Meerkat Manor

Meerkat Manor
Created by	Adam Frost
Narrated by	Bill Nighy (UK/Canada) Mike Goldman (Australia) Sean Astin (USA)
Country of origin	UK
No. of episodes	39 (to date)
Production
Running time	20 min
Original release
Network	Animal Planet
Release	September 12, 2005 – present

Meerkat Manor is a British television series made by Oxford Scientific Films for Animal Planet. It presents the daily activities of a family, or mob, of wild meerkats as part of the Kalahari Meerkat Project. Although the narrative is presented in a style similar to a soap opera, it is a documentary, featuring actual events in the lives of the meerkats.

The show is narrated by Bill Nighy in the United Kingdom and Canada, Mike Goldman in Australia, and Sean Astin in the United States. The series was originally shown in the UK, its country of origin, but was subsequently picked up in Australia, Canada, and the US, and is now seen worldwide.

The third season began airing in the United States on August 10, 2007, in the UK on September 10, 2007, and in Canada on October 3, 2007.

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. 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 used 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 if there was no suitable natural high place [1] [2] [3].

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 an 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.[4]

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, on the tip of the Botswana border. The researchers/volunteers work with 14 groups of meerkats that are completely used to close study and observation by the researchers. The meerkats provide unusual opportunities for filming and are used over and over by film teams.

Featured meerkat families

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

• Whiskers, the largest group, with nearly 50 members. Originally led by Flower and Zaphod, the group is now led by Rocket Dog, one of Flower's daughters who took over the group after Flower's death.
• Lazuli, the Whisker's main rivals until season 3. They were led by Cazanna and Big Si, but Big Si was euthanized due to TB, and Cazanna later died of disease.. It has 23 members.
• Gattaca, was once led by Risca and Izit with about 10 members. All the males died of disease and the dominant female was killed by predators, leaving the last two members alone and the group lost.
• Commandoes, a 11 strong meerkat gang after being reduced by tuberculosis after season 3. They are currently led by Hannibal and Nikita.
• Zappa, the new neighbours of the Whiskers. It was once led by Frank and Lola, Punk's sister until Punk ousted Lola. The group now has 9 members and are led by Punk and Houdini.
• Starsky, once led by Kinkajou and Carlos, but Carlos died from an infected face wound that prevented him from eating. After Carlos' death and with no litters surviving more than a few days, the group died out from poor foraging conditions, disease, and predation. Mozart, the last female of the group was lost to predators in April 2007 and the group is now considered lost.

Whiskers family

This group, which is the primary focus of the narrative in the opening credits, contains 33 members and is one of the largest groups in the Kalahari. They once ranged over a three square mile terrority, until a rival group, the Commandos, successfully took over some of their territory.

Main family members

• Flower, the leader and dominant female of the Whiskers. She was born in 2000. Flower was the main character of the show and was the mother of over 30 pups. She was fitted with a radio collar that allowed scientists and film crews to track the group's movements. Despite her toughness, Flower nurtured her pups and the other gang members. She was killed trying to protect her last litter of pups from a Cape Cobra.

• Zaphod, Flower's partner and the dominant male of the Whiskers. He is the largest member in 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 was ready to mate, he stayed very close to her to keep other males away from her, especially Youssarian. With Flower's death and his Rocket Dog becoming dominant female, Zaphod initially continued to act as dominant male and chased off any males that approached the group. However, as he could not mate with his daughter, he eventually left the group and became a roving male.

• Youssarian, Zaphod's brother. He is eight years old, and used to be the dominant male, until Zaphod took his place. He has a scar across his left eye that he got from his brother Zaphod during a fight for dominance. He mated with some females from the rival group, the 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 one of Mozart's pups during a burrow move. When Daisy had pups, he tried to help her rescue them, but failed. He is the father of Pancake's pups. In season 3, he went on an extended roving trip, but returns in the episode "Farewell My Lovely."

• 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. It is said that she gave birth to Jogu and McMurphy. She also cuddled Sophie after Mitch attacked her. It is assumed that she died during a harsh winter. She has not been seen since 2005.

• Daisy, a troublesome 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 the victim of eviction by her 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 was babysitting when the Zappa charged and she saved the pups, along with Colombus. She becomes pregnant with her second litter. However, since Rocket Dog had no pups of her own at the time, Daisy does not get evicted.

