pat.
• Columbus, the adventurous little pup, is another of Zaphod's sons. He went foraging with the adults the moment he saw sunlight and is an adult in season 2.
• Cruise, the sister of Mitch, Rocky, and Einstein. She is notoriously feisty.
• Dudley, Clive, Petra, and Marypat are Flower's pups. They were separated from the Whiskers in the Season 1 episode Divided Loyalties.
• Einstein, another of Zaphod's sons, is seen trying and failing to open a tortoise egg. He also tried to steal some plover's eggs from their nest when the birds were focusing on the rest of the Whiskers, but was unsuccessful. He is from the same litter as Mitch, Rocky, and Cruise.
• Flava Flav, one on the "new" meerkats.
• Jogu, the 1-year-old son of Tosca. He and his brother McMurphy were babysitting Flower's pups, but wandered off when they got bored.
• Kinkajou, one of Flower's more notable daughters. She was the leader of the group of teenage meerkats who abandoned Mitch. She gave Apollo a beetle larva and was seen providing milk to Flower's pups.
• Kooky, one of the young males who went on sentry duty shortly before the Commandos attacked the smaller Whiskers splinter group.
• Mango, a female in the same litter with Attila, Achilles and Chutney. She was first to see a snake that was in the territory of the Whiskers.
• Marypat, in same litter as Dudley. There is another Marypat in the Gattaca group.
• McMurphy, a son from Tosca's first litter. In the episode Flower Power, McMurphy and Jogu were assigned to babysit Flower's pups, but due to their youth and inexperience, they lost interest and wandered off.
• Millie, in same litter as Shelly and Bing.
• Nutmeg, Blossom's brother. He was seen stealing food.
• Parsley, in the same litter as Columbus.
• Pooky, one of Flower's sons. As a teenager, he saved one of Tosca's pups during the first burrow move which Youssarian initiated. He was seen trying to steal Flower's food, but failed. He once found himself a toad to eat, but Flower took it because she was hungry after giving birth.
• Pozzo, Pozzo and Sparky followed their mother, Flower, when the Whiskers split up. Pozzo was given a millipede by dominant male Zaphod after he stole it from Youssarian, but Pozzo let it go, which caused Youssarian to go to the baby sitting burrow.
• Pepper, in Blossom's litter.
• Petra, in the same litter as Dudley. As a pup, she would tried to steal food from anyone who had food.
• Rocky, the sister of Mitch, Cruise, and Einstein. Rocky was given a scorpion to eat by Pooky.
• Rose, in the same litter as Columbus.
• Shellie, in the same litter as Millie.
• Sophie, a daughter of Mozart who was in Mozart's first litter. She and Spud helped babysit one of Flower's litters. As a pup, she was attacked by Mitch.
• Sparky. He and Pozzo followed their mother Flower when the Whiskers split up.
• Sparkle, a pup from Mozart's first litter. She was killed after Yousarrian started the second den move. Sophie and Spud are surviving members of this litter.
• Spud, a pup from Mozart's first litter. Spud helped Sophie babysit Flower's pups. As a pup, he tried to steal Shakespeare's food.

Lazuli family

The Lazuli are a family of meerkats who are neighbors and rivals of the Whiskers. The Lazuli live in an area where the more forested region along the dry Kuruman riverbed gives way to the dunes. The group has 25 members.

• Big Cy was the dominant male of the Lazuli. He was the biggest and meanest meerkat in the area. It was believed that Big Cy killed Shakespeare in an attack to the Whiskers' den. Shortly afterwards, he became very ill with tuberculosis and had to be put down at the beginning of season 2.
• Cazanna is the dominant female of the Lazuli. She is unable to bear pups since Big Cy died, as the new alpha male is her son, J.D. Meerkats generally do not mate with family. Like Flower, she has a radio collar.
• Bubble, one of Big Cy's last pups who was in the same litter as Squeak. She was killed in the attack by the Commandos.
• Carlos is considered a Casanova. He has mated with Mozart, Tosca, and Daisy. He was close to mating with Mozart, but he lost to another male meerkat. His grandfather is Stinker, of the Gattaca. He spends most of his time trying to find a mate and is the main reason females in the Whiskers get pregnant. He was first seen trying to mate with females who were babysiting Flower's pups, but was chased off.
• J.D. is Cazanna and Big Cy's son. He became the alpha male of the Lazuli after his father died.
• Magnus, a large male meerkat who attempted to mate with Flower, but was chased off by the the Whiskers males.
• Marilyn, a female member. She could not defend Bubble and Squeak because she was outnumbered by the Commandos when they attacked while the rest of the Lazuli were away. She survived the attack but was badly injured. She tried to mate with Mitch, but he attacked her.
• Pancake, another Lazuli female. She once mated with Youssarian and had two pups. She was babysitting the pups during a burrow raid by the Whiskers, but the Lazuli returned and forced the Whiskers to retreat.
• Penny is a Lazuli female. She was helping Pancake babysit her pups, but ran off when the Whiskers raided the burrow.
• Squeak was the smallest pup in the same litter as Bubble. He is Big Cy's last offspring. He survived the Commando attack.

