Meerkats are surprisingly picky eaters with a specific preference

Nature · Published 9 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: These slender, black-eyed members of the mongoose family are more discerning than you might expect. While they spend much of their time on lookout duty in the Kalahari Desert, their dietary habits reveal a surprising level of pickiness regarding how their food is prepared.

Found in southwestern Africa, meerkats are easily identified by their upright 'sentinel' posture used to watch for predators. These slender animals feature pointed faces, tiny ears, and distinctive black eye patches. They inhabit the Kalahari Desert, a vast, gently undulating plain that covers most of Botswana, much of Namibia, and parts of South Africa. These creatures are recognisable by their unique upright stance. They possess small ears and a narrow face. These mammals are distinguished by a slim build and a small, tapered snout. They are easily spotted due to their vertical standing position.

The Kalahari is a massive basinlike plain, estimated to be roughly 360,000 square miles. It is characterized by sand sheets, dunes, and vleis, which are dry lakes at the end of ephemeral streams. The landscape is largely composed of sand-covered surfaces, with some sand sheets potentially formed by wind or ancient sheet flooding during the Pleistocene Epoch. The region's north-to-south length reaches approximately 1,000 miles. This area includes the Namib coastal desert in the southwest. The desert's terrain consists of undulating, sand-covered plains. Much of the area sits over 3,000 feet above sea level.

Beyond their habitat, meerkats are notable for their social complexity. They are the subjects of the longest-running study of animal behaviour ever conducted. Interestingly, when it comes to their diet, these furry celebrities are surprisingly picky, specifically preferring to eat their eggs well done. Scientists have performed extensive experiments to understand their social lives. These animals are often viewed as furry celebrities. Researchers have conducted extensive long-term observations of these creatures. Their complex social structures have been studied for many years.

General information, not professional advice. Spotted an error? Flag the card or see corrections and complaints.

Intellect Plus is a visual educational discovery platform for exploring fascinating facts and ideas. Brain Food, Not Brain Rot. What is Intellect Plus?

Related

• The meerkat is a highly social mongoose that thrives in harsh desert environments
• Meerkats use distinct alarm calls to identify specific predators
• Survival in the Kalahari: How meerkats navigate a dust storm
• Are meerkats the most homicidal mammals on the planet?
• The desert-dwelling gemsbok can survive without drinking water by eating melons and tubers.
• The social engineering of the world's most formidable big cat
• Are earwig pincers actually dangerous, or just a misunderstood evolutionary tool?
• The biological ultimatum of motherhood in the white rhino family
• Do crows experience grief or ritualise the dead?
• Nature lacks a single king among its diverse champions
• Why some sea stars choose devoted parenting over mass reproduction
• The brutal biological necessity behind a mother leopard exiling her offspring

More in Animal behaviour · More in Nature · Latest · A–Z · All topics