Budapest Zoo & Botanical Garden

3 tiny animals must have been delivered by the mother around the end of October because after birth they feel more secure staying in an underground tunnel for 2 weeks and only come out to daylight when they feel strong enough. The 16 months old suricate female was born in the Netherlands, beared her first ever cubs here at the Budapest Zoo. Beside this female and her 3 cubs there are more mature suricates live, making up the Budpest Suricate community, which is located next to the Savannah enclosure.

The suricate is a very caring type of animal, more over all the members of the clan is looking after the little newcomers which is very helpful for there are vicious, hooked crowes hovering overhead, seeking for any chance to prey on the cubs. But it is very common among these animals that an older male or a female stand guard while the others go about their daily "routine". Upon any sign of danger they would alarm their fellow suricates to retreat underground.

The suricate is a little mammal in relation to the mongoose and the mangusteen. The suricate's natural habitat is on the South African savannahs, semi-deserts and deserts, mostly in the parts of the South African Republic, and Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambik. The most well-known meerkat habitat is the Kalahari Desert. These specifically social oriented animals have a wide range of appetite, firstly bugs what they love but little mammals, tiny vertebrate or even eggs of birds may satisfy their hunger. The suricate's average life-span is an estimated 6-10 years but can reach 12-14 years.

After an 11 weeks long pregnancy, females give birth 2-4 offspring what they breastfeed for about 50-60 days. The youngsters reach their breeding age at 1.

You knew?

Beside others, suricate's menu also consist of scorpions. The poisonous sting doesn't disctract them, they easily avoid it while eating or just chew it off the scorpion. Although this is not an easy task, the adults teach the young ones to perform it safely. Some scientific researches led us to a conclusion that these animals are far more immune to the scorpion poison than any other animal on earth.