Commandos family

The Commandos are a family of meerkats that are vicious enemies of the Whiskers and are the main antagonists of Season 2. This group contains 25 members, and is one of the biggest mobs.

• Hannibal, the dominant male of the Commandos. Hannibal is missing an eye. Along with the rest of the Commandos, he appears in the episode Young Blood, but they are only shown as dark figures. He and the Commandos are not seen again until When Flower met Hannibal, United We Stand, and The Quiet Fields. He has been fitted with a radio collar.
• Nikita, the dominant female of the Commandos. Along with the rest of the Commandos, she killed the Lazuli pup Bubble in a raid on Lazuli territory .
• Ozzy, the son of Hannibal and Nikita. He was killed during a fight with the Whiskers, probably by Zaphod.
• Grog, a huge male member of the Commandos. He was the first one seen in Meerkat Manor. He approached the Whiskers' babysitting burrow to look for females, but was chased off by Attila. He also tried to mate with Pancake, but was driven off by Youssarian. He was only mentioned once.

Meerkat groups under study

Moved to The Kalahari Meerkat Project due to this wasn't on television show.

Map of territories

moved to The Kalahari Meerkat Project as well. see above

Episodes

First Season

Episode	Summary
A Family Affair	Flower's pup Mitch is kidnapped by a group of teenagers, led by his sister Kinkajou. The small gang abandons him, but his brother Shakespeare saves him. When Shakespeare returns, the Whiksers are trying to evict a puff adder. The snake bites Shakespeare on his thigh and neck.
Love Thy Neighbor	Shakespeare is starting to starve after his snakebites. The Whiskers face off against their rivals, the Lazuli. Meanwhile, a Casanova meerkat by the name of Carlos of the Lazuli mates with Flower's troublesome daughter Daisy.
Some Like It Hot	Tosca gives birth to four pups and Flower must decide whether to kill them or accept them into the family. During this episode, Mozart also gives birth to four pups. Meanwhile, Shakespeare recovers from his wounds and goes foraging with Tosca and Mozart.
Revolution	Youssarian "accidentally" starts an infamous burrow move; however, Pooky leads the babysitters to the burrow to put the pups back in. Later on, Yousarrian starts another burrow move, and, unlike the first time, the babysitters follow him. The foragers then hear a distress call from the babysitters. Yousarrian drops the pup in his mouth, Sparkle. Flower leads the group to a new burrow. Sparkle dies.
Childhood's End	For the first time, Flower evicts Mozart from the family; Mozart has no choice, but to leave her pups. A storm drives the Whiskers to shelter in the burrow belonging to their rivals, the Lazuli. When the Lazuli came back to find their home invaded, they start a battle to try to regain their territory; however, the Lazuli lose.
Boys Will Be Boys	Flower has a litter of pups: Dudley, Clive, Petra, and Marypat. Mitch eats poisonous insects and becomes ill. Tosca is evicted for having pups. Mozart is allowed back in the Whiskers.
Divided Loyalties	Amazingly, Mitch survives. The Whiskers split in two groups while fleeing from an attacking goshawk. This leaves Flower with only seven members: Zaphod, Mozart, Pozzo, Sparky, Dudley, Clive, and Mitch. Daisy and Yousarrian lead the other group (which is named the Splinters). Tosca deposes an unconfident Daisy.
The Good, The Bad And The Desperate	The Whiskers are reunited, with Flower firmly in charge once more. Tosca is evicted for taking charge of the Splinters.
Daisy's Choice	When Daisy has pups, it is in a wrong burrow, but Yousarrian rescues two of them. The family babysitters then abandon Daisy's pups to go to a new burrow.
Flower Power	Flower has pups: Columbus, Parsely, Basil, and Rose. The Whiskers find Lazuli pups in a burrow. Tosca's sons, Joju and McMurphy, abandon Flower's newborn pups, but Shakespeare rescues them. A meerkat male named Magnus tries to mate with Flower, but was chased off by males.
An Awfully Big Adventure	Flower's pup Columbus goes foraging the moment he sees sunlight and he and the family ended up in the territory. Youssarian babysits Flower's pups.
The Calm Before The Storm	Tosca mates with Carlos. Shakespeare defends some pups against Big Cy when he invades a Whiskers' den. The Whiskers return and gain a bittersweet victory against the Lazuli, saving the pups. Shakespeare is not seen again and is thought to have died underground.
Moving On	Three months have passed. Shakespeare and Tosca have not been seen since and are presumed dead.