• Shakespeare, the courageous son of Flower. He survived a double bite, on his face and leg, from a puff adder. He disappeared after the episode Moving On. The researchers stated that a male of his description had been found outside the research area and it has now been confirmed that he died from a snakebite in 2006/2007 winter.

• 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 poisonous insects he stole from adults and siblings, but survived and has somewhat filled the void left by Shakespeare's disappearance and presumed death. When a gang of teenage meerkats, led by Mitch's sister Kinkajou, abandoned him when he was a small pup, he was later rescued by his older brother Shakespeare.

• Rocket Dog, one of Kinkajou's litter mates, is the current dominant female of the Whiskers group. Rocket Dog previously assumed leadership of a sub-group when the Whiskers split during a drought and food shortage. She lost her first pups through premature labor due to the hardship. When the groups were reunited, Rocket Dog returned to being a subordinate under Flower. When Flower died, she again took on the helm of leadership.

Rest of the Whiskers family

• Attila, an aggressive son of Zaphod and Flower. He notably led a charge against roving meerkat Grog from the Commandoes, who approached the Whiskers' babysitting burrow to look for females in season 2. Even though he is very brave, he was afraid to fight a scorpion that was given by Mozart.
• Achilles, from the same litter as Attila, Mango and Chutney. He fell into the watering hole and was soaked.
• Apollo. He, Athena, Pepper, and Nutmeg are surviving members of Blossom's litter.
• Athena. She was the only one who went back for Blossom when she was too scared to go hunt food with the adults.
• Axle, He was from the Zappa clan but they left him behind on the battlefield; he was found by Mitch and adopted by the Whiskers before Flower's death.
• Basil, from the same litter as Colombus, Parsley, and Rose.
• Bella, one of Flower's last pups.
• Big Will, The son of Youssarian. He was born when Vialli, Flower's older sister, and Youssarian were 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 Milley and Shelley and is the only male in the litter.
• Blossom, a daughter of Flower. She wandered away in "Growing Pains" and was killed by a goshawk
• Buster, a pup from the first litter of season 3.
• Chutney, in the same litter with Attila, Achilles and Mango.
• Clive, in the same litter as Dudley, Petra, and Marypat. He was separated from the rest of the group with only a few adults in season 1.
• Colombus, the adventurous little pup, is another of Zaphod's sons. He went foraging with the adults the moment he saw sunlight. He helped babysit the pups and protect them from a Zappa raid.
• Cruise, the sister of Mitch, Rocky, and Einstein. She is notoriously feisty.
• Dudley, Clive, and Petra 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.
• Izzy, one of the pups from season 3. She is said to be always hungry. When she was left behind in the burrow move Sophie saved her.
• Jogu, the 3-year-old son of Tosca. He and his brother McMurphy were babysitting Flower's pups, but wandered off when they got bored. Shakespeare was giving him a scorpion until Mitch stole it from him. He mated with Melanie of the Zappa.
• Kooky, one of the older females who went on sentry duty shortly before the Commandoes attacked the smaller Whiskers splinter group.
• Len, Squiggy's twin. He was killed by a bird of prey. In the UK, he is known as Ren.
• Liz, one of Flower's last pups.
• Maybelline, Rocket Dog's sister. She causes trouble for her. She is pregnant with her first litter.
• 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.
• McMurphy, a son from Tosca's second 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.
• Milley, in same litter as Shelley and Bing.
• Nutmeg, Blossom's sister.
• Parsley, in the same litter as Colombus.
• 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.
• Pozzo, Pozzo and Sparky followed their mother, Flower, when the Whiskers split up.
• Pepper, in Blossom's litter.
• Petra, in the same litter as Dudley.
• Rocky, the sister of Mitch, Cruise, and Einstein.
• Rose, in the same litter as Colombus.
• Sophie, Mozart's daughter. She was attacked by Mitch as a pup. She babysat Flower's pups and defended them from the Zappa.
• Shelley, in the same litter as Milley.
• Sparkle, a female who babysat. She is not the Sparkle known who died in the burrow move. Sparkle has been proven to be a male.
• Sparky. She and Pozzo followed their mother Flower when the Whiskers split up.
• Spud, Mozart's son who once babysat Flower's pups.
• Squiggy, a pup that was abandoned when he was too weak to keep up due to a deformed leg. In the UK, he is known as Stumpy.
• Suggs, a pup from the first litter of season 3.

Lazuli family

The Lazuli are a family of meerkats who are neighbors and rivals of the Whiskers. The Lazuli lived in an area where the more forested region along the dry Kuruman riverbed gives way to the dunes. The group has 24 members.

