Suricata suricatta 

Nutrients provided to offspring  

 

Baby meerkats are born into underground burrows, they do not leave the burrow for 21 days as they are not fully developed yet. While in the burrow the babies are fed on a diet solely consisting of their mother’s milk. Young meerkats usually drink their mother’s milk for around 50-60 days after birth, as a result they will be quite well nourished. However while the pups are still in the burrow the mother is at a constant struggle to keep them alive, the mother will be forced to leave her pups in order to gather food, as the pups rely on their mother’s milk to survive the mother needs to be well nourished otherwise the pups will starve. Consequently, while their mother is out gathering food the pups are in constant danger, they may freeze to death as they have not yet developed a fur coat or they may fall victim to predation. When the pups are four weeks old they begin learning how to hunt and gather their own food; to start, they are given deceased food so they learn to recognise a food source, then they will be given immobilised prey that is still alive, once they are familiar with the prey they are taught how to hunt and gather live prey.