Second Season

Episode	Summary
Cold Comfort	It is winter. There is a report that researchers found Big Cy of the Lazuli ill with tuberculosis and put him down to avoid a slow death and an epidemic. The Lazuli group is then taken over by J.D., Big Cy's son. Youssarian mates with Pancake, a female evicted from the Lazuli.
Three Amigos	Youssarian, Mitch, and Big Will look for females to mate with. The Whiskers spend a night with a Cape Cobra in their burrow, but no harm is done.
Young Blood	A group of meerkats named the Commandos spent a night in the Whiskers den. When morning comes, they invade Lazuli territory, kill Bubble (one of their pups), and injure the current Lazuli babysitter, Marilyn.
Iron Lady	Flower is pregnant. Mozart mates again and receives a warning bite.
There's No Place Like Home	Flower evicts Mozart from the family. Mozart becomes pregnant. Flower gives birth to five pups: Blossom, Nutmeg, Apollo, Pepper, and Athena.
When Flower Met Hannibal	A goshawk attacks the Whiskers, scattering them into two groups. Flower's group has to hide in a burrow in Commandos territory. Mozart miscarries her pups while alone. The Commandos attack the Whiskers, trying to dig out and kill their pups. The episode ends during the battle.
United We Stand	The Whiskers win the battle; Ozzy of the Commandos dies in the battle. Mozart rejoins the Whiskers. Flower's five pups surface. The Whiskers confront a Cape Cobra, until a snake eagle intervenes. Some of the heaviest summer rains in decades falls.
The Enemy Within	Youssarian is left to babysit Flower's pups, but deserts to look for Lazuli females. Pancake of the Lazuli has been accepted back and has pups by Youssarian. The Whiskers and Lazuli battle near the waterhole. Flower leads a deep invasion of Lazuli land, but many of the Whiskers split off, chasing Youssarian, thinking that he is enemy. Another battle results in the Whiskers retreating. A bad storm forces the Whiskers to shelter for two hours, but they get home the same day. Youssarian gets wet in the storm and must spend the night alone in Lazuli territory.
The Art of Leadership	Flower, with only 12 followers, decides on a den move before the split-off group comes back. At first, the pups are carried, but the party goes on maximum alert when an eagle owl is seen in a bush, and the pups must travel under their own power. They reach a den at evening. Flower finds that Mozart is pregnant.
Balance Of Power	Flower and Mozart are both pregnant. Mozart evicts Daisy; this is considered to be a very rare event in meerkat society, as Mozart is not the dominant female. Flower disciplines Mozart. Daisy is allowed back. Due to hunger and Flower's extra need for food because of her pregnancy, her group kills and eats a bird. The other group finds and rejoins Flower's group after over a week's separation. Youssarian babysits Flower's pups, Blossom wanders off, but Youssarian finds her.
Growing Pains	Summer rains three times normal cover the Kalahari with dense grass and flowering plants too tall for meerkats to see over. First named sight of the Big Dune (the highest point in Whiskers territory). Blossom explores too far and gets lost. Mitch explores, but turns back, a little before he would have gotten within earshot of Blossom. A goshawk kills Blossom.
The Godmother	Flower has three pups: Millie, Shelley, and Bing. A little later, Mozart has her pups. Flower's pups emerge. The Whiskers, including Flower's pups, go foraging, leaving Mozart and her pups in the den, and end the day in another den, abandoning Mozart and her pups.
The Quiet Fields	Mozart struggles to take care of her pups alone in an abandoned Whiskers den. The Whiskers are confined to their den for a while by fear of a tawny eagle flying about overhead. Dry season drought causes food shortage, which drives the Commandos to cross the dry Kuruman river bed, and forage in Whiskers territory. They find Mozart's den and drag out and kill her pups. She approaches the Whiskers, hoping for reunion. This season finale ends as a cliffhanger, with the Commandos in Whiskers territory.

Feature film

A feature film Meerkat Manor: Queen of the Kalahari (based on the Meerkat Manor television series) is in preparation. The film probably tells the story of Flower's childhood and the rest of her life in the Whiskers. Maybe also views the history of other mobs and family tree. [7].

DVD releases

Below is a list of DVDs for each country/region.

Title	Release Date	# of Discs	# of Eps
The Complete First Season (UK)	October 9, 2006	4 Single Sided Discs	13
The Complete First Season (AU)	December 1, 2006	4 Single Sided Discs	13
The Complete First Season (US)	November 30, 2006	3 Single Sided Discs	13
The Complete Second Season (UK)	October 14, 2007	4 Single Sided Discs	13
The Complete Second Season (AU)	April 12, 2007	4 Single Sided Discs	13
The Complete Second Season (US)	March 8 2007	3 Single Sided Discs	13

External links

• Meerkat Manor at IMDb
• Template:Tv.com show
• Kalahari Meerkat Project
• http://www.earthwatch.org/europe/exped/clutton-brock.html Volunteer with Earthwatch on the Kalahari Meerkat Project
• http://www.earthwatch.org/atf/cf/%7BBD9A05BF-0860-451E-AA86-7FBF37574C00%7D/cluttonbrock_briefing.pdf
• http://www.bbc.co.uk/essex/content/articles/2006/08/09/meerkat_diary_day8_feature.shtml