• Big Si was the dominant male of the Lazuli. He was the biggest meerkat in the area. Shortly afterwards a fight in the Whiskers' burrow, 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 Si 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 Si's last pups who was in the same litter as Squeak. She was killed in the attack by the Commandos.
• JD, Cazanna's sly son. He took over from his father, Big Si, as dominant male of the gang but could be thrown off by a roving male since the dominant female is his mother.
• Magnus, a large male meerkat who attempted to mate with Flower, but was chased off by the majority of Whiskers males.
• Marilyn, a female member. She could not defend Bubble and Squeak because she was outnumbered by the Commandoes when they attacked while the rest of the Lazuli were away. She survived the attack but was badly injured.
• Pancake, another Lazuli female. She once mated with Youssarian and had two pups. She was babysitting the two 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 Si's young son. He survived the attack by the Commandoes.

Commandoes family

The Commandoes are a family of meerkats that are vicious enemies of the Whiskers and are the main antagonists of Season 2. This group contains 14 members, they chased the Whiskers from their territory. They are a fierce bunch, and are correctly named the Vivian.

• Hannibal, the dominant male of the Commandoes. Hannibal has one missing eye. Along with the rest of the Commandoes, he appears in the episode Young Blood, but they are only shown as dark figures. He and the Commandoes are not seen again until When Flower met Hannibal, United We Stand, and The Quiet Fields. He has been fitted with a radio collar. He stole food from his son Wilson. He and the Commandoes attacked the Whiskers when they were trespassing at the Commandoes' water vat.
• Nikita, the dominant female of the Commandoes. Along with the rest of the Commandoes, she killed Lazuli pup Bubble in a raid on the Lazuli territory. She also killed Mozart's pups.
• Ozzy, the son of Hannibal and Nikita. He was killed during a fight with the Whiskers after he led an attack against Zaphod.
• Grog, a huge male member of the Commandoes. He was the first one seen in Meerkat Manor belonging to the Commandoes. He approached the Whiskers' babysitting burrow to look for females, but was chased by Mozart, Daisy, and Attila. He also tried to mate with Pancake, but was driven off by Youssarian.
• Wilson, Hannibal's son. He has started roving. He lost his turtle shell to his father Hannibal.

Zappa family

The Zappa appear in season three. They cause trouble for the Whiskers, after they steal some Zappa territory. They have 9 members.

• Frank, was the dominant male. He is later deposed by Houdini and forced out of the group.
• Lola, was the previous Zappa dominant female. After she was bitten by a puff adder, Punk ousted her.
• Punk, is Lola's sister. Punk took advantage of a severely weakened Lola to become the dominant female.
• Houdini, Houdini is the new Casanova, after Carlos forms the Starsky with Mozart. He once went roving and Flower, the dominant female of the Whiskers gang, caught his eye. He was able to successfully mate with her before being chased of by Zaphod. He, along with Punk, eventually took over the Zappa gang.
• Melanie, a Zappa female. She was seen searching for her family around a burrow where Sophie and Jogu were watching over Flower's three pups. She later mated with Jogu.
• Slash, Axle's brother.
• Rose, Axle's sister.

The Starsky Family

The Starsky were formed by evicted Whisker females and roving Lazuli and Young Ones (a rival group not yet mentioned) males. As of April 2007, Mozart was the last surviving member of the Starsky Family. With her death, the family is now lost.

• Mozart, founded the group with roving male Carlos after being evicted from the Whiskers by matriarch Flower. She lost her dominant status to her half-sister Kinkajou. Mozart was killed by a Jackal in April 2007.
• Carlos, The former dominant male of the Starsky. He used to be a roving male of the Lazuli but left and started the group with half-sisters Kinkajou and Mozart. He had a scar across his face from a battle with Hannibal but it soon became infected and he died.
• Kinkajou, Mozart's half-sister. She took over the roll of dominant female, after she mated with Carlos, led the group foraging, and killed Mozart's pups.
• De la Soul, Kinkajou and Mozart's neice.
• Shady, a male. In one episode, he spotted a deadly snake.

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 Whiskers are trying to evict a puff adder. The snake bites Shakespeare on his thigh and neck. The first episode of the series.
"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, Youssarian 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 a timid 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. Daisy is left behind with Mozart. In the end, she abandons her pups and rejoins her family.
"Flower Power"	Flower has pups: Columbus, Parsley, Basil, and Rose. The Whiskers find Lazuli pups in a burrow. Tosca's sons, Jogu 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"	Shakespeare babysits the pups and is ambushed by the Lazuli. Shakespeare defends the pups against Big Si.
"Moving On"	Tosca mates with Carlos. 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.

Second season

Episode	Summary
"Cold Comfort"	It is winter. Three months have passed. Shakespeare and Tosca have not been seen since and are presumed dead. There is a report that researchers found Big Si 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 Si'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 Commandoes 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, Maralyn.
"Iron Lady"	Flower is pregnant. Mozart mates again and receives a warning bite on the tail base.
"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 Commandoes territory. Mozart miscarries her pups while alone. The Commandoes 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 Commandoes dies in the battle. Mozart rejoins the Whiskers. Flower's five pups surface. The Whiskers confront a Cape Cobra. 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 2 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.
"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. Daisy is allowed back. Due to hunger and Flower's extra need for food because of her pregnancy, she 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, and 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: Milley, 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 Commandoes to cross the dry river bed, and forage in Whiskers territory. They find Mozart's den and drag out and kill her pups. While foraging, Mozart gets closer and closer to the Whiskers without knowing it... This season finale ends as a cliffhanger, with the Commandoes in Whiskers territory.
"Re-cap Special"	This special re-caps what happened in Season 2.

Third season

Episode	Summary
"On Dangerous Ground"	We find the Whiskers trying to survive in a hostile new area after being evicted from their manor by the vicious Commandoes. With danger at every turn and food scarce, Flower leads the family, including her newborn pups, on a perilous journey to find greener pastures. The gang runs into their new neighbors, the Zappa, whom they dispatch with some ease. However, during the fight, Flower's pups go missing.
"The Mission"	Flower mounts a rescue mission to find her pups, who are lost in the heart of Zappa territory. Mitch tries to find the rest of the family and lead them back to the frightened pups. Along the way, he runs into Mozart, who is now dominant female of the Starsky group that she started with Carlos.
"Sister Act" (US) "Something's Got to Give" (UK)	The Zappa finally attack the Whiskers burrow where Colombus and Daisy are babysitting the pups. The Whiskers come back to the burrow and chase off the Zappa. In the Starsky group, Kinkajou initiates a burrow move as Mozart feels her pups are coming. She tries to get the group to come back to the burrow, but is unsuccessful. After they arrive at a new, unknown burrow, Mozart gives birth. The next morning, the group refuses to clean the burrow before Kinkajou leads them out foraging. Left alone, Mozart leaves her pups to forage. Kinkajou returns to the burrow and kills the newborn pups. Mozart returns to find the partially eaten paw of one of her dead pups on the ground.
"The Death of Romance"	The Starsky group is looking for new territory. Dominant male, Carlos is suffering from an infection in the bite mark left by Hannibal. Meanwhile, Houdini is roving around the Whiskers, but Zaphod has his guard down since his brother Youssarian had left for an extended roving trip. When Zaphod steals from food from Flower, she forages away from him and runs into Houdini, who manages to mate with her before Zaphod can chase him off. When they reach their new burrow after foraging, Carlos does not arrive with them having died from his infection.
"Tale of Len and Squiggy" (USA) "Tale of Ren and Stumpy" (UK)	Len and Squiggy, now three weeks old, venture out of the burrow for the first time. However, Squiggy was born with a deformed front leg. While foraging over a wide area, the Whiskers ends up splitting into two groups. Flower's daughter Rocket Dog leads the group that is with the pups. With resources scarce from a lack of rain, Rocket Dog leads her group on a foraging expedition and to a hopefully new, more promising burrow. Along the way Mitch is the only one of the group to try and care for the two pups and Len is eventually picked off by a bird of prey. The group arrives at the new burrow without Mitch, who stayed behind in the desert with Squiggy. Eventually Mitch leaves Squiggy behind, who dies from starvation. Meanwhile, Flower has led the rest of the group to a burrow two miles away from Rocket Dog's group. Houdini and some Zappa males manage to successfully mate with Maybelline, Daisy, and Rocket Dog. Episode Note: In the UK, the pups are named Ren and Stumpy, but in the US airing they are called Len and Squiggy, respectively.
"Sibling Rivalry" (US) "The House of Zappa" (UK)	After getting bitten by a puff adder, Zappa dominant female Lola gets separated from the group for two days. Finally making her way back to her burrow, her sister Punk takes advantage of Lola's weakened state and takes over as dominant female after anal marking Lola. Houdini returns from his roving mission at Rocket Dog's Whisker Group and Frank is unhappy with the welcome his family gives him. After a short battle for dominance, Houdini chases Frank away and takes over as dominant male. The combination of Punk and Houdini make an ideal leadership pair for the Zappa, but a "nightmare" for the Whiskers.
"Heavy the Crown"	The food supply of Rocket Dog's group is dwindling, and Flower's group wanders back to their old manor in search of food. Instead, they find the familiar trough of water, only to be met by Hannibal and the Commandoes, who are experiencing the same crisis as the Whiskers. In a deadly battle, the Commandoes drive Flower's group from whence they came. Back at the new manor, Rocket Dog's stress of leadership causes herself to give birth to her premature pups above ground, who die. The rains come and flourish the manor, bringing the group back together. Rocket Dog hands leadership back to Flower without a struggle.
"Journey's End"	When the Whiskers see off an attack from the Zappas they adopt Axle, Punk and Houdini's pup that was left behind as the Zappas fled. Returning to the burrow they chase off a poisonous snake, a Cape Cobra. However, the snake then enters the burrow where Flower's new pups have just been born. Flower goes in to protect her pups and is bitten in the face by the snake. After four years as dominant female of the Whiskers she dies from her injury.
"A New Day"	Rocket Dog is the new leader of the Whiskers and, with the group numbering 40+ meerkats, the burrow is crowded and crawling with parasites. Rocket Dog initiates a burrow move, but her sister Maybelline chafes under her decision and is unwilling to move her two-week old pups. When McMurphy tries to pick up one of Maybelline's pups to move it, Maybelline strikes out at him. Rocket Dog goes back to try to calm the situation, but without their leader in the front the other Whiskers get confused and the young pups are dropped everywhere. Zaphod, a veteran in burrow moves, picks up a pup and starts moving in the direction Rocket Dog had been taking them. Soon the rest of the group follows, including Maybelline. The next day, the Whiskers run into the Zappa group by the new burrow site and a battle ensues, which the Whiskers win.
"Farewell My Lovely"	With the death of Flower, Zaphod leaves the group to become a roving male once again, but his efforts to find a new mate in the Zappa group are thwarted by dominant male Houdini. The pups are out for the first time on their own, and Wilson, a young roving male from the Commandos is hanging around the Zappa group.
"Three Degrees of Separation"	The newest Whiskers pups go on a foraging trip and learn about life in the Kalahari; at the Starsky burrow, sisters Mozart, Kinkajou and De la Soul search for a way to end their hard times but don't have much luck in the places they look.
"The Graduate"	A new roving male in the form of Wilson, from the Commandoes, tries to woo the Whiskers female. Someone makes a surprising return to the family, while lone female Mozart manages to gain the attention of a young roving male.
"A Family at War"	The Whiskers group is now 50 members strong. New matriarch Rocket Dog is having troubles keeping things together while dealing with an increasingly rebellious Maybelline. Maybelline's determined quest for leadership leaves the Whiskers family changed forever.

Availability

The first and second seasons of the series have been released on DVD as follows:

Title	Release Date	Number of Discs	Number of Episodes
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
Meerkat Manor - Series 1 & 2 boxset (UK)	November 5 2007	8 Single Sided Discs	13

The complete first and second seasons are available for purchase on iTunes. Third season episodes are added after their initial airdate. According to The Washington Post, a feature film entitled Meerkat Manor: Queen of the Kalahari is in development. On the Meerkat Manor Website, it has been confirmed that they are making Flower: Queen of the Meerkats coming 2008.

A book based on the series, entitled Meerkat Manor - The Story of Flower of the Kalahari, has been published by Professor Tim Clutton-Brock that covers the life of Flower and the Whiskers group. It was released in the UK on October 4th, 2007. It is expected to also be released in the US, however the release date has not been set yet. ISBN: 0297844849.

External links

• Meerkat Manor at IMDb
• Template:Tv.com show
• Meerkat Manor at Animal Planet
• Meerkat Manor at Animal Planet UK
• Kalahari Meerkat Project - University of Cambridge Zoology Department page
• The Kalahari Meerkat Project
• Friends of the Kalahari Meerkat Project
• Earthwatch Institute
• Meerkats of the Kalahari: Diary of an Earthwatcher
• Filming Meerkat Manor